Audio
Qld Law Society - The Callover podcast
The podcast was recorded in the QLS series “The Callover’’. The questions were addressed to particular cases in the High Court of Australia in which Michael Kirby had taken part during his service as a Justice of that Court. One of the cases discussed in the podcast was Wurridjal v The Commonwealth (2009) 237 CLR 309. This was the last decision delivered by Justice Kirby on the day of his retirement from the High Court, 2 February 2009. In answer to questions, he explained a difference that arose between the majority of the court, led by French CJ, and Justice Kirby, in minority sole dissent. The issue was whether the Federal legislation that provided for the Northern Territory Intervention in 2008 was constitutionally valid. The point of difference was whether provisions in the Federal legislation providing for monetary compensation to First Nations People complied with the Australian constitutional requirement of ’’just terms’’ . The majority held that this constitutional provision in s 51 (xxxi) was satisfied. Justice Kirby held that the provision of monetary compensation was not sufficient in Australia (unlike the United States). Just terms was a broader concept. It included the necessity of consultation with the first Nations people affected. The case is a neat example of constitutional questions that can arise in the High Court; and the differences that can exist amongst the Justices deciding the case.
Recorded on 4 September 2025 in Brisbane, at the Queensland Law Society.
Justice Michael Kirby interviewed by Daniel Connell
Interview with Justice Michael Kirby. The link to the digital collection of the National Library is for the purpose of those interested in the history of the High Cour of Australia and my part in it.
Recorded on 4 April 2023 in Sydney, New South Wales.
Michael Kirby interviewed by Daniel Connell for the Australian response to AIDS oral history project
Justice Michael Kirby, former member of the Global Commission on AIDS and the AIDS Trust of Australia, speaks of his involvement in AIDS issues; WHO Global Commission on AIDS; social versus medical control of the disease; African AIDS problem; effect of AIDS on societal attitudes; AIDS & drug use; political response to epidemic; first awareness of AIDS as a disease; comparison of HIV & other sexually transmitted diseases; AIDS & Soviet Union; blood donation; government responsibilities; HIV & prisons; gay participation in AIDS debate; future AIDS strategies; possibility of a cure; women & AIDS.
Part of a project undertaken jointly by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations and the National Library of Australia focussing on the social and political response in Australia to AIDS. Recorded in Sydney, N.S.W. on 3 August 1993.
YARNS. with The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG - Justice, Country & the Constitution
Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG joins host Harry Stewart for a wide-ranging conversation about how constitutional law meets lived experience on Country. We revisit the landmark decisions that still shape Australia’s legal landscape—Mabo, Wik, Kartinyeri, and Wurridjal—and use them to explore bigger questions: What does constitutional courage look like? How should courts weigh history, text, and consequences? And where does dissent fit in the long arc of justice? Along the way, we discuss native title and coexistence, the scope of the “race” power after 1967, and why “just terms” in the Territories matters beyond property—because what’s at stake is culture, community, and the rule of law.
Highlights: judicial method vs. outcomes; the place of history in judging; respectful disagreement on the Court; reconciliation and the law’s moral imagination; practical lessons for students, practitioners, and anyone who wants a clearer view of how the Constitution actually works.
>> From the first 'pink ban' to the '78 riots: LGBTIQ+ Australians reflect on 50 years of progres
>> Apple Podcast - YARNS. with The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG - Justice, Country & the Constitution
>> Spotify - YARNS. with The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG - Justice, Country & the Constitution
Keynote Address - NSW Humanitarian Awards 2025
The address given for the presentation of Humanitarian Awards 2025 by STARTTS (NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors) was delivered at Parliament House, Sydney, on Thursday 26 June 2025 in the presence of many participants in STARTTS, from migrant and refugee communities, legal bodies, and medical and healthcare organisations. Michael Kirby had earlier been a Patron of STARTTS. He returned to deliver the opening address of the occasion. In it, he describes a number of cases that came before him when he was a Justice of the High Court of Australia, including Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs v B (2004) 219 CLR 365; and Al-Kateb v Godwin (2004) 219 CLR 562.
SBS 50 Podcasts
Two podcast episodes produced by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) for its 50th anniversary this year.
The episodes include an interview with Michael Kirby and describe the role of SBS in promoting reform of the law concerning LGBTIQ+ in Australia.
>> From the first 'pink ban' to the '78 riots: LGBTIQ+ Australians reflect on 50 years of progres
>> From the first 'pink ban' to the '78 riots: LGBTIQ+ Australians reflect on 50 years of progress
>> Oppressive laws and 100 days of hell: LGBTIQ+ people on 50 years of history
ChatterMatters Podcast with Michael Kirby
In this special in-person episode, Amogh sits down with the Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG - Australia's "Great Dissenter" and a former Justice of the High Court of Australia (Australia's Highest Court) - for a wide-ranging conversation recorded at his chambers in Sydney. Justice Kirby reflects on his early years as a proud public school student, his path into law, his love of history and student politics, and offers powerful advice for law students and young lawyers: be a joiner, don't hide your talents, and shape a life that suits you.
From RBG to resilience, hard work to humility - this is a true masterclass.
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) occurred in 2023. Attached is a serious of podcasts prepared by Mr Phillip Tahmindjis. He earlier worked with the Hon. Michael Kirby in the Secretariat of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association, based in London. He and Michael Kirby, at different stages in their careers, worked with Professor John Humphrey, Head of the Secretariat of Eleanor Roosevelt’s committee that drafted the UDHR. Each of them knew and admired John Humphrey. In this podcast, Phillip Tahmindjis includes conversations with John Humphrey about the process of drafting and completing the UDHR in 1948, in time for its adoption on 8 December 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. In the podcast, Michael Kirby tells of his experience in receiving instruction at school in Sydney, Australia, on the language and purposes of the UDHR and of its importance for human rights, justice, peace and security.
- 1 of 9
- next ›
Michael Kirby has been elected Patron of QTOPIA alongside Ita Buttrose AC OBE.
QTOPIA will launch Sydney’s gay museum.
The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, Level 7, 195 Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
