Animal protection has the potential to become the next great social justice movement.  It is intriguing to wonder whether our children will look back in 40 years and wonder how we possibly failed for so long to take animal rights seriously. 

David Weisbrot AM is Professor of Legal Policy at the United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney. He is also Emeritus Professor of Law and Honorary Professorial Fellow in Medicine at Sydney and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.  David was President of the Australian Law Reform Commission from 1999-2009, where he led 15 major national inquiries. 

In 2003, David was awarded a prestigious Centenary Medal and was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2006 “for service to the law in the areas of law reform, education and access to legal services, and through contributions to research, analysis and policy development on a range of matters of public interest”.  David was also awarded the Most Outstanding Contribution to Health and Medical Research by the National Health and Medical Research Council in 2010. 

In his capacity as a member of the Voiceless Council, David has delivered memorable speeches as part of the annual Animal Law Lecture Series and spoken eloquently at public lectures about approaches to animal protection in law and the challenges of animal activism.