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  4. Animal rights - the future of animal law

 

RSPCA Australia and Macquarie University’s Centre for Legal Governance
The Future of Animal Law Conference
Thursday 18 October 2012
The Mint, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW

What are animals’ rights? Is animal welfare a matter for the state rather than one of personal morals? Does Government have a responsibility to intervene on behalf of animals in commercial and domestic settings?
RSPCA Australia and Macquarie University’s Centre for Legal Governance’s The Future of Animal Law conference will challenge current thinking and explore the sometimes conflicting and controversial topic of animal law.
Speakers at the conference will explore future directions and implications of animal law as a growing area of research and practice.
The keynote speaker for the conference is Professor Robert Garner from the University of Leicester. His talk will distinguish a political from an ethical account of animal protection, arguing that animal welfare is a matter of state concern rather than simply one of personal morals. To support this he is developing a theory of justice for animals as opposed to simply a theory of ethical conduct - providing a welcome perspective to the way society should treat animals more broadly.

Other presentations will include:

 

  • Shifting Responsibility for the Welfare of the Beast – Ms Elizabeth Ellis, University of Wollongong, Bearing the Burden
  • Animal Welfare Policy in the Australian Agricultural Sector – Mr Phillip Glyde, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
  • Captured by Design: The Story of Farm Animal Welfare Regulation in Australia – Mr Jed Goodfellow, Macquarie University and RSPCA Australia
  • What Indeed has Athens, Jerusalem and Bodhgaya to do with Animal Law? Religion and its Relationship with the Future of Animal Law – Ven. Alex Bruce, Australian National University
  • Improving Welfare Outcomes in the Live Export Trade? The Supply Chain Assurance Framework One Year On – Ms Celeste Black, University of Sydney
  • Strategic Public Interest Litigation – Mr Graeme McEwen, Victorian Bar & Barristers Animal Welfare Panel
  • Intensive Factory Farming, Administrative Law Values and the Rule of Law – Dr Melisa Perry QC, NSW Bar
  • Animal Welfare: Lost in Translation – Ms Kathleen Plowman, Australian Pork Limited
 

 

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