Join a panel of experts from Deakin University. The Persian Gulf was plunged into war when the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 27. As the war continues to rage on, many neighbouring states have been hit in Iranian retaliatory strikes. The Australian Government was quick to support the United States and Israel in their coordinated attack, justified in terms of stopping Iran from graining nuclear weapons. More recently the Australian Government has offered to help the United Arab Emirates against Iranian drones and missiles. The war has raised serious questions about international law and the principle of self-defence, as well as how best to protect Australia’s interests in a fast-changing global landscape. This panel of experts from Deakin University will engage with key questions of international law, national interests and future prospects for change in the region.

In this hybrid seminar Prof Birgit Kopainsky (U. Bergen) presents on Interdisciplinarity & Supporting the Science-Policy-Society Interface. Environmental and societal challenges are complex, interconnected, and ever-evolving, requiring more than isolated or siloed interventions to be addressed effectively. This talk introduces systems thinking as a framework for understanding the feedback loops, delays, and non-linearities that characterize these challenges. Drawing on examples from interdisciplinary research projects, the presentation explores how systems thinking and modeling tools can help negotiate a shared understanding of a challenge, highlight unintended consequences of interventions, identify leverage points, and support more resilient and adaptive policy design.

Investigative Psychology and Legal Psychology are internationally recognised areas of practice, with substantial bodies of research. Scholars and practitioners in these areas help provide insight into a wide range of topics, such as the effects of memory and perception on eyewitness testimony and witness statements, the psychology of false confessions, and the effects of bias on legal decision-making. Such knowledge and expertise can be used to inform policy, training, and practice guidance, but investigative and legal psychologists can also provide police and legal practitioners with useful advice in individual cases, both during the investigative and court stages. Investigative and legal psychologists are often well placed to help identify gaps or shortcomings in police investigations, for example regarding police interviews of children and other vulnerable witnesses, identifying potential false confessions and alternative scenarios, and assessing the reliability and validity of statements. In this talk Cleo will focus on how to assess the quality of interviews of vulnerable witnesses and suspects, including the information required to make such an assessment. She will explain concepts such as compliance, suggestibility, and source-monitoring, and their relevance to the reliability of police interviews. Cleo will also address common issues with disclosure and Visual Audio Recorded Evidence (VARE) interviews conducted in child sexual abuse cases, the importance of using appropriate interview techniques, and what best practice by police should look like. This talk is essential for anyone that conducts or evaluates interviews in forensic settings.