Women, Law and the Fight for Gender Justice

Join us for a special in-conversation event with 2026 Sydney Peace Prize winner Jennifer Robinson and Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Anna Cody, exploring women, law and the continuing fight for gender justice. Drawing on their distinctive experiences as leading human rights lawyers and advocates, Jennifer and Anna will reflect on the ways law can both advance equality and entrench disadvantage; the legal and institutional barriers that continue to confront women; the silencing of women who speak about discrimination, harassment and violence; and the role of lawyers, advocates and public institutions in challenging inequality and driving change. The conversation will also look forward, asking what is needed from law, legal institutions and the next generation of lawyers to advance substantive gender equality in Australia and internationally.

Date: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Time: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Venue: West Wing, Female Orphan School, Western Sydney University

Refreshments will be served following the conversation.

About Jennifer Robinson

Jennifer Robinson is an internationally renowned human rights lawyer, barrister, author and advocate, recognised for her work in significant human rights and media freedom cases around the world.

As legal counsel to Julian Assange, she worked to secure his release in 2024. She has represented individuals, communities and governments before international courts and the United Nations, advocating for press freedom, justice and accountability.

Jennifer has also played a leading role in climate justice litigation, including representing Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands in efforts to bring climate change before the International Court of Justice. She has advocated extensively for human rights in West Papua and for the rights of women, including through her co-authored book How Many More Women?

About Dr. Anna Cody

Anna Cody commenced as Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner in September 2023. In this role, she advocates for gender equality and the equality of LGBTQI+ communities under Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act.

Anna's career spans academia, discrimination law and human rights advocacy. Her work has included advocacy before United Nations human rights committees reviewing Australia’s and other countries’ fulfilment of their human rights obligations.

Before her appointment, Anna served for four and a half years as Dean of the School of Law and Professor at Western Sydney University. She led education and research initiatives reflecting the diversity of the community and the intersection of law and justice.

About Professor Catherine Renshaw

Professor Catherine Renshaw is the Dean of Law at Western Sydney University. She teaches and researches in the field of international law. She is immediate past Co-Chair of the International Human Rights Law chapter of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law, Deputy Chair of the International Law Section of the Law Council of Australia, a Committee member of the Parramatta and District Regional Law Society of New South Wales, and a member of the Advisory Committee of Rights of Older Persons Australia (ROPA). Before the coup d’état in Myanmar in 2021, Catherine worked with a consortium of universities across the Asia Pacific, and with civil society groups inside Myanmar, on constitutional reform and the rule of law.

Catherine’s teaching focuses on the critical early-year learning of law students, and on the pedagogical practices that deepen authentic learning and the ethical orientation of law students.