Robyn Layton

Last updated

The Honourable
Robyn Ann Layton
AO KC
Judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia
In office
14 February 2005 –3 September 2010
Personal details
Born (1945-08-16) 16 August 1945 (age 78)
Nationality Australian
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1968,divorced)​
  • Christopher Sibree
ChildrenVictoria Bannon and Anne Sibree
Education University of Adelaide
OccupationJudge, lawyer

Robyn Ann Layton AO KC is an Australian lawyer, who worked in a diverse range of legal roles, including as a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia and judge of the South Australian Industrial Court. She was author of the South Australian Child Protection review known as "the Layton report" in 2003, and a member and then chair of the International Labour Organization's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations from 1993 to 2008.

Contents

Career

Education

Layton studied law at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1967 with a bachelor of laws. [1]

Early career

Layton had a diverse practice as a solicitor, working in criminal, industrial and family law. She also did pro bono work for people opposed to the Vietnam War, both conscientious objectors and demonstrators. Her criminal law work included representing Aboriginal people, again pro bono. Her work for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people expanded to the Central Aboriginal Land Rights team. [1]

Layton was appointed to the South Australian Industrial Court in 1978, before accepting a position as a Deputy President of the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal from 1985 until 1989. [2]

In 1992, she was appointed a Queen's Counsel, following her return to the bar. [2] In 1993 she was appointed a member of International Labour Organization's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, a position she held until 2008, including time as the first female chair. [1]

From 1993 to 2008, Layton served as a member and later chair of the Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, and since then has served as a consultant to the organisation. [3]

2003 Layton report

In 2002 the South Australian government commissioned Layton to review child protection laws to more effectively prevent child neglect and abuse and to improve the outcomes for children who had been neglected or abused. [4] In 2003 Our best investment: a state plan to protect and advance the interests of children, known as the "Layton Report", was published [5] This work focussed particularly on inter-agency co-ordination; services to families and youth; young people under guardianship of the Minister; adolescents at risk, children and young people with disabilities and Aboriginal issues. [6]

Supreme Court of South Australia


On 14 February 2005 Layton became the fourth woman appointed to the Supreme Court and with Margaret Nyland and Ann Vanstone formed the first all female Court of Criminal Appeal in South Australia. [7] She retired from the Court on 3 September 2010. [1]

Subsequent work

Layton has been chair of the South Australian Sex Discrimination Board and the Human Rights Committee of the Law Society of South Australia. [3]

Since 2010 Layton has continued to advocate for Indigenous, refugee and children's rights, working as the team leader for an Asian Development Bank in Kazakhstan (ahem. Borat) , Cambodia and the Philippines to reduce poverty for women and improve employment opportunities. [6]

In 2013 she spent time at Delhi University, running workshops on Advocacy for law students. [3]

From 2013 to 2014, Layton chaired an Independent Review Panel which undertook a review of the APY Land Rights Act 1981 , which aimed to improving the governance of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. The process included consultation with Anangu by visiting the APY Lands and convening 24 meetings, before presenting a report to the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in April 2014. The findings of the report led to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands Rights (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2016. [8] [9]

As of March 2020, Layton is Chair of the Advisory Council for the University of South Australia's Australian Centre for Child Protection and Adjunct Professor at the University's School of Law. [1] She is patron of several organisations, including the Women's Legal Services SA and the Migrant Resource Centre. [3]

Honours

Layton was made an Officer of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2012 "For distinguished service to the law and to the judiciary, particularly through the Supreme Court of South Australia, as an advocate for Indigenous, refugee and children's rights, and to the community". [10] She was also recognised as the "South Australian of the Year" in 2012. [11]

Personal life

Layton married John Bannon in 1968. They had one daughter before they divorced. She remarried Christopher Sibree and had one more child, Anne Sibree. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aṉangu</span> Endonym used by members of several Aboriginal Australian groups close to the Western Desert bloc

Aṉangu is the name used by members of several Aboriginal Australian groups, roughly approximate to the Western Desert cultural bloc, to describe themselves. The term, which embraces several distinct "tribes" or peoples, in particular the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara groups, is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable:.

Kalka is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia administered under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara</span> Local government area in South Australia

Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or the Lands, is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the Aṉangu (people) of the Western Desert cultural bloc, in particular Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, inhabit the Lands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amata, South Australia</span> Town in South Australia

Amata is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".

Mimili is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". At the 2016 Australian census, Mimili had a population of 243.

Pipalyatjara is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". Other smaller communities include Nyapari, Kanpi, Kalka, Yunyarinyi. At the 2016 census, Pipalyatjara had a population of 189. The residents are mainly Anangu who speak Pitjantjatjara as their first language.The closest community is Kalka to the West.

Umuwa is an Aboriginal community in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, serving as an administrative centre for the six main communities on "The Lands", as well as the outlying communities.

Pukatja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".

Indulkana is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". At the 2016 Australian census, Indulkana had a population of 256.

Mintabie is an opal mining community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It was unique in comparison to other communities situated in the APY Lands, in that its residents were largely not of Aboriginal Australian origin, and the land had been leased to the Government of South Australia for opal mining purposes since the 1980s.

<i>Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981</i> South Australian law giving certain land rights to two Aboriginal peoples; created APY

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 grants certain land and other rights to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It began its life as the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act and commenced operation on 2 October 1981. Its long name title is "An Act to provide for the vesting of title to certain lands in the people known as Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara; and for other purposes". The Act has since had several amendments, the latest in 2017.

Edward Picton "Ted" Mullighan, QC was an Australian judge who was known as an Indigenous rights advocate and protecting vulnerable people. He was known for his role as Commissioner of the Government of South Australia' Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry from 2004 to 2008.

Kuka Kanyini loosely means "looking after game animals" in the Australian Aboriginal Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara (APY) languages. In some of the most remote regions of Central Australia, Anangu Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara people manage their land and wildlife resources using a method that is loosely based on adaptive management plans which, in turn, are based on the Kuka Kanyini.

The Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Women's Council is a community-based community organisation formed in 1980 delivering services to the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara women in the central desert region of Australia across the borders of the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia with its headquarters in Alice Springs. It provides a range of community, family, research and advocacy services.

Yunyarinyi is an Aboriginal homeland on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of the border with the Northern Territory, 320 km (200 mi) south of Alice Springs.

Nyapaṟi is an Aboriginal community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) south of the Northern Territory border at the base of the Mann Ranges. The nearby community of Kanpi is 15 km (9.3 mi) to the west.

The Aboriginal South Australians are the Indigenous people who lived in South Australia prior to the British colonisation of South Australia, and their descendants and their ancestors. There are difficulties in identifying the names, territorial boundaries, and language groups of the Aboriginal peoples of South Australia, including poor record-keeping and deliberate obfuscation, so only a rough approximation can be given here.

Margaret Jean Nyland (1942–) is an Australian lawyer, who was a judge of the District Court of South Australia from 1987 until 1993 when she was appointed to the Supreme Court of South Australia. Nyland retired in 2012.

Ngangkari are the traditional healers of the Anangu, the Aboriginal peoples who live mostly in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara of South Australia and the Western Desert region, which includes parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. The word in the Arrernte languages of Central Australia is ngangkere. Ngangkari have been part of Aboriginal culture for thousands of years, and attend to the physical and psychic health of Anangu.

Betty Muffler is an Aboriginal Australian artist and ngangkari (healer). She is a senior artist at Iwantja Arts, in Indulkana in Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, South Australia, known for a series of works on large linen canvases called Ngangkari Ngura .

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Honourable Dr Robyn Layton AO, QC". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "The Honourable Justice Robyn Layton appointed to UniSA Law". University of South Australia. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Dr Robyn Layton". University of South Australia. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Robyn Layton, QC (March 2003). "Our best investment: A state plan to protect and advance the interests of children" (PDF). Government of South Australia. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  5. ↑ Layton, Robyn A.; South Australia. Department of Human Services; Review of Child Protection in South Australia; South Australia. Department for Families and Communities (2003), Our best investment: a state plan to protect and advance the interests of children (PDF), Dept. of Human Services], retrieved 12 March 2020
  6. 1 2 "The Honourable Dr. Robyn Layton AO QC". Junction Australia. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Honourable Margaret Nyland AM". Australian Women Lawyers. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "Amendment of the APY Land Rights Act 1981". Government of South Australia. Dept of the Premier and Cabinet. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "APY lands divided over Land Rights Act overhaul". SBS NITV. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "LAYTON, Robyn Ann". It's an Honour. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Robyn Layton QC". australianoftheyear.org.au. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Dolphin dilemma sets the tone for SA poll". The Age. 12 November 1989. p. 4.
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