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Lecturer
Contact:
Room: C736 (Gardens Point campus)
Tel: (07) 313 81103
Fax: (07) 313 82121
Email: l.deplevitz@qut.edu.au
Dr Loretta de Plevitz lectures in Discrimination Law, Indigenous Legal Issues and Torts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of NSW in Psychology and English literature, and a Bachelor of Laws degree with first class honours and the University Medal from Queensland University of Technology.
Dr de Plevitz’ PhD from QUT had as its topic, The failure of Australian legislation on indirect discrimination to detect the systemic racism which prevents Aboriginal people from fully participating in the workforce. The doctoral study found a number of reasons why the legislation fails to provide equality of opportunity for Indigenous people seeking to enter the workforce. In nearly all jurisdictions it is obscurely drafted, used mainly by educated middle class white women, and provides remedies which tend to be compensatory damages rather than change to recruitment policy. White dominance of the legal process has produced legislative and judicial definitions of “race” and “Aboriginality” which focus on biology rather than cultural difference. This latter theme was taken up again in an article which she wrote with her son, Dr Larry Croft, a geneticist:
This work has been widely cited including by the Australian Law Reform Commission (2003) Report 96 Essentially Yours: The Protection of Human Genetic Information in Australia; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (2004) Native Title Report 2003; Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (2005) Aboriginal Customary Laws Discussion Paper Part II: Aboriginal People in WA.
Dr de Plevitz’ research interests include systemic racism in the delivery of education. Her most recent publications are:
- de Plevitz, L “Special schooling for Indigenous students: A new form of racial discrimination?” (2006) 35 The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 44-53.
- de Plevitz, L “No School, No Funds: Shared Responsibility Agreements and Indigenous Education” (2006) 6 (22) Indigenous Law Bulletin 16-19.
- de Plevitz, L “Systemic racism: the hidden barrier to educational success for Indigenous school students” (2007) 51 (1) Australian Journal of Education 54-71.
- de Plevitz, L “Testing the social justice goals of education: a role for anti-discrimination law” (2007) Supplementary volume The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 98-107.
She also publishes on other aspects of discrimination law:
- de Plevitz, L “The Briginshaw ‘standard of proof’ in anti-discrimination law: ‘pointing with a wavering finger’ (2003) 27(2) Melbourne University Law Review 309-333 (cited: King v Meilman East Pty Limited [2004] NSW Anti-Discrimination Tribunal 46 (5 March 2004); Flynn, M ‘Why has the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) failed Indigenous People?’ [2005] AILR 2; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Federal Discrimination Law 2005)
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00009332/
- de Plevitz L “Take-home lessons for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual school students: anti-discrimination legislation will not protect you from school bullies” (2005) 30(4) Alternative Law Journal 180-183
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00006401/
- de Plevitz, L “‘Walking the Wire of Prejudice’: the Flying Fruit Fly Circus production of Skipping on Stars” (2006) 88 Journal of Australian Studies 111-124.
Dr de Plevitz has taught in England, Greece, Sierra Leone, and most recently in French as a Visiting Lecturer in the Faculté des Affaires Internationales, Université du Havre, France, and the Département du Droit, Economie et Gestion, Université de la Nouvelle Calédonie, Nouméa.
In 2001-2 she spent a year on secondment to the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission as Senior Policy Officer in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice and Race Discrimination Units. In 2003 she was a volunteer researcher at the International Council on Human Rights Policy in Geneva.
Units currently taught:
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