International Conference on Child Labour and Child Exploitation

Cairns Convention Centre, Queensland, 2008

Organising Committee

Hon. Alastair Nicholson, AO RFD QC
Former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia

The Hon. Justice Alastair Nicholson signed the Roll of Counsel of the Victorian Bar in 1963 and became Queen’s Counsel in 1979. He was appointed by the Victorian Government to conduct a public inquiry into the Richmond City Council in 1981. He was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1982, the Deputy Chairman of the Adult Parole Board in 1982, the Chairman of the Adult Parole Board in 1985 until 1988, the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia in 1988, a Justice of the Federal Court of Australia also in 1988, and Judge Advocate General of the Australian Defence Force in 1987, for a five year period, expiring 1992. His Honour holds the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

He received the appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1992 (AO) and the Reserve Force Decoration in 1992 (RFD). He is a former President of the International Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. His Honour and Mrs Nicholson were for many years members of Kids in Care, a group providing emergency foster care to children and on many occasions they acted as foster parents for such children.

His Honour has since 1984 been the Chairman of the ACSO Centre which is a charitable organisation devoted to the provision of care, accommodation and counselling to ex-prisoners of both sexes. Recently he became patron of the Melbourne Wildlife Sanctuary.

Margaret Douglas

Margaret Douglas has been the CEO of Save the Children Australia since May 2000, and is a member of the Steering Board of the International Save the Children Alliance. Before joining Save the Children, Margaret held senior management positions in business and government.

During her time with Save the Children Australia, the organisation's revenue has grown from AUD5.8 million per annum to AUD44 million per annum.

The International Save the Children Alliance is the world's largest independent movement for children. There are Save the Children organisations based in 29 countries, working together to improve children's lives in over 110 countries throughout the world. Its work involves many different initiatives, geared towards children's needs and local circumstances, based on the principles of sustainable solutions and promotion, protection and fulfilment of children's rights through working with children, families and communities to find solutions together.

Save the Children recently launched its largest-ever global campaign. Over 100 million children worldwide do not have the opportunity to go to school. Save the Children believes this injustice is unacceptable, as quality education widens children's choices and enables them to support themselves, giving them the future they deserve. The global campaign will provide quality education for 8 million children disadvantaged by armed conflict.

The Hon. Justice Stuart Fowler AM

The Hon. Justice Stuart Fowler AM was appointed a judge of the Family Court of Australia on November 16 2007. Prior to that he was a senior Sydney solicitor specializing in the practice of family law and is Principal of Stuart Fowler and Partners in Sydney, Australia. He is the founding and current co-chairman of the World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights Inc, and a co-convenor of the First, Second, Third and Fourth World Congresses on Family Law and Children’s Rights. After holding a number of positions on the Executive of the Law Council of Australia, Australia’s peak council of Lawyers, he became President of the Council in 1994. In that role he represented Australian Lawyers at a number of international meetings including as a member of the Council of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He is a former chairman of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and the founding chairman of the Family Law and Family Rights Section of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (Lawasia ).

He was one of the first Australians to be elected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He is the Vice Chairman of the New South Wales Family Law Practitioners Association. He has served for many years as a member of the Family Law Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales. He was the inaugurator and a founding member of the board of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators. He has served on the advisory committee on the accreditation of Family Law Specialists in NSW. He has been honoured by the United Nations in an Award naming him as a patron of the International Year of the Family for outstanding services to that year. He was Chairman of the Law Council’s Australian Rights Conference examining means to protect human rights in Metropolitan law. He has a strong belief in the ability of lawyers to use their skills to make a real contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights, particularly those of children.

Michael Habermann

Michael is a solicitor in private practise in his own firm, Habermann & Associates – Family Lawyers, in Brisbane, Queensland.

He has practised solely in the family law field for over 30 years and is an Accredited Family Law Specialist.

Michael was a foundation member of World Congress Inc and is its Treasurer. Among other positions held, he was on the Executive of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia for 10 years, on the Executive of the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators for 5 years, was a foundation member of the Family Law Practitioner’s Association (Queensland) and its President for 6 years, and he has been on many committees of the Queensland Law Society.

Michael’s memberships include: ABA (Family Law Section), IAML, IBA, Union Internationale Des Advocats, and the Family Law and Family Rights Section of LAWASIA.

Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn

Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand has been appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Chairman Mike Smith as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The appointment was made on 13 July 2004 in consultation with representatives of the different regional groups in the Commission.

Mr. Muntarbhorn has earned international recognition for his expertise in human rights. He has served in various capacities in the United Nations system, including as Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (1990-1994) and as expert or adviser to many United Nations organizations. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation on Human Rights.

Mr. Muntarbhorn is currently a Professor of Law at ChulalongkornUniversity, Bangkok, teaching international law, human rights, humanitarian law and a variety of other subjects. He has participated in over 150 activities as seminar/ conference speaker, presenter or rapporteur in all regions of the world, ranging from United Nations conferences to training programmes for non-governmental organizations. He has published widely both locally and internationally on subjects ranging from human rights in the Asia-Pacific region to refugee law, child rights, women's rights and humanitarian law. He also undertakes various pro bono activities to help the civil society sector, such as training programmes on human rights.

Special Rapporteurs and other "mandate-holders" of the Commission are independent from any government and serve in their individual capacity. The Special Rapporteur on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is mandated to investigate and report to the Commission and the General Assembly on the situation of human rights in the country, including compliance with its obligations under both international human rights instruments and international humanitarian law.

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