Plenary Lectures

2008

Sciences Futures in 2020
Dr Annabelle Duncan – Project Director, La Trobe University Biosciences Centre
Dr James Robertson – National Manager Forensic, Australian Federal Police

CCTV Images as Evidence
Glenn Porter – Head of Program (Forensic Science), University of Western Sydney
Commentary by Chester Porter QC

The Shipman Murders: A Triumph for Forensic Pharmacology
Dr Michael Kennedy – Physician in Cardiology & Clinical Pharmacology

Annual General Meeting Guest-of-Honour
Christine Nixon – Chief Commissioner, Victorian Police

2009

Impartiality, Efficiency or Reliability? A Critical Response to Expert Law & Procedure in Australia
Prof Gary Edmond – Director of Expertise, Evidence & Law Program, University of NSW
Commentary by The Hon Chief Justice Peter McClellan QC

How Do Judges Make Decisions? The Neurobiology of Decision-Making and Deliberation & the Role of Emotion
Dr Haley Bennett – Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

The Forensic Response to the Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria
Prof Stephen Cordner – Director of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine

Annual General Meeting Guest-of-Honour
The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG

2010

A New Era in Crime Scene Investigation
Michael Bell – Operations Manager, NSW Police Force, Forensic Services Group
Commentary by Glenn Porter, Head of Program (Forensic Science), University of Western Sydney

Current Issues in the Assessment and Treatment of Paedophiles: Medical and Legal Responses
Dr Jeremy O’Dea – Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist

Counter Terrorism in NSW from the Sydney Olympics to 2010
Dr Michael Diamond – Consulting Psychiatrist
Inspector Carolyn O’Hare – NSW Police Force, Counter Terrorism & Special Tactics

Annual General Meeting Guest-of-Honour
Major Dr Brett Courtenay – Australian Defence Force

2011

Suspect Identities: US Response to Fingerprint Identification Evidence
A/Prof Simon Cole – Chair, Department of Criminology, University of California

The Witness was a Fly: Insects in the Investigation of and Prosecution of Crime
Dr James Wallman – Deputy Head, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong

The Definition of a ‘Mentally Ill Person’ in the Mental Health Act 2007
Dr Peter Shea – Forensic Psychiatrist

Reflections of a (Re)tired DPP
Nicholas Cowdery QC – Former Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW

2012

Crooks, Cranks & Charlatans: Science in Court?
Prof Brynn Hibbert – University of New South Wales

Child Protection In Court: The NSW Children’s Court Since the Wood Report and the Role of the Children’s Clinic
The Hon Judge Mark Marien SC – Children’s Court of NSW
Mark Allerton – Clinical Psychologist, Director of the Children’s Court Clinic

The Future of Clinical Forensic Medicine: Reflections After a Year ‘Down-Under’
Prof Margaret Stark – Director of the Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit for NSW Police Force
The Hon Justice Marilyn Warren
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria

2013

The Art of Poisoning
Dr Naren Gunja, Medical Director at the NSW Poisons Centre

Waking The Dead: The Search and Recovery of Human Remains
Dr Xanthe Mallett, University of New England and Prof. Shari Forbes, Professor and ARC Future Fellow in the Centre for Forensic Science UTS

Expert Witnesses – The UK Experience: Has familiarity with the Court room finally bred contempt for the criminal justice process? Is it possible to deliver from policy to practice?
Karen Squibb- Williams, Barrister

Counter terrorism
The Hon. Anthony Whealy QC

2014

Searching for clues: Unmasking art fraud and fraudsters
Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett, Director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation

Domestic violence in Western Sydney: Ruin or Redemption
Dr Maria Nittis

On the Road to Damascus
Barbara Etter APM

Ending the Law and Order Auction…..was it worth the effort?
The Hon. Gregg Smith SC MP

2015

Time to acknowledge the elephant in the room? How the illegal wildlife trade contributes to extinction, biosecurity risk and organised crime
Dr Rebecca Johnson, The Australian Museum

Child Abuse: Past Progress and Potential Possibilities
Professor Kim Oates. Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Sydney and Director of Undergraduate Education at the Clinical Excellence Commission

2017

Unlocking the “silent witness” of DNA
Dr Dennis McNevin. Associate Professor (Forensic Genetics) at the University of Canberra

Wrongful conviction and forensic pathology
Michael S. Pollanen MD PhD

Identifying with images: Expertise in facial recognition
Dr David White. Cognitive Psychologist at the University of New South Wales

The Golden Jubilee of the Academy: Memories of Dooley, Oscar, Bill and other supreme Individualists
The Hon. Michael Kirby AC, CMG, FAAFS

2018

Covert recordings as evidence in criminal trials: Problems and solutions from the perspective of forensic phonetics
Dr Helen Fraser.

Personalised Medicine to Personalised Justice: Forensic Pharmacogentics and Law
Dr Yolande Lucire.

Identifying experts: The (cognitive) science of recognising and communicating expertise
Associate Prof. Kristy Martire. University of New South Wales

The child abuse Royal Commission – how was it different?
The Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM

2019

4096 Shades of Grey: The use of post-mortem imaging to determine cause and manner of death
Dr Chris O’Donnell. Consultant Forensic Radiologist at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine

The Lindt Café siege: A forensic reconstruction
Crime Scene Officer Domenic Raneri and Forensic Ballistician Lucas Van Der Walt. New South Wales Police Force

Prediction of suicide and violence. Beyond a roll of the dice?
Prof. Matthew Large. Clinical Director of Mental Health at the Prince of Wales Hospital and conjoint Professor a the School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales

Rethinking the NSW coronial system: Why we need to and what it should look like
Hugh Dillon BA,  LL.B, LL.M (Syd)

2020

Beyond validity: The quest for justice in violence risk assessment
Prof. Stephen Hart. Professor of Psychology and Director of the Terrorism, Risk and Security Studies Program at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada

The future of forensics in a post-COVID era
Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde OAM. Director of the National Institute of Forensic Science

2021

Can we identify everyone? DNA case studies and the policy implications of forensic genomics
Dr Nathan Scudder. Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney

Dark to clear web and illicit drugs to pharmaceuticals – How are we ensuring the safety of the public, the patients?
Dr Adrian De Grazia.