Speakers

The Hon Robert McClelland MP

The Hon Robert McClelland MP

The Hon Robert McClelland MP is the Federal Attorney-General and the Member for Barton, an electorate based in the St George area of Sydney.

Mr McClelland was elected to Parliament in 1996.  Before becoming Attorney-General he served on several parliamentary committees, including as Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the Joint Select Committee on the Republic Referendum.

Before entering Parliament, Mr McClelland practised as a lawyer for 14 years, specialising in industrial and sports law.

Mr McClelland was born on Australia Day in 1958.  His interests include Australian history, surfing and rugby league.

Clinical Professor Fiona Wood FRACS AM

The Hon Robert McClelland MP

Clinical Professor Fiona Wood is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon currently Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia at both Royal Perth and Princess Margaret Hospitals. She is Chair and co-founder of the McComb Research Foundation, co founder and director of clinical cell culture now Avita medical as well as being a mother of 6.

Fiona’s research through the McComb Foundation involves collaborative research projects ranging from the multidisciplinary team approach to the treatment of burn injury, nano technology, bioinformatics, data linkage and neuron-physiology. The ultimate aim is scarless healing to ensure the quality of the outcome is worth the pain of survival.

Fiona has been involved in a number of education and disaster response programs associated with her interest in burns and published a variety of papers over the years. In addition, she has been the recipient of the 2003 Australian Medical Association ‘Contribution to Medicine’ Award and an Order of Australia Medal for work with Bali bombing victims.

Fiona was named West Australian of the Year for 2004, and was awarded National Living Treasure and Australian Citizen of the Year in 2004. Fiona was again named West Australian of the Year for 2005, and received the honour of being named Australian of the Year in 2005. In 2005 Fiona and medical scientist Marie Stoner, won the 2005 Clunies Ross Award for their contributions to Medical Science in Australia.

The Hon Chief Justice Robert French

The Hon Chief Justice Robert French

Robert Shenton French was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 1 September 2008. At the time of his appointment he was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, having been appointed to that office in November 1986. He graduated from the University of Western Australia in science and law. He was admitted in 1972 and practised as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia until 1983 when he went to the Independent Bar. From 1994 to 1998 he was President of the National Native Title Tribunal. At the time of his appointment he was an additional member of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory and a member of the Supreme Court of Fiji. He was also a Deputy President of the Australian Competition Tribunal and a part-time member of the Australian Law Reform Commission. From 2001 to January 2005 he was President of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law.