ACU Faculty of Law Brochure

Professor Brian Fitzgerald,Executive DeanProfessor Fitzgerald studied law at the QueenslandUniversity of Technology (‘QUT’), graduating as aUniversity Medallist in Law. He holds postgraduatedegrees in law from Oxford University andHarvard University. He is well known in the areasof intellectual property and internet law, and hasworked closely with Australian governments onfacilitating access to public sector information.From 1998 to 2002 Professor Fitzgerald was Headof the School of Law and Justice at SouthernCross University in New South Wales, and fromJanuary 2002 to January 2007 was appointed asHead of the School of Law at QUT. In 2009, hewas appointed to the Australian Government’s‘Government 2.0 Taskforce’ and to the AdvisoryCouncil on Intellectual Property (ACIP). From 2007to March 2012 Professor Fitzgerald was a specialistResearch Professor in Intellectual Property andInnovation at QUT.“We have been given the opportunityto create a unique and personalisedLaw Faculty- that joins academicexcellence with social commitment.My job is to ensure that we capitaliseon this opportunity and establish alaw faculty that will be recognisednationally and acknowledgedinternationally. I invite you to join us.”Dr Heather Forrest, AssociateDean, Learning and TeachingDr Heather Ann Forrest is a Senior Lecturerand the Associate Dean, Learning & Teaching,in the Faculty of Law. She holds a Juris Doctorfrom the College of William & Mary, the oldestlaw school in the United States. She attendedthe University of London on a full scholarshipand earned a Master of Laws in Computerand Communications Law. Her doctoralthesis, undertaken at the University of Bern,Switzerland, received the highest distinctionof honours. She is considered an expert inthe area of internet domain name policy andrepresents intellectual property interests ininternet policy development.“The size of the cohort, the attentionto detail given to the Law curriculumand its support of ACU’s values, and thetremendous passion with which theacademic staff approach both teachingand research create a unique learningenvironment in which both studentsand staff thrive.”Professor Spencer Zifcak,Associate Dean, ResearchSpencer Zifcak is Allan Myers Professor of Lawand Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty.Spencer specializes in the fields of internationallaw, international human rights law andconstitutional law. He received his Ph.D fromthe London School of Economics and PoliticalScience (LSE). Spencer has been a VisitingFellow at Wolfson College, Oxford University;Visiting Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin; andin 2010 was awarded the prestigious BenjaminMeaker Visiting Professorship at the Instituteof Advanced Studies, University of Bristol(UK). Spencer has an active engagement withhuman rights and civil liberties in the widerprofessional community. He was Vice-Presidentof the Australian Section of the InternationalCommission of Jurists for ten years and hasrecently been President of the prominent civilrights advocacy organization, Liberty.“ACU Law will, I believe, providea highly professional and sociallyengaged program of study. The Facultyhas great strengths in intellectualproperty and commercial law on theone hand and human rights and socialjustice on the other. And our smallclasses mean that every student’seducation will have a distinctly socialand personal character”.