For Future Reference: Jennifer Robinson on Courage

About

At State Library Victoria's 2026 For Future Reference lecture, Jennifer Robinson, one of the most respected human rights lawyers and advocates of our time, will consider this question through the lens of her extraordinary career.

As the recipient of the 2026 Sydney Peace Prize, Jennifer's landmark work includes securing the release of Julian Assange, achieving political asylum for West Papuan leader Benny Wenda, representing Amber Heard in Johnny Depp’s unsuccessful defamation claim, and taking climate change to the International Court of Justice.

In this special lecture, Jennifer will reflect on the nature of courage – what it looks and feels like for herself and the clients she represents, as well as what courage means for cultural institutions that care for and preserve collections for future generations.

The barrister, author and keynote speaker will also explore whether the notion of courage has taken on new meaning in an era increasingly beset by conflict and crisis.

Endowed by the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, this lecture follows the 2026 Sundance Film Festival premiere and subsequent Melbourne International Film Festival screenings of Silenced, a new documentary featuring Jennifer that exposes gender-based violence and the ways defamation laws have been weaponised to silence survivors.

There will be an opportunity to view rare books acquired through the Library’s Women Writers Fund initiative prior to the event.