Proudly supporting the ACC Jack Richardson Oration

Sparke Helmore Lawyers is proud to sponsor the 2019 Annual Jack Richardson Oration, hosted by the ACC Australia in conjunction with the ACT Law Society. 

The Oration is held each year in honour of the Commonwealth's first Ombudsman, the late Professor Jack Richardson AO.

Professor Jack Richardson became the first Commonwealth Ombudsman in 1977. He was a man of many parts: government legal adviser, barrister, law professor and dean, prominent member of national and international legal bodies and Commonwealth ombudsman. His strength and enjoyment lay in shaping and designing new and nascent institutions. The faculty of law at the Australian National University, and the Commonwealth Ombudsman's Office, still bear the stamp of his vision. Professor Richardson was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia in 1984.

The 2019 Oration, Illegitimately re-writing the music, will be held on Monday 9 September at the Hotel Realm in Canberra as a luncheon. Justice of the High Court, The Hon Virginia Bell AC, will deliver the Oration, which will focus on Jack Richardson’s reflections on the work of the High Court in constitutional interpretation, in the context of his early work as Secretary to the Constitution Review Committee (set up by the Menzies government in 1956). It will compare his analysis with those who charge the Court with usurping the function of the electorate through the process of interpretation. 

Seats are extremely limited and registrations will close at COB on Thursday 5 September. Click here to register early and avoid disappointment!