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Janet Albrechtsen is an opinion columnist with The Australian. She has worked as a solicitor in commercial law, and attained a Doctorate of Juridical Studies from the University of Sydney. She has written for numerous other publications including the Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sunday Age, and The Wall Street Journal.

@jkalbrechtsen

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commentaryPolitics

Justice Michael Wigney (top right) last week handed down his decision on the class action taken by Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabi, have instigated a climate change class action against the Commonwealth Government alleging a threat of inundation of the Torres Strait Islands. Pictures: Talei Elu/Supplied

Dire Straits: court is the wrong venue for political theatre

The decision last week in the Federal Court concerning climate change in the Torres Strait was surely the high-water mark for wasting weeks of high-priced court time.

Janet Albrechtsen

commentaryCommentary

Barristers are seen outside, Supreme Court in Brisbane, Monday, October 14, 2019. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt) NO ARCHIVING

Australia’s legal profession has lost its way

The great aim of the Australian legal profession is now too often to use the law to win political victories it could never win at an election.

Janet Albrechtsen

INQUIRERInquirer

If a woman includes a trans woman, get ready for some crazy consequences

It’s a mad, mad world. In an upcoming court case we are forced to ask, almost a century after Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, why can’t women have an online room of their own to express themselves freely?

Janet Albrechtsen

commentaryCommentary

BRISBANE , AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - BRISBANE , JUNE 24 2024: Generic photo of the scales of justice stature outside Brisbane Supreme Court in the Brisbane CBD. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

Process as punishment in the age of #MeToo

Judges have criticised prosecutors for running prosecutions with no reasonable prospect of success, causing untold damage to both complainants and defendants.

Janet Albrechtsen

Inquirer

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 03: A boy lays on the sand shading his face at North Narrabeen Beach on February 3, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. The initiative is part of the Bush to Beach programme, which now in its 18th year, gives indigenous children a unique opportunity to learn and explore Sydney's beach culture. The efforts are made possible entirely by volunteers, donations and sponsorship. Bush to Beach is a charity dedicated to inspiring hope, confidence, self-esteem and promoting education for Aussie bush kids, a release by the charity said. This particular trip is a reward for school attendance and an opportunity for the kids to see that there is another world outside their own community and help develop confidence and self-esteem, according to Bush to Beach co-founder Jack Cannons. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Truth is, in a single country Yoorrook a wasted opportunity

It’s a simple truth: the Yoorrook report fails to address basic needs of Indigenous children, but makes outlandish demands in serving the interests of the adults who drove it.

Janet Albrechtsen

commentaryCommentary

Forget female quotas, it’s mediocrity that’s killing the Liberals

If the Left can’t point to an emoting female leader who won a few elections in a row, why would the conservatives think one will work for them?

Janet Albrechtsen

INQUIRERInquirer

The Aboriginal flag on Anzac Hill, Alice Springs, Friday, February 3, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Think the sacked street sweeper case is bad? Here’s what’s happening in schools

The problem of token political statements goes deeper than even Melbourne’s most left-wing council, with naughty children now being asked to share in an acknowledgment of country.

Janet Albrechtsen

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