Is it appropriate for former High Court judge Dyson Heydon to speak at Perth legal conference?

An Opinion Piece by Madeleine Cox*

Former High Court Judge Dyson Heydon KC will speak at The Samuel Griffith Society’s 35th national conference being held in Perth, Western Australia from Friday, 22 August 2025. Is this appropriate, since the findings of an independent investigation requested by former Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC KC and carried out in 2020 which states ‘six former Court staff who where Associates were harassed by [Heydon]?

This week a number of high flying legal eagles are descending on Perth for a convocation. For what purpose you may ask?

None other than a three-day line-up organised by conservative legal group The Samuel Griffith Society, which has parallels to the US based Federalist Society and has the lofty objective of upholding Australia’s constitution. Topics up for discussion include industrial relations, the appointment of judges in Australia, the constitution, public interest litigation and judicial power.

Photo by Nellie Adamyan on Unsplash

Speakers at the conference include: former judges of the High Court of Australia Ian Callinan AC KC and Dyson Heydon KC, as well as current High Court judges Simon Steward AC and James Edelman AC; current chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Allan Myers AC KC; former premier of Western Australia Richard Court AC; former justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Nicholas Hasluck AM KC; and the 37^th attorney general of Australia Christian Porter. The full conference program can be accessed at the Society’s website.

That’s quite a collection of men with power. There are a few women but many will choose not to attend as they will be asking themselves why Heydon is being given a platform. Many will have greeted the news of the former judge’s invitation to speak at a major legal event with disbelief.

In 2020, an independent investigation carried out by Dr Vivienne Thom AM at the request of former High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel AC KC, found that ‘six former Court staff members who were Associates were harassed by [Heydon]’.

Whilst Heydon consented to the investigation, he did not take part in it and has denied the allegations.

Yet now, having recently self-published a new book on contract law, Heydon is given a platform to engage with the law, the legal profession and Australian society by being invited to speak at this conference.

It is understandable that some, like Janet Albrechtsen writing in The Australian on 11 April 2025, may wish for Heydon to continue to contribute to the law due to regard for his legal scholarship and the new book.

Yet others will wonder if anyone has considered the welfare of the six Associates of the former judge who were involved in the investigation? Each of these Associates has either abandoned the law or changed their ambitions.

One of the judge’s former Associates, Alexandra Eggerking in 2022 courageously spoke publicly about the impact of Heydon’s conduct on her:

‘Since the High Court’s own investigation found that Dyson Heydon sexually harassed me and other women while we were his associates, I have gone above and beyond to provide the Commonwealth with evidence of the harm I’ve suffered because of the harassment.’

And what of other Australian women who, like Eggerking, have also experienced sexual abuse within the legal profession or more broadly in other workplaces? How would they feel to see the former judge being provided this platform by The Samuel Griffith Society?

It is rare for any woman to have the courage – like that of Nepalese student Biplavi Magar who last week received a record sexual harassment payout from her employer – to pursue justice through the legal system.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

A majority choose not to act like Eggerking or Magar for a variety of reasons: there may be no one they are able to report the incident to, or they may fear jeopardising their hoped-for careers or being slapped with a legal suit for defamation.

In 2018, 47% of Australian female respondents to a survey carried out by the International Bar Association reported experiencing sexual harassment at work. This is higher than the one-in-three made famous in Suzie Miller’s extraordinary work Prima Facie. A 2019 Women Lawyers Association of NSW survey had more sobering findings where 71% of the 242 respondents reported being sexually harassed, but only 18% had made a complaint.

Eggerking also said:

‘Every week this matter continues is an extra week I have to manage life with debilitating anxiety caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, where every step, every communication in this compensation process triggers my illness.

‘Every week is an extra week (that) I have no income as the precariousness of my mental health makes it too difficult for me to work.’

The Samuel Griffith Society is providing the former judge with an opportunity that enables him to continue to engage with the law and the legal profession, whereas those who served under him and who were professionally dependent on him, are less able to do so. Their abilities to build careers in the law have been compromised.

One wonders if this is why so few women are listed as speakers at the conference. Do they consider that the platforming of the former judge is not appropriate? If so, when might it be appropriate?

This is a difficult question with no easy answers. Thinking about those who have suffered, they can never delete from their life story what happened. Some of the challenges that may arise for women are highlighted in the story featuring Monica Lewinsky in the Australian Financial Review on 24 July 2025. There Ms Lewinsky says:

‘A woman’s re-emergence after scandal or downfall still takes so much longer and is not guaranteed. Whereas it feels men are given a path to rehabilitation much easier – and almost always a sure thing.’

This highlights why the decision of The Samuel Griffith Society to include former High Court justice Dyson Heydon in their line-up of speakers at their conference in Perth this week is so difficult to comprehend.

By Madeleine Cox

* Madeleine Cox was raised on a farm on Binjareb Noongar country and now, together with her New Zealand/Aotearoa husband, lives with her children in Fremantle/Walyalup. She loves exploring places and ideas, and connecting with people and nature. This has prompted Madeleine to start writing independently, after many years work as a corporate and government lawyer, and service on not-for-profit boards in the health and education sectors.

~ For more articles by Madeleine Cox on FSN, look here.

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