Southern Cross Dean of Law delivers prestigious Hal Wootten Lecture

Covering the topic ‘Imagining the Future – a nimble and responsive legislature in the criminal justice arena’, Professor Heilpern discussed three areas within the legal system in need of urgent reform: remand rates, victim’s rights, and drug law. 

“I chose to speak about areas where there could be massive room for improvement by outlining simple, non-controversial law reforms,” he said.

“One of those was remand rates. That is, those people who are in custody awaiting trial. In NSW for example, over 60 per cent of children in custody have not been convicted of anything. They're just waiting. And for adults it's 45 per cent. And for Aboriginal people, it's much, much worse.

“I tried to point out how that could be easily changed by a simple procedural measure, not by a difficult value judgement of whether this person should get bail or not, simply saying that the District Court should deal with it, not the Supreme Court.”

Addressing the topic of victim’s rights, Professor Heilpern discussed the drastic changes of the last five years and their negative outcomes for victims, both in court and when reporting crimes.

“What we are seeing is the pulling back of victim’s rights in an extraordinary way, that I have never seen in my lifetime. Sexual assault victims now can be forced to give up all their social media, every e-mail, every SMS and the defendant will see that.

It belies any of the other advances that have been made in victim’s rights and the sexual assault area.”

Since the presentation, Professor Heilpern has received almost 200 emails, which he describes as “more love mail than hate mail”. 

In his address, Professor Heilpern also outlined poignant moments and achievements in his legal career including becoming a magistrate, helping to form Lawyers for Forests, speaking out about the mental health of legal practitioners, and continually fighting for the cause of Aboriginal rights and the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system.

He also reflected proudly on the role he played in establishing Southern Cross University’s law school. 

“My colleagues and I saw that regional people were being disadvantaged by having to travel to Sydney, and so we set up the first non-metropolitan law school in NSW. 

“I am so proud of Southern Cross University and its graduates, many of you who are here tonight, and I guess the lesson is that ideas can sometimes lead to greatness. There was no greater professional joy for me than when students I had taught appeared before me as advocates. Sometimes they would bring a book I wrote and plonk it on the bar table. Brilliant advocacy.”

Professor Heilpern’s Hal Wootten lecture is available to watch or read here.