Larissa Behrendt

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Larissa Behrendt (1969 – ) is an Aboriginal Australian academic and writer. She is currently a Professor of Law and Indigenous Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Behrendt completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 1992, and in the same year she was admitted by the Supreme Court of New South Wales to practice as a solicitor. Behrendt then travelled to the United States, where she completed a Master of Laws at Harvard Law School in 1994, and a Doctorate of Laws from the same institution in 1998. In 2000 she was admitted by the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory to practice as a barrister.

During her stay at Harvard Law School, Behrendt also worked in Canada with a range of First Nations organisations. In 1999, she worked with the Assembly of First Nations in developing a gender equality policy, and she also represented the Assembly at the United Nations. Also in 1999, she did a study for the Slavey people comparing native title developments in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Since 1998, Behrendt has been a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), and was appointed to the Institute's Research Advisory Council in 2000. Between 2000 and 2002, Behrendt worked with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, developing various policies, and in 2000 she worked with Mick Dodson at the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation developing a reconciliation policy and draft reconciliation legislation.

Behrendt has written extensively on legal and indigenous social justice issues. She has published two books, Aboriginal Dispute Resolution (1995)[1] and Achieving Social Justice (2003),[2] and has written many articles for Australian and Canadian legal journals. Behrendt has also written a novel, Home,[3] which won the David Unaipon Award in 2002, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel in the South East Asian/South Pacific region in 2005. She also won the award for outstanding achievement in literature in the 2004 Deadlys. She has been a director of the Sydney Writers Festival since 2002.

UNSW awarded Behrendt the Alumni of the Year Award in 1993, and she is now a life member of the alumni association. Also in 1993, she was the winner of the Lionel Murphy Foundation Scholarship. In 2002, Behrendt was the co-recipient of the inaugural Neville Bonner National Teaching Award. Behrendt has taught at UNSW, the Australian National University, and the University of Technology, Sydney, where she has been a member of the University's Council since 2002.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Behrendt, Larissa (1995). Aboriginal dispute resolution: a step towards self-determination and community autonomy. Federation Press. ISBN 1-86287-178-7. 
  2. ^ Behrendt, Larissa (2003). Achieving social justice : indigenous rights and Australia's future. Federation Press. ISBN 1-86287-450-6. 
  3. ^ Behrendt, Larissa (2004). Home. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3407-9. 
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