Human Rights Day Breakfast
About
From Inquiry to Action: Human Rights Lessons from the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate CrimesPlease join Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) for a delicious breakfast at Hall and Wilcox this Human Rights Day as we focus on how human rights are a pathway to solutions, playing a critical role as a preventative, protective and transformative force for good. This event will bring together distinguished panel members who were involved in the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ+ Hate Crimes in NSW. Through a critical exploration of the Inquiry's findings, speakers will highlight human rights lessons, with a particular focus on protections for the LGBTIQA+ community within the justice system.
What systemic issues did the Inquiry uncover? What do best practices for addressing bias and promoting accountability look like? How would a Human Rights Act for NSW and other law and policy changes improve the handling of hate crimes and ensure better legal protections for marginalised communities?
Join our esteemed speakers and celebrate the 76th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by being part of an engaging discussion that highlights the inherent dignity and worth of everyone in NSW and promotes community engagement in the wake of the LGBTIQ Hate Crimes Inquiry.
This Human Rights Day breakfast is a fundraising event for ALHR.
ALHR accepts no funding from governments or political organisations. It is a registered charity with volunteers across the country who lead ALHR’s thematic, state and territory committees. Your ticket to this event will help us to raise the funds we need to continue to advance the protection and promotion of international human rights law standards throughout Australia and mentor young members of the legal profession.
If you are not already an ALHR member and would like to take advantage of discounted ticket prices, join here! Membership of ALHR provides unique opportunities to advocate for the protection of human rights and enhances your professional development.
Meet the Panel
The Honourable John Sackar KC
John Sackar KC was a judge of the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 2011. Immediately prior to his retirement in February 2024, he conducted a Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ+ hate crimes in New South Wales between 1970 and 2010. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Mr Sackar practised as Queens Counsel for nearly 25 years and had a diverse practice encompassing a wide range of commercial matters and defamation law. He was called to Middle Temple in the UK in 2006 and regularly appeared in Courts in Brunei and in the Privy Council in London. Mr Sackar has returned to his former chambers - Sixth Floor Selborne Wentworth Chambers - and practises as a mediator and arbitrator.
Duncan McNab
Duncan McNab was honoured with the joint ACON President's Award in 2023 as part of a small group recognised for their tireless decades long fight for justice for victims of LGBTQ+ hate crimes. He is an award-winning and bestselling investigative journalist, television producer, documentary maker and author of twelve books published by major houses in Australia, the United Kingdom and North America, including the 2017 Getting Away With Murder (gay hate crimes). Duncan also has a parallel career in media/communications and issues management in government and the private sector. In a former life, he was a detective in the New South Wales Police Force during its more intriguing years and then a private investigator in the corporate world and in major criminal defence.
Nicholas Stewart
Nicholas Stewart is the current President of Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, a longstanding co-chair of its LGBTIQA+ Rights Committee and a senior partner at Dowson Turco Lawyers, a boutique and prominent LGBTIQA+ law firm in Sydney. Nicholas’s human rights practice handles complex cases involving serious crimes, defamation, discrimination, bullying and vilification. Nicholas led the campaign for two parliamentary inquiries, and the Special Commission of Inquiry into NSW's dark history of gay and transgender murders. In 2023 Nicholas was awarded the NSW Law Society’s President’s Medal. That year he was also jointly awarded the ACON NSW President’s Award.This year Nicholas was appointed to the NSW Premier’s inaugural LGBTQIA Advisory Council.
Kathleen Heath
Kathleen is a barrister at Maurice Byers Chambers. She was admitted to practice in 2014 and called to the Bar in 2020. Kathleen appears in a range of matters, with a particular focus on criminal law, public and administrative law, inquests and inquiries, and civil litigation. In 2022-23 she was Counsel Assisting the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes. Before joining the Bar, Kathleen worked at the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, appearing as counsel in both trials and appeals. She also served as tipstaff and researcher to the Hnourable Justice Margaret Beazley, President of the NSW Court of Appeal. Kathleen completed her Master of Laws at Harvard Law School as a Fulbright and Frank Knox Scholar. She sits on the NSW Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee and is a mentor in the Diverse Women in Law’s mentoring program.
Master of Ceremonies: Jamie McKinnell
Jamie McKinnell is a multiplatform legal affairs reporter with ABC News in Sydney. He has covered some of the country’s most significant court cases, including the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation proceedings, Chris Dawson murder trial, Melissa Caddick inquest and a landmark inquiry into historical LGBT hate crimes in NSW. Jamie grew up in Tasmania before studying journalism at the University of Queensland and starting his career in radio in Brisbane in 2011. He has previously worked for Australian Associated Press (AAP), Press Association in the UK and 4BC.
Location
Hall and Wilcox
Level 18/347 Kent St, Sydney NSW 2000
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