Australian Law Reform Commission Michael Kirby Lecture 2015

On July 9, 2015, Professor Rosalind Croucher, the President of Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), gave the 2015 Michael Kirby Lecture.

The title of the lecture is Michael Kirby's Vision, Human Rights and the Australian Law Reform Commission in the 21st Century. The lecture is named after Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court of Australia. Justice Kirby was the first President (or "Chairman") of the ALRC. His term lasted 1975-1984.

From Croucher's remarks:

"How do we know we are doing well? To justify our existence over 40 years we must be doing something ‘good’ (to paraphrase sister Maria in The Sound of Music)."

" ‘Implementation’ data is one way – the darling of those who like KPIs. But it is not all about statistics. A lack of implementation, of itself, does not mean failure. It is not even a very good guide to performance. (Although our ‘numbers’ are good: as of June 2014, over 88% of ALRC reports had been substantially or partially implemented)."

"My personal conviction, after nearly nine years at the ALRC, is that an assessment of the contribution that law reform work makes must be seen through another lens. It is like a pebble in a pond. There are ripples that run over the surface of the pond—the extending, echoing impact, long after the pebble has disappeared beneath the surface of the water."

"The ripples are multiple and overlapping. Here are some ...."