Anthony Low Commonwealth Lecture 2021

The Australian National University (ANU) College of Asia and the Pacific is proud to present the Anthony Low Commonwealth Lecture 2021: How to eliminate human trafficking and modern slavery from our 21st century world.

ANU Chancellor and former Foreign Minister of Australia, the Hon Julie Bishop will deliver the annual lecture, named in honour of former ANU Vice-Chancellor and Commonwealth of Nations scholar, the late Professor Anthony Low AO.

Ms Bishop will focus on ways and mechanisms available to the international community, and in particular the Commonwealth, to effectively address the elimination of modern slavery in our contemporary world.

The annual Commonwealth Lecture is an initiative of the Commonwealth Round Table in Australia, which is grateful to ANU for the assurance of its ongoing support for the lecture into the future.

This is a free event open to the public. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, registration is essential and numbers are limited. Please join us for light refreshments after.

The Hon Julie Bishop

Chancellor, The Australian National University

Former Foreign Minister of Australia

The Hon Julie Bishop served as Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 until her resignation in 2018. She was the first female to hold the role as well as the first female Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, serving for 11 years.

As Foreign Minister, Ms Bishop was responsible for strengthening Australia's key strategic and economic relationships with Ministerial responsibility for more than 5,000 departmental staff, 110 overseas missions as well as government agencies Australian Secret Intelligence Service and Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research.

In 2014, she led the international response to the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, and was awarded the Commander of the Order of Merit of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Under her leadership, the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper was developed, providing a comprehensive policy framework for the next decade; and the New Colombo Plan was established, enabling Australian undergraduates to live, study and work in the Indo-Pacific region. Within five years more than 40,000 students have participated in the Plan.

In a political career spanning more than 20 years, Ms Bishop also served as Minister for Education, Science and Training, Minister for Women's Issues and Minister for Ageing.

Prior to entering politics, Ms Bishop was Managing Partner of the law firm Clayton Utz in Perth.

In 2020 Ms Bishop was awarded a Fisher Family Fellowship for the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs. In 2021 Ms Bishop was awarded the Kissinger Fellowship at the McCain Institute of International Leadership at Arizona State University.

Ms Bishop is the Chancellor of The Australian National University, chair of Telethon Kid's Institute, chair of The Prince's Trust Australia, member of the international advisory boards of Afiniti and the Human Vaccines Project and is the Patron of Shooting Stars - an education program for young Aboriginal girls.

She has also established a boutique advisory firm, Julie Bishop and Partners.

Professor Donald Anthony Low AO

Vice-Chancellor, Australian National University 1975-1982

Professor Donald Anthony Low AO (1927-2015) was Vice-Chancellor of The Australian National University from 1975-1982. A distinguished scholar and renowned student mentor his work spanned modern African, Asian and Commonwealth history.

He was Founding Dean of the School of African and Asian Studies and a founder of the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University (1964- 1972).

Other distinguished posts included Director in the ANU Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU (1973-1975), Smuts Professor of the History of the British Commonwealth, Cambridge (1983-1994) and President of Clare Hall, Cambridge (1987-1994), and Founding Convenor, CRTA Canberra, 2002.

His numerous publications include: (ed.) Soundings in Modern South Asian History (1968), Constitutional Heads and Political Crises (1988), The Egalitarian Moment 1950-80 (1996), Fabrication of Empire: The British and the Uganda Kingdoms,1890-1902 (2009).