UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response Seminar: Prof. Cameron Holley

In 2026, UNSW Law & Justice became the first Group of Eight law school to explicitly embed climate consciousness within the Program Learning Outcomes of its professional law programs, the LLB and JD. This milestone reflects a commitment to preparing graduates for a profession increasingly shaped by climate change, regulatory developments, and evolving expectations of legal practitioners, whose professional responsibilities now include identifying assessing and responding to climate-related risks.

Beyond legal education and practice, professional bodies across a range of disciplines – including accounting and engineering – have recognised the challenges posed by climate change and have taken steps to educate their members and advocate for greater climate-related knowledge and skills. Similarly, there is growing recognition that climate literacy is an important component of many undergraduate and postgraduate programs. For example, recent research involving postgraduate psychology students and program coordinators found strong support for integrating climate change and mental health education into psychology curricula.

Against this backdrop, UNSW’s Institute for Climate Risk and Response is bringing together educational leaders and academics from across the University to explore the opportunities and challenges of embedding climate consciousness within undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The seminar aims to facilitate discussion, share experiences, and identify practical approaches for strengthening climate-conscious education at UNSW, in alignment with UNSW Strategy’s Strategic Pillars 1 and 6.

We are delighted that Professor Nicole Graham from the University of Sydney will join the discussion to share insights from her leadership of climate-conscious curriculum reform in legal education. The seminar will also feature reflections from ADA's Deputy Dean (Education) Professor Stephen Doherty, Law & Justice’s Associate Dean (Education), Associate Professor Helen Gibbon, as well other colleagues.