A podcast created by staff and students affiliated with the University of Sydney Law School's Social Justice Advisory Board. In each episode, students sit down with academics to discuss what social justice means to them, and how their work intersects with social justice goals. Through these conversations, we explore the meaning of social justice and highlight the range of social justice research being carried out by academics working in or affiliated with the University of Sydney Law School.
Peiling Kong: Children’s Participation in Care and Protection Proceedings
What does it mean for a child to have a voice in decisions that shape their family, home and sense of belonging? Do children in out-of-home care have a real voice in court proceedings about their lives, or are their views overlooked by the very adults tasked with protecting them?
In this episode, Just Cause co-director Georgia Zhang speaks with Dr Kong about her research on children’s participation in NSW care and protection proceedings. We discuss the role of court-appointed clinicians, whose reports can bring children’s perspectives before the court or leave them unheard, and her findings on how clinicians’ assumptions about children, as well as their age and verbal ability, shape participation.
Dr Peiling Kong is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney. Her work is interdisciplinary and translational, spanning child mental health, childhood adversity, developmental trauma, and the intersection of psychology and the law. She has particular interests in child participation, therapeutic jurisprudence, and translating research into policy and clinical practice. Drawing on more than a decade of experience assisting court-appointed experts with independent psychological assessments in care and protection and adoption matters, Pei also continues to practise as a clinical psychologist.
15 Oct 2026
Mitchell Skipsey: Human Rights or Social Insurance? The Philosophy Behind the NDIS
What is the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) actually for? Is it a human rights-based program designed to remove the barriers that stop people with disability from participating fully in society, or a form of social insurance that is part of our welfare state?
In this episode, Just Cause co-director Georgia Zhang speaks with Mitchell about his research into the competing philosophies that shape how we think about the NDIS. We discuss the medical, social and human rights models of disability, and how competing visions of the scheme have played out in the courts, most notably in the WRMF case. We then consider the 2024 and 2026 reforms, and whether they signal a shift away from the rights-based foundations of the NDIS.
Mitchell is the 2026 Sydney Law School Social Justice Practitioner-in-Residence. In his legal practice, he works at the Justice and Equity Centre as part of their strategic litigation team, across their disability rights and NDIS projects, with a particular focus on government decision-making. Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of International and Global Studies from the University of Sydney.
31 Aug 2026
Charlotte Hanson: Video Games, Extremism and Australia’s eSafety Legislation
How are children drawn into extremism through online video games? What regulatory framework exists to address this? How can we protect children from the harms of online gaming?
In this episode, Just Cause co-director Eamonn Murphy speaks with PhD student Charlotte Hanson about the relationship between online video gaming and violent extremism, and how children are drawn into extremist spaces via gaming subcultures. We discuss how Australia’s eSafety legislation has become a model for regulating video gaming worldwide, but consider the limits of regulatory control when communications between gamers are taken off gaming platforms, and onto encrypted platforms such as Discord and Snapchat.
Charlotte Hanson is a PhD candidate at Sydney Law School, and is passionate about criminology, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism and intelligence issues. She is a graduate of a Master of Criminology from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice from Griffith University, and her research interests are focused on the areas of online gaming, adjacent online platforms, extremism and terrorism with a focus on children.
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