About the Sir Ronald Wilson Oration
Since 1989, the Law Society of Western Australia has coordinated the annual Sir Ronald Wilson Lecture to honour the life and legacy of the late Sir Ronald Wilson. The series was originally established to provide an opportunity for a person learned in the law and familiar with the public face of law to address issues of relevant to the Year 11-12 Politics and Law curriculum in a public forum.
In 2024, the series was relaunched by the Law Society’s Indigenous Legal Issues Committee as the Sir Ronald Wilson Oration, providing a platform for discussion and insight into Indigenous legal or humanitarian issues of significance to Aboriginal peoples.
Below is a list of speakers, topics and (where available) links to the recordings from past events.
Recordings of Past Lectures
- 2024 – From birth to adulthood: What is an acceptable standard of care? Presented by Wayne Nannup, CEO of Aboriginal Legal Service of WA
- 2021 – “The Perils of Independence” Presented by Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, President Australian Human Rights Commission
- 2020 “Kids in jail – Raising the age of criminal responsibility”. Presented online by Pauline Wright, President of Law Council of Australia
- 2018 - The changing experience of LGBTQI people in respect to their political and legal rights in Australia. Presented by the Hon. Justice Jeremy Curthoys
About Sir Ronald Wilson (1922-2005)
Born in 1922 in Geraldton, Western Australia, Sir Ronald Wilson went on from his first job as a messenger at the Geraldton Local Court at the tender age of 14 to complete his law degree at the University of Western Australia as a mature age student following active military service in World War Two.
Sir Ronald was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1951 and had what was described as a meteoric rise to become Crown Prosecutor for the State of Western Australia in 1959. In 1963 he was admitted as Queen’s Counsel, at the time, the youngest ever in the State, and in 1969 he became Solicitor-General of Western Australia.
In 1979, Sir Ronald was appointed to the High Court, the first Western Australian to do so. He was later appointed by the Hawke Government as the Deputy Chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and where he served until his retirement.
Sir Ronald Wilson was a passionate advocate for Aboriginal rights. Together with Mick Dodson, the Aboriginal Social Justice Commissioner, he co-authored the Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families which was tabled in Federal Parliament in 1997.
To learn more about the life and legacy of the late Sir Ronald Wilson, view the External Resources and Links section below.
