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130th anniversary of Ned Kelly’s execution
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Expert available for comment –
RMIT University Adjunct Professor Peter Norden AO is available for interview in
the lead-up to the 130th anniversary of the execution of Ned Kelly on Thursday, 11
November.
Kelly was executed at the Old Melbourne Gaol at 10am on 11 November, 1880.
Adjunct Professor Norden will deliver the John Barry Memorial Lecture at the
University of Melbourne on 11 November on the topic: “Ned Kelly, John Barry and
the Role of Social Activism in Criminal Justice Reform”.
“After 130 years, it’s now time for Ned Kelly to find a resting place and for his
remains to be recognised with a memorial, possibly with his father Red in the
Avenel cemetery in country Victoria”, he said.
In the memorial lecture, Adjunct Professor Norden will call for a national review of
the operation of the criminal justice system in Australia.
“I believe it is critical that we acknowledge the limitations of our present systems
and our need for a substantial change in direction,” he said.
“Do we as a nation seriously believe that the increased incarceration of young adult
males from the most disadvantaged communities in Australia (including indigenous
communities) will result in anything more than a hardened criminal subculture in
those neighbourhoods or communities in the future?
“What is urgently needed is a more rational, evidence-based policy direction for the
future of the Australian criminal justice system today.
“If we are to live in a cohesive, rather than divided society in the future, what we
need to produce lasting change are carefully planned, collaborative, long-term,
multi-disciplinary interventions in the most disadvantaged communities, efforts that
could bring about real participation and empowerment.”
A Jesuit for more than 40 years, Adjunct Professor Norden’s decades of work in
advocacy and social justice included seven years spent as Chaplain to Pentridge
Prison between 1985 and 1992.
He is now a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne and an
Adjunct Professor in RMIT’s School of Global Studies, Social Science and
Planning, where he teaches social policy, mental health and criminal justice.
For interviews: RMIT University’s Adjunct Professor Peter Norden, 0409 040
994.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Communications, Gosia
Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
27 October, 2010
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