The journal launched its 10th edition at TLANZ’s Auckland offices
The Law Association of New Zealand celebrated the milestone 10th edition of the New Zealand Women's Law Journal — Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine with a launch held at its Auckland offices.
Professor Gail Pacheco, the Human Rights Commission’s equal employment opportunities commissioner, delivered the event’s keynote address. Pacheco was the first woman to become editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Economic Papers.
“The very existence of this journal, now in its tenth edition, is evidence of progress”, Pacheco said of the New Zealand Women's Law Journal. “Change is very rarely linear. It can be slow, it can be uneven, it can be at times fragile, but there is a positive long-run arc”.
TLANZ vice president Samira Taghavi announced the winners of the journal’s annual writing competition, which spotlights contributions to gender justice scholarship from the 2025 edition. Mariah Hori Te Pa, Beth Murfitt, Melissa Tahere, Angel Stewart and Ella Young, with Briar Peat and Waitapu Beech won for their article “WĀHINE TŪ, IWI MĀORI ORA — The Waitangi Tribunal Mana Wahine Kaupapa Inquiry: The first 32 years”, which dives into the 30-year journey of the Mana Wahine Kaupapa Inquiry and highlights wāhine Māori’s voices and leadership.
Brittany Peck, Taine Polkinghorne, Professor Claire Breen and Professor Katrina Roen also won for their case commentary on For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, where they addressed the real-world effect of the case’s ruling on transgender and gender-diverse people.
“We have been proudly sponsoring the journal for the past ten years, and I am very pleased to say that this is something we are absolutely going to continue. It is such an important platform, not just for legal scholarship, but for voices and perspectives that genuinely shape the direction of our profession”, Taghavi said.
Then-junior lawyers Ana Lenard and Allanah Colley launched the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal in 2016. This year, editors-in-chief Nicole Browne and Romy Wales stepped down from their leadership roles, as did managing editor Sonia Pinto.
