Join us for a fascinating and timely discussion, about the role of rights and duties in Australia’s legal system and wider society. This seminar will explore legal, philosophical and current environmental and social justice issues. With guest speakers, the Hon. Justice Brian Preston AO, Dr Mary Graham and Dr Michelle Maloney, this special seminar is not to be missed
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
The Hon. Justice Brian Preston AO
Justice Preston is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court in New South Wales. Prior to being appointed in November 2005, he was a senior counsel practising in New South Wales in environmental, planning, administrative and property law. Justice Preston is the author of Australia's first book on environmental litigation (in 1989) and over 90 articles, book chapters and reviews on environmental law, administrative and criminal law. The subjects of his writings include: the law and the environment; sustainable development; biodiversity; climate change; heritage; environmental impact assessment; environmental crime; the courts and the environment; public interest litigation; and administrative law and environmental law.
Dr Mary Graham
Adjunct Associate Professor Mary Graham is a Kombumerri person (Gold Coast) through her father’s heritage and affiliated with Wakka Wakka (South Burnett) through her mother’s people. With a career spanning more than 30 years, she is one of Australia’s leading thinkers, philosophers and governance experts. Mary is Co-Founder and Director of Future Dreaming Australia, and is the Director of the newly created Waijin Research Centre. (www.waijinresearch.au). To read more about Mary's work, please visit this website.
Dr Michelle Maloney
Michelle Maloney (BA/LLB-Hons, ANU, PhD Griffith University) is the Co-Founder and National Convenor of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA) and is recognised for her work advocating for Earth-centred law and governance. Michelle supports community groups working to create Earth-centred governance; provides advice and professional development training for people from the community, government and business sectors; works in partnership with a number of Aboriginal organisations, and serves on the governing bodies of several international civil society networks, including the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, Ecological Law and Governance Association, and Earth Trusteeship initiative. To read more about Michelle's work, please visit this website.
ABOUT THE SEMINAR
Rights are a foundational concept within Western law. Legal rights are rooted in millennia of Western religious, philosophical and political thought. From the emergence of democracy in ancient Athens, to enlightenment ideals, from international human rights to Australian constitutional rights, from the right to remain silent when arrested, to the right to privacy and quiet enjoyment when we rent a home, rights are prevalent in our society. Around the world, the past two decades have also seen the rise of legal rights being acknowledged for ‘nature’ and ecosystems such as rivers and forests.
But what about duties and obligations? Theoretically, rights create duties and obligations, and in some areas of law, legal obligations are frequently enforced – for example, in consumer transactions, employment, and work safety. In other fields of law, including environmental and climate law, it has been argued that Western legal systems do not impose or enforce duties or obligations as often as they recognize rights. For example, with cases such as Minister for the Environment v Sharma [2022] FCAFC 35 and Pabai Pabai & Anor v Commonwealth of Australia [2025] FCA 796, there is a growing debate about what duties or obligations the Australian government actually owes to its citizens.
In contrast to Western law, the legal systems of the First Nations Peoples of Australia are often characterized as being built on obligations. Indigenous First Laws, created and regulated over thousands of years, view the land as the source of the law, and from this, a foundational obligation is created to Care for Country and Care for Kin. As noted by Dr Mary Graham "Aboriginal people see Land as a moral entity with both physical and spiritual attributes, This involves an obligation to look after the Land that nurtures us - this is the ancient reciprocal relationship with nature,"
The 1992 Mabo case - Mabo v Queensland (No 2) [1992] HCA 23 - made the Australian legal system more pluralistic by recognizing that Indigenous laws and customs, which existed before 1788, are the source of native title and continue to exist alongside common law. This decision officially overturned terra nullius and created an intersection between traditional Indigenous laws and Australia's Western legal system. Exploring the role of rights and obligations in both legal systems can deepen our understanding of this intersection, and open a conversation about how both legal systems may continue to shape their relationship into the future.