Adjunct staff

Adjunct appointees are individuals whose appointment to the academic staff will enhance the teaching and/or research profile of law at Southern Cross University as well as stimulate cooperation between the Faculty and other members of academic, business and professional communities.

Adjunct appointees enrich the Faculty's visibility, networks, research and teaching culture. These positions are reserved for individuals of outstanding achievement and distinction in their academic, professional and industry endeavours and who have been recognised by their peers as pre-eminent in their fields.

Meet our adjunct staff members

Judicial

The Hon. David Ashton-Lewis KC

The Hon. Justice David Ashton-Lewis is Justice of the Supreme Court of Fiji and a Senior Counsel in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. He has been honoured by Her Majesty the Queen for Services to the Law in a Developing Nation.

Mme Justice Professor Dr Jeanne Gaakeer

Mme Justice Professor Dr Gaakeer is a Senior Justice in the criminal law section at the Court of Appeal in The Hague and holds a chair in jurisprudence at Erasmus School of Law (Rotterdam). A recipient of the prestigious JB White Award, her research focuses on law and literature, legal theory and cultural legal studies.

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG

The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG is one of Australia’s – and the world’s – leading advocates for human rights and social justice. Until his retirement, he was the longest serving member of the High Court of Australia. He is the recipient of the Australian Human Rights Medal, the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education and the Gruber Justice Prize. Southern Cross University's Michael Kirby Lecture Series is held annually in his honour.

The Hon. Justice François Kunc

The Hon. Justice François Kunc sits on the Supreme Court of NSW (Equity Division), is a Past President of the Law and Literature Association of Australia, and is General Editor of The Australian Law Journal. He is also deputy chair of the Southern Cross University's Law Advisory Committee.

The Hon. Margaret McMurdo AC

The Hon. Margaret McMurdo AC is the former President of the Queensland Court of Appeal – and the first woman in Australia to hold such a position. Made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2007, she currently chairs the Legal Aid Board of Queensland and Southern Cross University’s Law Advisory Committee.

The Hon. Justice Brian Preston

The Hon. Justice Brian Preston is Chief Judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court where he made Australian legal history by prohibiting a coalmine on grounds it would contribute to climate change.

The Hon. Justice Steven Strickland QC

The Hon. Justice Steven Strickland QC sits on the Appeal Division of the Family Court of Australia and was Chairman of the Family Law Section, Law Council of Australia.

Cultural

Mr Darryl Dellora

Mr Darryl Dellora is an award-winning filmmaker and writer, whose documentaries include Michael Kirby: Don’t Forget the Justice Bit (2010) and Mr Neal is Entitled to be an Agitator (1991), which won the Australian Human Rights Award. In 2018, he was the Southern Cross University’s Law and Humanities Artist in Residence.

Dr Ros Derrett OAM

Dr Ros Derrett OAM has worked extensively in education, tourism, community cultural development and arts administration in Australia and overseas. She helped establish the Lismore Friendship Festival and Lismore Film Festival.

Politics

The Hon. Janelle Saffin MP, Member for Lismore

The Hon. Janelle Saffin MP has served in both the NSW and Australian parliaments. In 2019, she won the NSW state seat of Lismore, becoming its first female MP and its first Labor member in 50 years. She has also served as a member of Southern Cross’ University Council.

The Hon. Tamara Smith MP, Member for Ballina

The Hon. Tamara Smith MP is the NSW Greens MP for Ballina. She is the first woman to represent the electorate and the first Greens MP to hold a regional seat in any Australian parliament. An alumna of the Law Disciple at Southern Cross University, she sits on the Faculty’s Law Advisory Committee.

Academic

Mr David Barnden

Mr David Barnden is the founder of Equity Generation Lawyers and was previously Principal Lawyer with Environmental Justice Australia. He has argued two world-first cases on climate change risk before the Federal Court of Australia.

Professor Greta Bird

Professor Greta Bird is a founding member of the Law Discipline at Southern Cross University and a well regarded critical legal feminist and race theorist. The Professor Greta Bird Lecture Series in Legal Theory and Critique is held annually in her honour. Her research interests include multiculturalism and the law, Indigenous studies, law and society, feminist critique, and critical race theory.

Professor Andy Chiu-Man Chung

Professor Andy Chiu Man-Chung is a legal academic who has taught at Shue Yan University (SAR HK), City University of Hong Kong, Charles Darwin University and James Cook University. He is affiliated with several prominent mainland Chinese universities. Andy's research interests include internet law, family law, human rights law, comparative legal studies, and legal philosophy.

Associate Professor Sam Garkawe

Associate Professor Sam Garkawe was a longstanding member of Southern Cross University's Law Discipline and is a leading authority of victimology. Currently, he is affiliated with Jindal Global Law School in India. His research interests include international and national criminal justice, criminal law and procedure, and victims of crime and victimology.

Dr Mary Graham

Dr Mary Graham is of Kombumerri and Wakka Wakka heritage. A Native Title researcher and First Peoples scholar and counsellor, she has lectured nationally and has worked for institutions such as the Department of Community Services, Aboriginal and Islander Childcare Agency, University of Queensland and the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action. Her research interests include Aboriginal history, politics and comparative philosophy.

Professor Jenny Hocking

Professor Jenny Hocking is a renowned biographer and political scientist. Author of the acclaimed two-volume biography on Gough Whitlam, she is the inaugural Distinguished Whitlam Fellow at the Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University; a winner of the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Barbara Ramsden Award; and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Her research interests include political history, and politics and the law.

Dr Terry Hutchinson

Dr Terry Hutchinson is a member of the Queensland Children’s Court Committee. She previously served on the Queensland Law Reform Commission, was a long-serving Associate Professor in Law at QUT, and is a past Chair of the Queensland Law Society’s Equity and Diversity Committee. Terry's research interests include the sound use of the evidence base particularly in relation to children and youth justice.

Dr Conor McCarthy

Dr Conor McCarthy is Director of Philanthropy at the National Library of Australia. A literary critic and mediaevalist, his latest book is Outlaws and Spies: Legal Exclusion in Law and Literature (Edinburgh University Press, 2020).

Ms Angela Powditch

Angela Powditch is a Southern Cross University Law alumna and a human rights advocate who is passionate about gender equality and female empowerment. In 2018, she was a delegate at the UN's Commission on the Status of Women and she is a graduate of Oxford University's International Human Rights Law Summer School.

Associate Professor Amelia Thorpe

Associate Professor Amelia Thorpe is a lawyer, academic and specialist in planning and environmental law at UNSW. Having previously studied architecture and city policy, her research engages notions of space and its regulation. Amelia's research interests include urban governance, legal geography, cities, and public participation.

Professor Ian Ward

Professor Ian Ward is a Professor of Law at Newcastle University (UK) and a distinguished law-and-literature specialist. He is an editorial board member for Law and Literature, Law and Humanities and Polemos: A Journal of Law, Literature and Culture, sponsored by Southern Cross University. Ian's research interests include law, literature and history, and English constitutional history.