Kate Auty new V-C’s Fellow at Melbourne

Professor Kate Auty, the former Victorian Government Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, has been appointed as a 2014 Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne. 

Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowships were founded in 1997 to provide a residency for distinguished public intellectuals who contribute to the public life of the University. 

Professor Auty’s extraordinary public career spans Indigenous justice issues, native title, community consultation, curriculum, natural resource management and environmental policy. 

Her early experiences of living in different parts of Australia combined with her strong sense of ‘the right thing to do’ put her in good stead for roles in public advocacy as well as planet advocacy.

She has worked in agriculture, academia, as a solicitor in her own law firm, and as a barrister. No wonder people are keen to know more about her.

As a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow Professor Auty will participate in the public life of the University as well as undertake some research for publication.

“I am looking forward to contributing in the areas of environmental policy and management and environmental public participation. When it comes to climate change the evidence is in and the time for skepticism about the link to greenhouse gases emissions and climate change has passed. It’s now about implementing more action plans,” Professor Auty says.

Professor Auty will also be involved in writing, speaking and lecturing on Indigenous justice issues in Melbourne Law School as her former roles included a time as senior lawyer for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (Victoria, Tasmania, WA), and as the inaugural Koori court magistrate in Victoria. She also set up similar justice procedures in the goldfields of WA.

And in an act of serendipity, Professor Auty’s professional worlds of environmental sustainability and Indigenous issues have started to merge. She works with Aboriginal communities such as the Yorta Yorta Climate Change group. 

“I met Aboriginal communities of north-east Victoria when I was a very young lawyer at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and continued this relationship into my work as the chair of the Victorian Ministerial Reference Council on Climate Change Adaptation. I plan to document and compare environmental and Indigenous issues associated with red-green tape, institutional management, communication and public participation.”