Larissa Behrendt, AO a Euahleyai/Gamillaroi woman and Distinguished Professor of Law and Inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research at the University of Technology, is passionate about the Australian courts’ record of upholding democracy, but reminds us the legal system has been used to exclude and discriminate against First Nations people.

In the third Boyer Lecture for 2025, she presents a three-point remedy to get us past the ‘us and them’ mentality, highlighting the necessity and importance of truth and story-telling and the critical importance of universities, the arts and creative and cultural institutions to forge a truly healthy democracy.

Larissa Behrendt also advocates for the inclusion of ancient Indigenous philosophies into our traditional Western liberal traditions, to create a truly inclusive and engaging democracy.

“The law is shaped by power. It reflects who has a voice, and who does not. If we want a fairer society, we must ensure the law listens to those too often silenced. And we have to acknowledge that at the heart of the Constitution, there lies an historic and structural wound.”

Credits

• Presented by Larissa Behrendt, AO
• Series curated and introduced by Julia Baird
• Executive Producer, Julia Baird
• Producer, Gail Boserio
• Sound Engineer, Simon Branthwaite