2025 Research Conference of the Disability, Law and Society Network of Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand

When: 10-12 December 2025

Where: Online via Zoom and in-person at University of Technology Sydney (Australia) 

Keynote panel:

• Rosemary Kayess, Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission 

• Scott Avery, Professor of Indigenous Disability Health and Wellbeing, University of Technology Sydney 

• Sheila Wideman, Professor, Director Dalhousie Health Justice Institute Dalhousie University, Canada 

About the conference:

The Conference is open to everyone involved in disability law research and practice, including students, researchers, activists and advocates.

People with disability are encouraged to participate. Priority will be given to presenters based in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region, or whose work focuses on disability-related law in the region. 

The Conference will include a half-day workshop for Higher Degree Researchers and Early Career Researchers.

The event is hybrid. Please specify accessibility requirements when submitting your abstract. We are currently exploring the possibility of travel support for people who are unwaged or do not have access to travel funding. Please indicate if required and we will update you once funding is confirmed.

The Conference is organised by Linda Steele (University of Technology Sydney), Piers Gooding & Chris Maylea (La Trobe University) and Anna Arstein-Kerslake (The University of Melbourne).

The Disability, Law and Society Network of Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand is a network of scholars, including Higher Degree Research students, and advocates primarily based in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The Network was first convened by Donna McNamara and Linda Steele in 2020 and has evolved into a broad and diverse network of individuals who wish to bring critical attention to law concerning disability.

Submit an abstract:

The Conference focuses on exploring relationships between disability, law and society, culture and politics. Papers focused on Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Asia Pacific contexts and foregrounding lived experiences, human rights and Disability Justice activism and advocacy are particularly welcome. In your presentation, you are invited to weave in reflections on your research by reference to the Conference theme of ‘Accountability, Resistance and Disruption!’. When submitting your abstract please identify if your presentation is focused on a disability law research audience or disability law practitioner audience.

Submit your abstract here: https://law.unimelb.edu.au/accountability-resistance-and-disruption

Please contact Linda Steele with any questions: linda.steele@uts.edu.au