Talking Point (audio)

The Gandhi Oration commemorates Martyrs’ Day and is delivered by a person whose life’s work exemplifies the ideals of Gandhi. This year the oration is delivered by The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG who addresses the topic of What would Gandhi do today? A meditation on the contemporary challenges of human rights.

Michael Kirby has tirelessly advocated for equal opportunities and is internationally recognised for his humanitarian efforts as well as his long standing contribution to the Australian legal system.

On Wednesday 30 May UNSW Alumni and friends attended the second BrainFood Lecture for 2012. They heard from an expert panel that they may well be the next victim of Cybercrime. The cost to the world economy in 2011 was $9 billion and Australians are increasingly targets. Speakers warned that one of the biggest problems we face is Australians have been slow to respond to the new cyber realities.

Ken Gamble, Executive Chairman of the Internet Fraud Watchdog, told the audience that it was very important for everyone to understand the implications of what is occurring and to ensure their online information is secure and protected. He said the problem in Australia has reached “epidemic proportions” and parents need to make sure their children are educated about cyber security.

Other speakers included Mike Taylor, Chief Executive, Money Management who shared a victim story from a business perspective and Detective Inspector, Bruce van der Graaf from the NSW Police Fraud and Cybercrime Squad who spoke of the losses from victims whose credit card details have been sold on the black market.

The panel was chaired by Alarna Maurushat from UNSW’s Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre who said it was one of the most complex problems we’ve faced in the past 200 years and there is no easy solution.

What motivates someone to give $3 million to support Indigenous education? On the eve of the opening of Balnaves Place -- Home of Nura Gili at UNSW, businessman Dr Neil Balnaves AO spoke to Sarah Macdonald about his passion for closing the gap, the dos and don'ts of philanthropy and how UNSW students have inspired him.

UNSW's Law graduates will be even better prepared for their chosen career thanks to changes that will equip students with more practical skills and a new global perspective. Here UNSW Law Dean Prof David Dixon outlines the new curriculum and explains why it's the biggest change to legal education since UNSW "broke the mould" in 1971.

Australians at high risk of smoking, such as the mentally ill and prisoners are successful in giving up the habit if they’re supported in complying with treatment regimes, according to Professor Robyn Richmond from UNSW Medicine’s School of Public Health.

Here Prof Richmond tells Sarah Macdonald that while Australia has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world, the smoking rate for some of our most vulnerable citizens is still frighteningly high.

Dr Jay Giedd, guest of UNSW's 2012 Brain Sciences Symposium, is the Chief of Brain Imaging at the U.S. Institute of Mental Health and has spent more than 20 years researching the adolescent brain. He speaks with Sarah Macdonald about how the explosion of social media and other challenges of  modern society are changing the young brain, why reading isn't "natural", and why the exponential increase in violent video games is not necessarily a bad thing.

Security is no longer just about bombs, tanks and fighting wars. Professor Alan Dupont, Director of UNSW's new Centre for International Security and Development believes that our major challenges now include infectious diseases, climate change, terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal migration, issues which were largely absent from our security agenda 20 years ago.

UNSW's Dr Jennifer Biddle has been travelling to the Central and Western Desert in the Norther Territory since the late 1980s, when the Aboriginal art movement was taking off.

Now a Senior Research Fellow based at COFA's National Institute for Experimental Art, her research debunks the idea that all Indigenous art is "traditional".

Plans for coal seam gas mining across Australia are expanding rapidly, yet there are no national regulations in place and a lack of information as to the possible environmental impacts.

Dr Stuart Khan, from UNSW's Water Research Centre, outlines the processes involved in coal seam gas mining and the subsequent implications for our groundwater. He also discusses ways that urban water supplies can be more sustainably managed through water recycling.

The President of the International Criminal Court, Judge Sang-Hyun Song, delivers UNSW's annual Wallace Wurth Memorial Lecture. His speech, 'From Punishment to Prevention', marks the ICC's first 10 years and reflects on the future of international criminal justice.