University of Melbourne Events Calendar

Please join us as we host internationally renowned architect and educator, Marina Tabassum presenting a public lecture for the first time at the University of Melbourne.

A research project in 2019 brought Marina Tabassum Architects’ focus to the displacement of people within Bangladesh and cross-border from Myanmar. The displacement of people is posing a major crisis induced by climate change, disparity in human conditions, war and conflict, to name a few. People are living in transition for an indefinite period of time, while ‘life is being lived’. As Architects, what can we offer as dignified living and how?

Questions such as the above prompted Marina and her team to take on their part of the responsibility through research, education, and practice.

For the last six years, Marina Tabassum Architects (MTA) and their Foundation for Architecture and Community Equity (FACE) have built mobile housing and community spaces for marginalised communities, while working with women from these communities to strengthen livelihood opportunities.

These works and projects received local and international attention including receiving the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2025.

In this lecture, Marina will primarily focus on these works that define her design thinking, and the development of her ‘language of architecture’.

2026 Seabrook Chambers Lecture presented by The Hon Marcia Neave AO

Please join us for pre-lecture refreshments in the MLS Building Foyer from 5:30pm.

From campaigns to end family violence, to reforms aimed at reducing women’s economic inequality, law reform has played a vital role in addressing injustice. But what are the best ways to do this? And how do we do law reform that achieves success?

Drawing on decades of experience in law reform and judicial practice, the Honourable Marcia Neave AO combines her reflections on reform with insights from her recent work chairing the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women inquiry into violence against sex workers.

Marcia Neave will argue that successful law reform requires clear task definition and disciplined planning in designing legal, practical and cultural changes. It also requires recommendations on the structures that will oversee implementation and ensure ongoing evaluation of the effect of the reforms. Whether reforms emerge from Law Reform Commissions, Royal Commissions, public inquiries or other review processes, success ultimately depends on ensuring they achieve their intended outcomes without creating unintended consequences.

The Seabrook Chambers Lecture is an annual lecture series established by former Judges of the Accident Compensation Tribunal in the State of Victoria. This series invites internationally renowned guests to speak on issues relating to the rule of law in Australia and around the world.