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Australia’s first gender and sexuality moot delivers valuable win
The Australian-first gender identity and sexuality law moot, judged by former justice of the High Court Michael Kirby, was a success for Australian and New Zealand students.
Naomi Neilson
The Australian National University (ANU) College of Law praised the great success of the inaugural gender identity and sexuality moot hosted across law schools in Australia and New Zealand. A team of two from University of Auckland won the final.
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The college said the moot provided a valuable learning experience for students across nearly a dozen law schools who had the opportunity to debate their sides before High Court’s former justice Kirby and Justice Melissa Perry.
Winners Bella Rollinson and Hannah Swedlund, both bachelor of arts/law (Hons) with the University of Auckland, said presenting before Justice Kirby was a major highlight, as was the opportunity “to grapple with topical legal issues that have a real impact”.
“The moot was helpful in many aspects of skill development: researching in a foreign jurisdiction, advocacy, and speaking clearly and calmly under pressure,” Ms Rollinson and Ms Swedlund said in a Q&A with the College of Law.
“Given we were often representing a side in the case that seemed counterintuitive to us, we developed an ability to reason through arguments and advocate for positions that we don’t necessarily personally agree with.”
Ms Rollinson and Ms Swedlund encouraged other students to take the opportunity to participate in mooting: “Just go for it! Worst case scenario, you lose – but you will learn many valuable skills and it can be a lot of fun!”
