'Protecting Rights in a Federation'

Solictor-General for Victoria, Pamela Tate S.C

Monash Law School's 15th Lucinda Lecture

Speaker profile

Pamela Tate S.C. is the Solicitor-General for Victoria, a position she was appointed to in 2003 for a term of 10 years. She is the first woman to occupy this position. In 2005, Ms Tate was appointed to be Special Counsel to the Human Rights Consultative Committee, which proposed the enactment of a statutory Bill of Rights for Victoria.

Ms Tate’s distinguished career includes 12 years as a barrister and tow years as an Associate to Sir Daryl Dawson of the High Court. She graduated from Monash Law School in 1988 with first class honours, and currently sits on the Faculty of Law Board.

The Lucinda Lectures

The SS Lucinda was a steam paddle vessel which occupies a sentimental place in Australian constitutional history. It was on board the Lucinda, during a three-day cruise on the Hawkesbury River from 27 to 29 March 1891, that the drafting committee of the National Australasian Convention made important revisions to the earliest drafts of the Constitution. Professor La Nauze in The Making of the Australian Constitution stated;

‘[T]he evolving text of the Constitution was at its best after the Lucinda revisions.’
This lecture series is named after the Lucinda and seeks to canvass fundamental issues in Australian constitutional law.

Patron

The Rt. Hon. Sir Zelman Cowen
Governor General of Australia 1977 – 1982

Convenor

Professor HP Lee
Sir John Latham Chair of Law
Monash University Law School

Lucinda Lectures and speakers

1993   The Australian Crown: Its creation and demise
Professor George Winterton

1994   Judicial reasonings and responsibilities in constitutional cases
Mr Dennis Rose

1995   Towards 2001 – minimalism, monarchism or metamorphism?
The Hon. Sir Anthony Mason, Chief Justice, High Court of Australia 1987 – 1995

1996   Social conflict and constitutional interpretation
Emeritus Professor Leslie Zines

1997   The Australian Constitution: A centenary assessment
The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby, High Court of Australia

1998   Maintaining public confidence in the judiciary
The Hon. Justice Susan Kenny, Court of Appeal
Supreme Court of Victoria 1997 – 1998, Federal Court of Australia

1999   The Australian Constitution: Adaptability, change and conflict
Professor Geoffrey Lindell

2000   Australian citizenship: Past, present and future
The Rt Hon, Sir Ninian Stephen, Governor General of Australia 1982 – 1989

2001   The shape of representative democracy
The Hon. Chief Justice Murray Gleeson, High Court of Australia

2002   Sir Isaac Isaacs and the workings of the Australian Constitution
The Rt Hon. Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor General of Australia 1977 – 1982

2003   “…such other federal courts as the Parliament creates”: A hundred years of evolution
The Hon. Michael Black, Chief Justice, Federal Court of Australia

2004   What separation of powers?
The Hon. Marilyn Warren, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Victoria

2005   Judges under fire – how far can the critics go?
The Hon. Justice Ronald Sackville, Federal Court of Australia   

2006   'Concerning judicial methods' - Fifty years on
The Hon. Justice Ken Hayne AC, High Court of Australia

The Lucinda Lectures have all been published in the Monash University Law Review.
To purchase copies, please phone (03) 9905 3374 or email law.review@law.monash.edu.au.