For 40 years, Ron Merkel has devoted himself to access to justice for people who are marginalised and disadvantaged, having a long and outstanding commitment to the promotion and advancement of human rights as a legal practitioner.
He is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading public and administrative law practitioners, specialising in the areas of human rights, civil liberties, the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, migration law,equal opportunity and anti-discrimination law.
Ron has practiced as a barrister since 1971 and as a Queens Counsel since 1982. He was appointed and sat as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1996 until retiring from the Court in 2006. Since leaving the Bench, Ron has returned to practice as a barrister with a particular focus on public interest and indigenous matters.
Ron runs a very significant pro bono practice and, through this practice, makes an exceptional contribution to the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Australia.
Ron has recently appeared in a range of significant and high profile cases including, this year, Eatock v Bolt where he appeared as lead counsel for nine Aboriginal people who successfully claimed that Andrew Bolt and the Herald and Weekly Times had published articles in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act.
He was also involved in a Request for Urgent Action to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on behalf of a group of 20 Aboriginal people affected by the Northern Territory Emergency Response in relation to the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act and the failure to consult adequately with affected Aboriginal communities.
In 2007, in Roach v Australian Electoral Commission and the Commonwealth, Ron appeared as lead counsel in a landmark High Court case which established constitutional protection of the right to vote and returned the vote to an estimated 8,000 prisoners. The case raised major issues as to the right to vote, representative democracy, prisoners' rights and Indigenous rights.
And in Wotton v Commonwealth, the judgment for which is currently reserved, Ron was lead counsel in relation to parole conditions imposed on Lex Wotton, an Aboriginal man involved in the Palm Island riots, and their compatibility with implied rights contained in the Australian Constitution.
In addition to his extensive human rights advocacy, Ron has occupied a number of important positions, including: Founding Member of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service; Founding Trustee of the Koori Aboriginal Heritage Trust; President of the Victorian and Australian Councils of Civil Liberties; Foundation Member and Life Member of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, and part-time Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He is also a patron of the Koori Heritage Trust, the Anna Wearne Trust and the East West Foundation of Australia.
Human rights medal
Winner