In February 2016 all 39 Australian university Vice-Chancellors launched a new initiative ‘Respect. Now. Always.’ to address sexual assault and sexual harassment and build on work by individual universities in this area. As part of this initiative, the university sector through Universities Australia, asked the Australian Human Rights Commission to conduct a national prevalence survey of university students.

Gillian Triggs, who was until recently the President of the Commission, will be talking about the resulting Change the Course report which was published on 1 August 2017.

Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs recently took up the position of Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne, following the completion of her five year term as the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Prior to that, she was Dean of the Faculty of Law and Challis Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney from 2007-12 and Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law from 2005-7. She is a former Barrister and a Governor of the College of Law.

Professor Triggs has combined an academic career with international commercial legal practice and has advised the Australian and other governments and international organisations on international legal and trade disputes. Her focus at the Commission was on the implementation in Australian law of the human rights treaties to which Australia is a party, and to work with nations in the Asia Pacific region on practical approaches to human rights.

Professor Triggs’ is the author of many books and papers on international law, including International Law, Contemporary Principles and Practices (2nd Ed, 2011).