As the year draws to an end, we’re counting down the five top Library Connect blog posts from 2022. Library Connect is your one-stop-shop for news about Library services, upcoming events, workshops and more. We cater to members of the Griffith community, including researchers and academics. 

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Beginning with its first intake of students in 1992, the Griffith Law School would continue our long tradition of offering our students an interdisciplinary approach to their studies. Our foundation law students were enrolled in one of four integrated degree programs—Law and International Business; Law and Japanese; Law and Environmental Science; and Law, Politics and Public Policy.

A black and white photograph of Professor Charles Sampford looking straight to camera

Foundation Dean of Griffith Law School – Professor Charles Sampford, 1992. Image courtesy of Griffith Archive.

Interdisciplinary study was not the only innovation we offered at Australia’s newest Law School. Griffith developed short films and recordings on Contract Law, which were then sold by distributors around the country. The proceeds from the sales of the videos were used to establish scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students wanting to study law. 

A picture of Joshua Creamer. He is dressed in a barrister's robe and wig is leaning on a desk. There are law books in front of him and three didgeridoos mounted on the wall in the background.

Former Law School graduate and barrister Joshua Creamer, of the Waanyi and Kalkadoon people, 2017. Source: Griffith University

The Griffith Law School was so well received when it opened in 1992 that the School received more new research grants than any other Law School/Faculty in Australia. Former Governor-General and Justice of the High Court of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen, spoke at the official opening. He described the new Griffith Law School study programs as ‘Australia’s second revolution in legal education’. 

A group of four women and one man are seated and standing around a large conference table. There are papers on the table in front of them.

Female Griffith Law School Students, 2010. Image courtesy of Griffith Archive.

Today, across respective international ranking indices, the Griffith Law School is ranked in the top 150 in the world and first in Australia for the study of law on the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2021.