Dr Sally Varnham

Senior Lecturer

LLB, LLM (Hons) (Victoria University of Wellington), Adv.Cert.Tert.Tchg (Wellington Polytechnic), PhD (UNSW)

Academic Profile

Sally joined the Faculty in March 2007. Previously she was a Senior Lecturer in Law with the College of Business of Massey University at its campus in Wellington, New Zealand.  In that capacity she convened and taught Business Law for accounting and business degrees and Property Law and Litigation for the Legal Executive Programme of the New Zealand Law Society. She is a co-author of "Principles of Law for New Zealand Business Students", (Pearson Publication), and "Conveyancing Law Handbook" (CCH New Zealand), both widely used as texts and in the profession. 

In addition Sally held the position of University Proctor on the Wellington Campus.

Sally's research concentrates on the wide range of legal issues arising in compulsory and tertiary education. She is a Director and Vice-President of the Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association (ANZELA). She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education (ANZJLE). Together with Professor Jim Jackson, Sally is the author of "Law for Educators: School and University Law in Australia" published in 2007 by LexisNexis Australia. 

Sally has a strong interest in restorative justice and citizenship in schools and has delivered widely in this area. In tertiary education her interest lies in the changing nature of higher education and the student/university relationship.

Current Research Activities

"Student Grievance and Discipline Matters" - research project

Recent Grants

"Student Grievance and Discipline Matters", Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Discipline-Based Initiative - beginning July 2007

Principal Researcher, Curtin University of Technology: Applied Law Research Group, School of Business Law, Applied Research in Education Law, June 2007

Recent Publications

Books

Jackson & Varnham Law for Educators:  School and University Law in Australia, LexisNexis, Australia (1st Ed 2007).

Drake, Lay, Varnham & Thomas "Conveyancing Law Handbook" CCH New Zealand (3rd Ed 2007)

Hubbard, Thomas & Varnham "Principles of Law for New Zealand Business Students" Pearson Education (4th Ed) forthcoming

Jackson & Varnham Halsbury's Laws of Australia Education and Research (forthcoming)

Journal Articles and Conference Papers

(2008) "Keeping them Connected: Restorative Justice in Schools in Australia and New Zealand - what progress?" Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, Vol 13(1) pp 71-82

(2008) "My home, my school, my island: home education in Australia and New Zealand" PUBLIC SPACE: The Journal of Law and Social Justice, Vol 2, Art 3, pp 1-30

(2008) "A Matter of Contract? Student Contracts in Australia and New Zealand" Conference of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, London, 15th to 17th April

(2008) "Student v University in Australia and New Zealand: who, why, how, where?" Conference of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, London, UK, 15th to 17th April

(2008) "Unfair, unlawful or just unhappy? Allegations of discrimination made by students against their universities in Australia" (with P Kamvounias)  Socio-Legal Studies Association, 18th – 20th March. Manchester University, UK

(2008) "University teachers and the law: judicial scrutiny of decisions affecting students" (with P. Kamvounias), Association of Law Teachers Conference, St Anne’s College, Oxford, UK, 16th to 18th March

(2007) "Safety and Students Searches in Schools in United States, New Zealand and Australia" with Russo, C. J. and Squelch, J., Education Law Journal, UK, Vol 8(1) pp 26-39

(2007) "Getting what they've paid for: consumer rights of students in higher education" with Kamvounias, P., Griffith Law Review Special Issue Vol 15(2), pp 306-332

(2007) "Restorative Practices in Schools in Australia and New Zealand: Keeping 'Troublemakers' in School and Keeping Schools Safe - a Contradiction?" 5th Commonwealth Education Law Conference, 19-21 April, Williamsburg Va, USA.

(2007) "Keeping them connected: Restorative justice in schools in Australia and New Zealand - lessons from the criminal justice system" Annual Conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association, 3 - 5 April, Canterbury, UK. 

(2007) "Student v University – seldom successful and often unbecoming: The Accountability of Higher Education Institutions in External Tribunals" (with P. Kamvounias) Annual Conference of the Education Law Association, 21-23 November, San Diego, Ca, USA.

(2007) "Funding of Private Schools: exploring a controversial issue in the United States, New Zealand and Australia" (with Prof Charles Russo and Dr Joan Squelch) Annual Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association, Hervey Bay, Queensland, 1-3 October

(2006) "In House or in Court? Legal Challenges to University Decisions" with Kamvounias, P. Education and the Law, Vol 18(1) March, pp 1-17

(2006) "Search and Seizure in New Zealand Schools" Presentation as panellist (with Prof Charles Russo and Dr Joan Squelch) Annual Conference of Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 4-6 October.

(2006) "Keeping them honest: higher education institutions and consumer protection laws" with Kamvounias, P., Annual Conference of Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia,  4-6 October

(2005) "Doctoral Dreams Destroyed: Does Griffith University v Tang spell the end of judicial review of Australian University decisions?" with Kamvounias, P.  Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, Vol 10(1) pp 5-22

(2005) "Seeing things differently: restorative justice and school discipline", Education and the Law, Vol 17(3), September, pp 87-104

(2005) "Citizenship in Schools: the gap between theory and practice" Education and the Law, Vol 17(1-2), pp 53-64

(2004-2005) "Getting Rid of Troublemakers" Australia and New Zealand Journal of Law and Education, Vol 9 (2), pp 53-69

(2005) "Language Rights in Education in Aotearoa/New Zealand" Paper delivered as invited participant in European Educational and Cultural Forum, Bruges, Belgium, 26-29 November

(2005) "The Courts and Higher Education: legal challenges to decisions of academic judgement and academic discipline" With Kamvounias, P. 51stAnnual Conference, Education Law Association of US, Memphis, Tennessee, US, 17-19 November

(2005) "Damning Decisions on Doctoral Dreams: judicial review of university academic decisions" With Kamvounias, P. Annual Conference Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association, Perth, Australia, 28-30 September

(2005) "In-House or In Court? Legal Challenges to Academic Decisions" Australasian Law Teachers Association Annual Conference, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, 6-8 July

(2004) "School safety and disability discrimination: Purvis v New South Wales (Department of Education and Training) Education and the Law, Vol 16(1), pp 47-60

(2004) "Daniels v The Attorney-General: children with special needs and the right to education in New Zealand" International Journal of Education Law and Policy (World Conference edition), Vol 1, Issue 1-2, pp 300-305

(2004) "Physical, Emotional and Cultural Safety of New Zealand Schools: an exploration of the legal issues" International Journal of Education Law and Policy (World Conference edition), Vol 1, Issue 1-2, pp 42-57

(2004) "Physical, Emotional and Cultural Safety of New Zealand Schools: an exploration of the legal issues" World Conference on the Right to and Rights in Education, 25-30 November, Amsterdam/Tilburg/The Hague, The Netherlands.

(2004) "Let's ask the kids - Yeah, right! Reaction or proaction? The case for greater student participation in school decision-making" 13th Annual Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Education Law Association (ANZELA), 22-24 September, Wellington, New Zealand.

(2004) "Damages without fault: the vicarious responsibility of an employer for sexual abuse" Annual conference of the Australasian Law Teachers Association (ALTA), 8-11 July, Darwin, Australia.

(2004) "Blameless or Blameworthy?  'Principle and pragmatism' and the liability of schools for sexual abuse committed by employees" 2nd Annual Virginia Education Law Conference, 15-17 April, Richmond, Virginia, USA.