Larissa Behrendt | |
|---|---|
 Behrendt at work in 2012 | |
| Born | Larissa Yasmin Behrendt 1969 (age 55–56) Cooma,New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | University of New South Wales Harvard Law School |
| Known for | Academic, writer, Indigenous rights advocate, filmmaker |
Larissa Yasmin BehrendtAO FASSA FAHA FAAL (born 1969) is an Australian legal academic, writer,filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate. As of 2022[update] she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at theUniversity of Technology Sydney, and holds the inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research at UTS.
Behrendt was born inCooma, New South Wales, in 1969,[1] ofEualeyai/Kamillaroi descent[2] on her father's side. Her mother, who was non-Indigenous, worked innaval intelligence, while her father was anair traffic controller and later an Aboriginal Studies academic. He established the Aboriginal Research and Resource Centre at theUniversity of New South Wales, Sydney in 1988, around the time when Behrendt commenced studying there.[1]
After attendingKirrawee High School,[1] Behrendt completed aBachelor of Jurisprudence andBachelor of Laws degree at the University of New South Wales in 1992.[3] In the same year, she was admitted by theSupreme Court of New South Wales to practise as a solicitor.[citation needed] After a stint of working infamily law andlegal aid, she travelled on a scholarship to the United States,[1] where she completed a Master of Laws atHarvard Law School in 1994, and aDoctor of Juridical Science from the same institution in 1998.[3] Behrendt was the first indigenous Australian to graduate from Harvard Law School.
She also earned a Graduate Diploma in Screenwriting (2012) and Graduate Diploma in Documentary (2013) at theAustralian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS),[4] and is a graduate of theAustralian Institute of Company Directors (2013).[3]
After graduating from Harvard Law School in the mid-1990s, Behrendt worked in Canada for a year with a range ofFirst Nations organisations. In 1999, she worked with theAssembly of First Nations in developing a gender equality policy, and she represented the Assembly at the United Nations.[5] The same year, she did a study for theSlavey people comparingnative title developments in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.[6][7]
Behrendt returned to Australia to become apostdoctoral researcher at theAustralian National University, moving to University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 2000.[1] In 2000, she was admitted by theSupreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory to practise as abarrister. Behrendt is a republican, opposing the institution of monarchy in Australia.[8]
Behrendt has been involved in several pro bono test cases involving adverse treatment of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system, including appearing as junior counsel in theNSW Supreme Court case ofCampbell v Director of Public Prosecutions [2008].[9] She worked inside the NSW prison system between 2003 and 2012 in her role as Alternative Chair of the Serious Offenders Review Council.[10] She has also held judicial positions on the Administrative Decisions Tribunal (Equal Opportunity Division) and as a Land Commissioner on the Land and Environment Court.[11][12]
As of March 2022[update] she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs[2] at theJumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, and holds the inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research, a leadership position that advises the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) on Indigenous strategy. She is also a fellow of theAcademy of the Social Sciences in Australia and a Foundation Fellow of theAustralian Academy of Law.[2]
Behrendt has been active in issues around Indigenous education including literacy. In 2002, she was the co-recipient of the inauguralNeville Bonner National Teaching Award.[13] She has served on the board ofTranby Aboriginal College inGlebe, Sydney and has been ambassador for the Gawura Campus (an Indigenous primary school) ofSt Andrew's Cathedral School since at least 2012.[14][15] She was a founder of theSydney Story Factory in 2012, which established a literacy program inRedfern.[16][3]
In April 2011, Behrendt was appointed to chair the Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People for thefederal government. The Review, tasked with providing a roadmap for Indigenous university education, delivered its report in September 2012 and received a widely positive response for its emphasis on achievable parity targets and the re-allocation of existing resources to support meaningful outcomes such as "fostering a 'professional class' of Indigenous graduates".[17] In releasing the report on 14 September 2012, SenatorChris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, accepted all of its recommendations.[18]
From 2009 to 2012, she co-chaired theCity of Sydney's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel.[19]
Behrendt has played an active role in creating and supporting arts organisations and initiatives and is a consistent advocate of increased funding for the arts.[20] She was the inaugural chair ofNational Indigenous Television (NITV), the first broadcast television network in Australia dedicated to Indigenous programming,[21] from 2006 to 2009.[3]
In 2008, she was appointed to the board of theBangarra Dance Theatre and was chair from 2010[22] 20 2014.[3] She was appointed to the board ofMuseums and Galleries NSW in 2012,[23] a role which continues as of 2020[update].[3]
Behrendt has served on the board of theSydney Writers' Festival[24] since 2015, the board of theMuseum of Contemporary Art Australia, chairing their Indigenous Advisory Panel[25] (2007–2012).[3]
She was a board member of theAustralian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG) from 2013 to 2014, was a judge of non-fiction on theNew South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (2013–2014) and has been a member of theAustralia Council Major Performing Arts Panel since 2015.[3]
Behrendt has written extensively on legal and Indigenoussocial justice issues. Her books includeAboriginal Dispute Resolution (1995)[26] andAchieving Social Justice (2003).[27] In 2005 she co-authored the bookTreaty.[28]
Behrendt has also written three works of fiction, including a novel,Home,[29] which won theQueensland Premier's Literary Awards, theDavid Unaipon Award in 2002, and theCommonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel in the south-east Asian/South Pacific region in 2005. Her second novel,Legacy,[30] won theVictorian Premier's Literary Award for Prize for Indigenous Writing (2010).[3] Her third novel,After Story, was published in 2021.
In 2012, Behrendt publishedIndigenous Australia For Dummies.[31]
Behrendt has written, directed, and/orproduced a number of documentary films since 2013, includingInnocence Betrayed (2013, writer)In My Blood It Runs (2019, producer) andMaralinga Tjarutja (2020, writer), the latter about theBritish nuclear tests at Maralinga inSouth Australia.[32] She was Indigenous consultant for the TV documentaryminiseriesAustralia: The Story of Us in 2015,Who do you think you are? (2018–2019) and other projects.[3]
In 2016 Behrendt (as director)Michaela Perske (writer and producer) and were awarded theIndigenous Feature Documentary Initiative funding by theAdelaide Film Festival in conjunction withScreen Australia and KOJO to work on their feature documentary project,After the Apology,[33][34] and on 9 October 2017, AFF held the world première of the resulting film.[35] The film looks at the increase in Indigenous child removal in the years followingKevin Rudd'sApology to Australia's Indigenous peoples.[36] It won Best Direction of a Documentary Feature Film from theAustralian Directors Guild in 2018, and was nominated in three categories in the 2018AACTA Awards, including Best Direction in Nonfiction Television.[37][38]
Behrendt directedMaralinga Tjarutja,[39] a May 2020 television documentary made byBlackfella Films forABC Television, which tells the story of the people ofMaralinga,South Australia, since the 1950sBritish nuclear tests at Maralinga. It was deliberately broadcast around the same time that the drama seriesOperation Buffalo was on, to give voice to the Indigenous people of the area and show how it disrupted their lives.[40][41]Screenhub gave it 4.5 stars, calling it an "excellent documentary".[42] The film shows the resilience of theMaralinga Tjarutja people,[43] and how they have continued to fight for their rights to look after thecontaminated land.[44]
In 2020 Behrendt worked as a writer for Season 2 ofTotal Control (TV series),[3] and as writer/director on a documentary film entitledThe Fight Together.[32]
In 2021 Behrendt released the documentaryAraatika: Rise Up!.[45]
Behrendt worked on, and released the documentaryOne Mind, One Heart in 2024,[46] which follows the long political campaigns to preserve culture and maintainAboriginal land rights, through the story of theYirrkala Bark Petitions.
Behrendt presents radio programmeSpeaking Out, covering "politics, arts and culture from a range of Indigenous perspectives". As of March 2022[update] it broadcasts onABC Radio National on Fridays at 12pm (noon) and onABC Local Radio on Sundays at 9pm.[47]
Behrendt married US artist Kris Faller[55] in 1997 while at Harvard. They separated amicably in 2001 and were later divorced.[5]
She had a long-term relationship with Geoff Scott, a senior Indigenous bureaucrat, former CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and current CEO of NSW Aboriginal Land Council.[56]
In 2009, Behrendt began a relationship withMichael Lavarch, formerAttorney-General of Australia; they married in 2011.[57]
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Comments made by Behrendt onTwitter that appeared to disparageNorthern Territory Member of the Legislative Assembly, Territory Minister, and Aboriginal elderBess Price caused controversy despite Behrendt's continued insistence that the tweet was taken out of context.[59][60] She maintains that she was referring not to Price, but to the acrimonious tenor of a debate on the television programQ+A. Behrendt had replied to a Twitter comment that had expressed outrage about Price's support for theNorthern Territory intervention, writing "I watched a show where a guy had sex with a horse and I'm sure it was less offensive than Bess Price", referring to TV seriesDeadwood. Behrendt apologised both publicly and privately to Price, who did not formally accept her apology.[59][61] Behrendt said that the throwaway comment has made her a target for a campaign ofcharacter assassination,[59] with several commentators agreeing, most notablyRobert Manne.[60][62]The Australian published 15 stories on Behrendt within two weeks of the tweet.[63]
The disparagement of Behrendt was subsequently characterised as a coordinated response to a court case in which she and eight others were simultaneously involved againstNews Corp,[62] known asEatock v Bolt.Herald Sun columnistAndrew Bolt had used Behrendt's name in two articles about "political" Aboriginal people. Bolt asserted that Behrendt and other fair-skinned Aboriginal people claimedAboriginality to advance their careers.[64] TheFederal Court ruled that the articles were inflammatory, offensive and contravened theRacial Discrimination Act.[65][66]
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