HURT, HARM, HATE
We are trying to use the law to fix our feelings. Is that a civilisational breakthrough or a catastrophic mistake?
As the line between harmful speech and hurt feelings continues to blur, we are increasingly looking to politicians and judges to determine matters of taste and decency. In outsourcing the need to think for ourselves and exercise judgement, before we speak, are we at risk of sacrificing the ability to be truthful with each other? The law is a blunt instrument. Is it now being wielded because we have become incapable of decency and resilience?
Antoinette Lattouf
Antoinette Lattouf is an award-winning journalist, author and human rights advocate. Her landmark win, Lattouf v ABC, became a flashpoint in debates about free speech, employee rights, institutional cowardice, and what happens when a journalist speaks truth to (media) power. She’s the co-founder of the independent media company Ette Media, co-founder of the not-for-profit Media Diversity Australia, and a TEDx speaker. Her first book, How to Lose Friends and Influence White People, somehow won her friends. Her second book, Women Who Win, explores women who saw the rulebook, chuckled and used it as a coaster.
Luke McNamara
Luke McNamara is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW. His research explores when and why governments turn to the criminal law to address newly identified harms and risks – and with what effects. A focus of his work is the place of law in regulating expression and communication, including ‘hate speech’ and public protest activities.
Robynne Quiggin
Professor Robynne Quiggin is a member of the Wiradyuri nation of central western New South Wales. A solicitor and consultant with 30 years’ experience, she specialises in legal, compliance and policy issues affecting Indigenous Australians, including human rights, financial services, governance, and the arts. She is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement) at UTS and former Deputy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission. She is currently a member of the Net Zero Economy Authority Board, and a board member of NAISDA Dance and First Australians Capital.
Sami Shah
Sami Shah is a multi-award winning comedian, writer, journalist and broadcaster. His comedy has won Best Local Act at the Perth International Comedy Festival and Best Comedy at Fringe World, with sold-out runs across Australia and at London’s Soho Theatre. He co-hosted ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast and has written for The New York Times, The Guardian and The Saturday Paper. His autobiography, I, Migrant, was nominated for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award. He lectures in Journalism at the University of Melbourne and is currently completing a PhD in News Satire.
David Slucki
David Slucki is Professor and Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and Loti Smorgon Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life and Culture. A historian specialising in Jewish life after the Holocaust, he leads the Monash Initiative for Rapid Research into Antisemitism and co-leads the Gen26 Australian Jewish Community Survey. His publications include Sing This at My Funeral: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons (2019), The International Jewish Labor Bund after 1945 (2012), and the co-edited volumes Laughter After: Humour and the Holocaust (2020) and In the Shadows of Memory (2016).
Tim Dean
Tim Dean is a public philosopher, speaker and writer. He has a Doctorate in philosophy from UNSW Sydney on the evolution of morality and specialises in public philosophy, ethics and critical thinking. He is an Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney and the author of How We Became Human. He is also an experienced science writer and editor and has worked for outlets such as The Conversation and edited magazines including Cosmos and Australian Life Scientist. He is the recipient of the Australasian Association of Philosophy Media Professionals’ Award for his work on philosophy in the public sphere. He is currently Senior Philosopher and Manos Chair in Ethics at The Ethics Centre.
We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country on which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.
The views and opinions expressed by the Festival participants are not necessarily the views of The Ethics Centre and our partners.