Bold voice for reason and for rights
Terese Henning‘s lifelong contribution to law reform is marked by conviction and humility, say Kate Warner and Brendan Gogarty
ASSOCIATE Professor Terese Henning will retire from the directorship of the Tasmania Law Reform Institute this week. She has chosen to depart with little fanfare – very much in character with the dignity and humility which she brought to the role over the past five years, and indeed in her much longer contribution to the reform and improvement of the law beyond that. Terese has always chosen to promote the interests of others over herself, not least in her lifelong contributions to law reform, but especially in respect of improving the justice system to better protect the most vulnerable in our society. In farewelling her we recognise her wide-ranging achievements and her professional and personal contributions to Tasmania.
Terese was a high achiever from her earliest years. She graduated in the top 20 high school students in the state, receiving a University Exhibition scholarship to study a Bachelor of Arts, and then a postgraduate Diploma in Librarianship. After working as a teacher and librarian at Glenora District School, northwest of Hobart, she returned to the University of Tasmania to study law. Terese was awarded First Class Honours in Law in 1984 with five prizes in her final year. She was admitted as a barrister and solicitor to the Supreme and High courts in 1986. After working in private practice Terese moved to the Justice Department of
Tasmania, where she worked for the then Law Reform Commissioner of Tasmania, Hon. H.E. Cosgrove QC. That role would go on to become the foundation of her life’s work as a law reformer and leading expert on criminal law, evidence and criminology. A scholarship to read criminology took her to Trinity Hall and Cambridge University, from where she graduated with a Master of Philosophy in 1991. She returned to a lectureship at the UTAS Law Faculty, and was appointed associate professor in 1997.
When the legislation supporting the Tasmanian Law Reform Commission lapsed, Associate Professor Henning was part of a group led by Professor Donald Chalmers which campaigned for its reinstatement. This finally came about in 2001, in the form of a non-legislative model, established as an independent body by agreement between the university, the Law Society of Tasmania and the State Government. Given her longstanding history and expertise in law reform – and her role in having the body reestablished – she was appointed to the TLRI Board by the Vice-Chancellor upon its establishment. Since that time Terese has been involved in well over 40 law reform inquiries – an astounding number given the breadth and complexity of the legal issues and the nature of the inquiry and reporting process.
One of the projects which Terese has championed consistently throughout her career is the need for a charter of rights for Tasmanians.
This led to the TLRI undertaking a two-year inquiry, with wide ranging consultations of stakeholders, experts and the public under Terese’s leadership, and finally the publication of recommendations and a model charter in 2007.
Successive governments have recognised but not implemented the report and its charter. While others may have given up or moved on, Terese’s inexorable conviction in the charter has never wavered, nor her promotion of the need to statutorily protect the rights of Tasmanian citizens. For over a decade she has campaigned to keep the issue in the public domain, and the model relevant and something that future governments might aspire to implementing. At her last board meeting as director of the TLRI, it was agreed that the Institute would revisit the 2007 Charter of Rights recommendations in a new future focused inquiry. Terese’s legacy will continue well after she has physically left the TLRI.
Over her career Associate
ONE OF THE PROJECTS WHICH TERESE HAS CHAMPIONED CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT HER CAREER IS THE NEED FOR A CHARTER OF RIGHTS FOR TASMANIANS
Professor Henning became one of Australia’s leading scholars in these fields, publishing multiple books, peer reviewed papers, reports, expert and professional talks and contributions to law reform dialogue in the state, nationally and internationally. In addition to being a leading figure in the state’s law reform regime, Terese was also pivotal in the establishment of several important legal bodies in the state, including Tasmanian Women Lawyers, the Sexual
Assault Support Service and of course, the creation of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute. In 2016 Terese was awarded the Tasmanian Women Lawyers Achievement Award 2016 for her distinguished and
outstanding contributions to Tasmanian, national and international law. And it must be mentioned that Terese was an outstanding and inspiring teacher and postgraduate supervisor. As an undergraduate lecturer she was courageous and innovative and her postgraduate students will be forever grateful for her wise direction.
Associate Professor Henning will retire – after a well-deserved trip to visit her daughter overseas – to her beautiful garden on the slopes of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. We wish her well-deserved happiness, peace and quiet there, but we know that the indefatigable fire that has energised her whole life and career will never go out.