Alice Erh-Soon Tay (1934–2004) was an Australian academic lawyer, an eminent jurisprudence and comparative law scholar. She was president of the Australian
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...
from 1998 to 2003.
Early life and education
Tay was born in Singapore in 1934. She was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1957
and practiced as a criminal lawyer. In 1959 she moved to the new law department at the University of Malaya (now the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...
).
She moved to Australia in 1961. Four years later she obtained her PhD from the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
.
Professional career
Tay had a long academic career at the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
, with 26 years as the Challis Professor of Jurisprudence from 1975. She was a part-time Commissioner of the
Australian Law Reform Commission
The Australian Law Reform Commission (often abbreviated to ALRC) is an Australian independent statutory body established to conduct reviews into the law of Australia. The reviews, also called inquiries or references, are referred to the ALRC by ...
from 1982 to 1987. During her time at the ALRC, she contributed to several major inquiries — including The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws (ALRC 31, 1986); Privacy (ALRC 22, 1983); Contempt (ALRC 35, 1987) and Matrimonial Property (ALRC 39, 1987).
In 1985, Tay was made a Member of the Order of Australia, for her contributions to teaching and research in law. She was elected a Fellow of the
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...
in 1986 and was awarded an LLD (honoris causa) from the University of Edinburgh in 1989.
Personal life
Tay married political philosopher and Marxist scholar
Eugene Kamenka
Eugene Kamenka (4 March 1928 – 19 January 1994) was an Australian political philosopher and Marxism, Marxist scholar.
Biography
Kamenka was born in Cologne in 1928 and migrated to Australia with his parents in 1937. He was educated at the S ...
after her arrival in Australia. He died in 1994 and she remarried Guenther Doeker-Mach shortly before her death in April 2004.
Tributes
A street in the Canberra suburb of
Watson is named after her. The gazetted notice of the
ACT Government
The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lead ...
noted her role in "court interventions regarding the
MV Tampa
MV ''Tampa'' was a roll-on/roll-off container ship completed in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in South Korea for the Norway-based firm, Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning.
In 2001, the vessel was at the centre of the Tampa Affair when its ...
".
The Annual Alice Tay Lecture in Law and Human Rights was established in 2005 by the Herbert and Valmae Freilich Foundation at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
. This lecture was established to acknowledge both Tay's championship of human rights in Australia and her contributions as a member of the Foundation's board over a number of years.
References
External links
*
Alice Tay lectures at the Herbert & Valmae Freilich Project for the Study of Bigotry at the ANU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tay, Alice
1934 births
2004 deaths
Australian people of Chinese descent
Australian women lawyers
Singaporean emigrants to Australia
Members of the Order of Australia
Australian National University alumni
University of Sydney faculty
Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia