News in brief

Community law clinic rewarded for human rights work

The community clinic of Murdoch Law School recently scooped up the law award in the Human Rights Awards for 2002.

In 1997 the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service Inc (SCALES) was established as a community legal centre and clinical teaching facility for Murdoch law students.

Through the clinical process students are educated about the importance of human rights in the practice of law in the community.

The award recognised the achievements of SCALES with respect to its work with young people, refugees and asylum seekers, women escaping domestic violence and tenants in public housing.

As well as providing a valuable service to the community, SCALES is a powerful teaching facility, said SCALES Director Mary Anne Kenny.

Students develop skills through community legal practice, the focus of our teaching is to help future lawyers gain an understanding of, and a commitment to, human rights as an important principle of any legal practice.

Students deal with real clients under close supervision, which provides a technically sophisticated and value rich education.

Since 1997, over 250 students have provided legal support to over 4000 clients and more than 8000 information/referral services.

Young people from the southwest metropolitan region have been one of the main beneficiaries of the legal expertise, and SCALES is researching ways to solve issues around young people and the use of public space in the region.

Immigration cases from around the State are now referred to SCALES, and the clinic provides the only specialised clinical stream in immigration and refugee law in Australia.

New Executive Dean aims to raise Humanities' profile

GARY Martin has accepted the position of Executive Dean of the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education (SSHE) at Murdoch a position he has acted in with great distinction since June 2002.

Professor Martin is a vocal supporter of the Humanities and Arts, but is concerned that the Humanities and Social Sciences rarely feature in national higher education policies.

A critical issue facing Social Sciences, Humanities and Education today is the need for continued promotion of these areas within the government sector, industry and the community, he said.

Faculties have a responsibility to draw to the attention of the government and the broader community the fact that the creative industries are among the fastest growing sectors of the global economy and that social and creative disciplines can be commercially relevant.

Professor Martin said the Humanities also had a key role to play within the international arena in assisting Australia to contribute to global development.

Examples are HIV/AIDS education, rapid urban development, water conservation and treatment and dealing with many community-based ethical issues.

Professor Martin joined Murdoch in 1991 and held various positions within the School of Education, including Senior Lecturer in Professional Development and Director of the Centre for Learning Change and Development where he was responsible for generating up to $2.4 million of external research and development income.

Murdoch University - Excellence in Education

ONCE again, Murdoch University has excelled in the provision of education by winning the Inaugural Education and Skills Development category of the Premier’s Award for Excellence in Public Sector Management jointly with its partners the Mandurah Senior College and Challenger TAFE.

The Peel Education and TAFE Campus is Western Australia’s first co-located and multi-partner campus and incorporates Mandurah Senior College (Years 11 & 12), Challenger TAFE’s Peel Campus and Murdoch University’s facilities and services.

This innovative partnership provides the opportunity for seamless education through its Pathways for Learning concept, which allows secondary students to access TAFE and university units during their final year of high school. Challenger TAFE students also benefit from further recognition of their studies by Murdoch University. said Pro Vice Chancellor (Regional Development), Professor Kateryna Longley.

The Pathways to Learning concept is an outstanding role model for collaboration in the provision of education, training and lifelong learning and we are thrilled to be a part of this initiative.

Murdoch University’s Clinical Legal Education Program provided by SCALES (the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service) received a High Commendation in the category of Social and Community Development.

Roberta's packed her bags for Kew

Having finished her Post Doctoral Fellowship at Murdoch recently, Dr Roberta Cowan is busy packing her bags for London.

Dr Cowan has been selected as the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer (ABLO) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for 12 months. Charles Gardiner, the Government Botanist, WA was the first ABLO in 1937 and this position has been held by many prominent Australian botanists.

During the twelve months , Dr Cowan will be starting Taxonomic Literature Cryptogamia (TLC) a taxonomic bibliographic database for non-flowering plants.

My late husband worked for 15 years while he was senior botanist at the Smithsonian Institution, with Prof. Frances Stafleu of Utrecht University building a bibliographic database of taxonomic information for flowering plants, and we estimate that it may take 25 years to complete the non-flowering plants, so this will just be a start at Kew, said Dr Cowan.

As part of the ABLO duties, I will also be fielding questions from people across the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Cowan is the first marine botanist, the first person from a university, the first librarian and the seventh woman ever to take up the role.

Her partner and Murdoch Adjunct Professor Alex George will join her in London as part of the TLC team and hopes to complete a history of the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer position.