Vedna Jivan

Senior Lecturer

BA, LLM (UNSW), GradDipLegal Practice (UTS), Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW

Academic Profile

Vedna Jivan joined the Faculty in 2004, having previously taught at UNSW and been a solicitor/clinical supervisor in the clincal teaching facility of the Faculty of Law, Kingsford Legal Centre, for eight years. Vedna was Director of the Practical Legal Training (PLT) Program at UTS 2004- 2005.

Her research areas include women's human rights (particularly in the Asia Pacific region), Tort Law, legal education and the scope and limitations of the legal system to achieve social change. She has worked on research projects with a variety of leading women's human rights organisations in the Asia Pacific region (including UNIFEM, the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development and the United Nations Development Fund) and participated in several United Nations conferences.  Vedna has been an adviser to various domestic and regional organizations and has researched university legal clinics and community legal education programs in India, Fiji Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Vedna has taught in a range of subjects at UTS and at UNSW and is a joint recipient of the UNSW Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence and the Australian Universities Teaching Award.

Current Research Activities

Legislative Compliance of the Pacific nations with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Regional human rights mechanisms for women in the Asia Pacific

Workchoices Act 2005 and Australia' Compliance with CEDAW

Public interest litigation: India and Australia

Recent Publications & Conference Papers

Forster C and Jivan V, A Report on the Legislative Compliance of 6 Pacific Countries with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, UNIFEM-Pacific, Suva, 2005, pp1-201

Forster C, Jalal I, Jivan V & Mehra M, (eds), A Digest of Case Law on the Human Rights of Women (Asia Pacific), APWLD, Thailand, 2003, reprinted 2006

Jivan V & Forster C, "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (Something's Happening!)  Public Interest Litigation and Human Rights Implementation: The Indian and Australian Experience", 3rd Asian law Institute Conference, East China University of Politics and Law, Shanghai, 2006

Jivan V & Forster C, "Legislative Compliance in Six Pacific Nations", CEDAW Pacific Regional Conference, Fiji, 2006

Forster C & Jivan V, "Opportunity Lost: In Search of Justice for Victims of Sexual Assault" (2005) 28 University of New South Wales Law Journal

Jivan V & Forster C, 'What Would Gandhi Say? Reconciling Universalism, Cultural Relativism and Feminism Through Women's Use of CEDAW' (2005), 9 Singapore Yearbook of International Law

Jivan V & Forster C, "Courting CEDAW: Implementation in the Pacific - Hurdles and Solutions" Pacific Islands Political Studies Conference, University of the South Pacific, Suva, 2005

Jivan V, "Researching for the Common Good:  Collaboration Opportunities for Universities and Community Legal Centres", NSW State Conference of Community Legal Centres, Sydney 2005

Jivan V, "Integrating Interactivity into the Law Class" Interactive Teaching Symposium, 2005, ILS Law College, University of Pune, India

Forster C & Jivan V, "Old Lore/Bad Law: How Criminal Injuries Compensation Schemes Fail Victims of Sexual Abuse", Australian Lawyers and Social Change Conference, Australian National University, 2004

Forster C & Jivan V, "What Would Gandhi Say? Reconciling Universalism, Cultural Relativism and Feminism Through Women's Use of CEDAW" Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference, Singapore, 2004

Editorial Committee, A Guide to the Law on the Internet, NSW Attorney General's Dept, 2003

Jivan V, "Mainstreaming Clinical Legal Education, Reflections on Best Practice Teaching" National Teaching Forum, Parliament House, Canberra, 2001

Co-editor, New South Wales Lawyers Practice Manual, LBC, Sydney, 1998-2001

Jivan V, "Practically CLE? Developments in Clinical Legal Education in Australia" Commonwealth Legal Education Conference, Jamaica, 1999.