Precis

From small town public schoolgirl to the International Court of Justice, Jennifer Robinson has had a meteoric rise to the top of her field.

In a "full on" few months last year, the human rights lawyer was involved in two of the most high-profile court cases in the world. She represented Amber Heard in Johnny Depp’s defamation action against The Sun newspaper in the UK and helped fight attempts to extradite long-term client Julian Assange to the US. 

At just 40, Robinson has achieved more than most lawyers will in a lifetime. Now she is giving back to the public school system — a cause close to her heart.

Ident board

00:00

Amber Heard intro

INTRODUCTION: Hello, I’m Amber Heard. And tonight’s Australian Story is about Jennifer Robinson. Jennifer is and has been my lawyer, my advocate and an invaluable resource and support system for me for years. But she’s also a very dear friend. Jen’s rise – from a shy small-town country girl to the international human rights lawyer that she is today – is truly remarkable. Now Jen wants to make sure other kids that were like her have a chance to follow their dreams.

00:10

Julian Assange with Geoffrey Robinson and Jennifer outside court

00:45

JENNIFER ROBINSON, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: To be involved in two of the world's most high-profile cases within a three-month period,

00:56

Jennifer 100%

it was full-on.

01:00

Johnny Depp, Amber Heard montage

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: The high-profile cases do bring their own pressure because the world is watching,

01:02

Geoffrey Robertson 100%

not necessarily understanding.

01:10

Jennifer into taxi to Old Bailey

JENNIFER ROBINSON: If someone had said to me 10 years ago when this case started that I would be giving evidence in the Old Bailey about an offer from President Donald Trump, I just wouldn’t have believed them.

01:12

Jennifer in conference

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: Anyone who thinks she's got where she is through luck doesn't understand the situation.

01:27

Lyndy 100%

She works, I would say, 16 hours a day, every day, and sometimes more.

01:35

Jennifer in conference

She is prepared to do whatever it takes to make things happen.

01:40

Jennifer: "That was the political deal that was offered."

01:44

Jennifer dons barrister's robe

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: People think it's easy to flounce

01:47

Geoffrey Robertson 100%

around in wigs and gowns and talk from the top of your head.

01:50

Jennifer in chamber

But you never do that. You have to prepare.

01:55

Jennifer addresses court

Jennifer: "Until we are all free, none of us are."

KATHY LETTE, FRIEND: She works incredibly hard for her clients and she's so courageous

01:59

and so fiercely loyal towards them. But she also understands that you have to occasionally swing off a chandelier with a cocktail between your teeth.

02:06

Jennifer with Kathy and friends

Jennifer: "I was once described in the media in Australia as the “sassy Assange lawyer” and I thought, I say the same things as Geoff, why am I sassy but it’s fine for Geoff to say it?"

Kathy Lette: "I know, it’s so sexist."

Jennifer: "Isn’t it."

02:14

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I've been in a room where people presume I'm the secretary rather than the lawyer.

02:26

Jennifer 100%

It really used to upset me, but now I quite enjoy it.

02:30

Jennifer walks pursued by press

TRACEY MCANDREW, FRIEND: She doesn't pick easy cases. That's not her. If she's passionate about a cause,

02:35

Tracey 100%

she will go after it with everything she's got.

02:41

Jennifer walks pursued by press

BENNY WENDA, WEST PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE LEADER: Wow. She's a

02:45

brave a woman I have ever seen in the entire planet.

02:47

Jennifer walks pursued by press. TITLE: Raising the Bar

Music

02:52

Jennifer driving. Super:
Berry New South Wales, February 2021

03:00

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Growing up, I never imagined that I would have the career that I have. I hoped that I might go on to do good things, and I certainly intended to, but I could never have predicted where I've ended up.

03:05

Jennifer bushwalking

I don't know whether it's because I'm a woman in the law or because I'm a public school kid who's taken an unlikely path, but I've always felt a sense of imposter syndrome. That I need to prove myself and continually prove that I deserve to be here.

03:17

Jennifer sits on mountain overlooking Berry

You can see straight down there in the middle is Berry and I spent the first 12 years of my life living in that little town. My whole family's still there. And then over to the right, just behind that mountain, is Bomaderry, where I went to high school. Basically this is my whole life until I was 18.

03:34

Berry is definitely the place that makes me feel confident to go out into the world. So if all else fails, I can always come home. And that's a pretty great safety net.

03:53

Photo. Jennifer as baby with parents

My mum and dad got married very young and I was their first child.

04:04

Jennifer's father at work

My dad's a racehorse trainer, like his dad was before him, and he works incredibly hard, so I think that's probably where I get my work ethic. He's up at 4.30, works all day, every day.

04:10

Jennifer 100%. Super:
JENNIFER ROBINSON

The worst thing you could possibly be called in my family is lazy.

04:29

Father on horse at beach

TERRY ROBINSON, FATHER: Well, I was 15 when I started. I've been riding gallopers since I was 18 and I still ride today and I'm 66.

04:32

Music

04:40

Terry 100%. Super:
TERRY ROBINSON
father

TERRY ROBINSON, FATHER: It is a full-on career. Unfortunately, it's seven days a week, 24/7.

04:47

Father on horse at beach

Music

04:51

Photos. Parents with baby Jennifer

JENNIFER ROBINSON: My dad worked his whole life for my grandfather and now runs the family business, but he worked for basically minimum wage. My mum earned more money than he did as a teacher,

04:58

Jennifer 100%

so money was always stressful and difficult.

05:11

Photo. Jennifer in school uniform

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: Jen was a very shy little girl. She was very quiet and very --

05:14

Lyndy 100%. Super:
LYNDY CRACKNELL
mother

a private girl. She kept her thoughts to herself a lot of the time. She was very curious and she

05:22

Photo. Robinson family

was incredibly able to learn.

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Just as I was going to high school, my parents separated, which was a very difficult time for our family.

05:31

Ash 100%. Super:
ASH COONEY
sister

ASH COONEY, SISTER: There was a lot going on that she couldn't control but what she could control was herself. And she was really, I think, became quite clear on, well, this is who I want to be and

05:42

Photo. Jennifer and friends, high school

how I want to be in the world. And I think that really drove her to be independent.

05:50

Jennifer 100%

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I threw myself into my studies and that was the one thing that I could control.

05:56

Bomaderry High School GVs. Jennifer walks through school

But also I learnt about resilience and I discovered that I could get through difficult times. When I started at Bomaderry High, I wasn't in the top class, which my mum thought was a complete travesty and disgrace.

"So this is one of my classrooms in my first year at Bomaderry High and this was the classroom where the teacher told me I should maybe lower my expectations about becoming a doctor."

06:00

JENNIFER ROBINSON: The number of students from Bomaderry High that would end up going off to university, let alone to do medicine, was probably pretty small, so maybe she was right.

06:26

Jennifer 100%

But I was determined to prove her wrong.

06:35

ANU GVs

After high school, I went to study law at the ANU in Canberra, but I did a double degree in Asian Studies. So I mainly went because I wanted to go and spend a year living in Indonesia, which was part of that degree. To be honest, I wasn't that interested in my law degree to start with. I did a semester in Jogjakarta

06:37

Jennifer 100%

and then went to West Papua to do a research project and volunteer with a human rights NGO. And those next few months changed my life forever.

06:56

Archival. Resistance fighters in West Papua

07:03

There's been an independence movement in West Papua since it was occupied by Indonesia in the 1960s, and it's been met with violent opposition by the Indonesian military since.

07:07

Photos. Benny Wenda.

Before I went to West Papua. I had already been told about Benny Wenda, that he'd been arrested. It turns out the NGO that I was working with was actually already representing him. So I worked on his case. Benny was an important leader of the movement for self-determination in West Papua because of the experiences of his childhood.

07:18

Archival. West Papua highlands

BENNY WENDA, WEST PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE LEADER: I was grow up in the highlands of West Papua

07:38

Wenda 100%. Super:
BENNY WENDA
West Papua independence leader

with my family, my mum, my dad.

07:45

Archival. West Papua highlands. Indonesian military

JENNIFER ROBINSON: His family were affected by a military attack when he was a young child and they were forced to flee

07:48

Jennifer 100%

into the forest. He watched his own aunts being raped in front of him.

07:55

Wenda 100%

BENNY WENDA: That is my earliest memory and I never forget it. I lost those aunties. I never see them again.

07:58

Photo. Wenda in jail cell

BENNY WENDA: In 2002, I was arrested by Indonesian military.

08:06

Jennifer sorting through papers

JENNIFER ROBINSON: He was attacked several times inside the prison and we were very concerned that they were going to kill him.

08:13

Jennifer with Wenda's charge sheet

This is amazing, this is Benny's charge sheet, original charge sheet, in Indonesian. So it explains when he was arrested. Filled full of false allegations. So he was accused of inciting an attack on the police station and inciting the local population to raise the flag and then defend the flag.

08:21

Photo. Wenda in court

I worked on Benny's trial as part of his defence team and I was

08:43

Jennifer 100%

shocked by the injustice I saw in his trial. But I was also intrigued by him. He had this remarkable presence.

08:51

Photo. Wenda with supporters. Jennifer in b/ground

BENNY WENDA: My boys, you know, tell me that it's a white woman

08:58

Wenda 100%

now with the working with your case. Amazing, amazing that, you know, I know that some people out there watching and we are not alone. I'm not alone.

09:04

Re-enactment. Night driving to safe house

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Benny's wife Maria and their baby daughter Koteka were effectively in hiding because of the threat to their lives. To meet them I had to go to a safe house and they made me wear

09:15

Jennifer 100%

all dark clothes, cover as much of my white skin as I could.

09:29

Re-enactment. Night driving to safe house

MARIA WENDA: When Jen came in in the middle of night

09:33

Maria and Koteka. Super:
MARIA WENDA
Benny's wife

to come and visit us, I felt like lift my spirit up. Wow, this is like it bring hope.

09:36

Photo. Jennifer with Benny and family

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I gave them enough money to get a boat over to Papua New Guinea and survive in the refugee camps over there for a while. But I didn't know if I'd ever see them again.

09:43

Jennifer holding West Papua flag.

TERRY ROBINSON, FATHER: I didn't know what Jen was getting up to in West Papua at all and I'm pleased I didn't because I certainly would have been worried about her, that's for sure. But

09:55

Terry 100%. Super:
Terry Robinson
father

she's very brave and, you know, when she believes in something, she's very steadfast about it.

10:03

Photos. Jennifer in West Papua

JENNIFER ROBINSON: My time in West Papua was life changing. I was traumatised by what I'd seen. I was only 21 and suddenly I was dealing with

10:08

Jennifer 100%

being followed around by intelligence services, life and death situations, investigating rape and torture and human rights abuse. And to me, it just seemed impossible to walk away from that.

10:19

Lyndy 100%. Super:
LYNDY CRACKNELL
mother

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: It really gave her the human face of human rights and what happens when your human rights aren't respected or even exist. And she came back fired.

10:30

Photos. Wenda and cellmate/ Wenda with family and Jennifer

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Not long after I returned to Australia, I heard that Benny had escaped from prison and was able to get to the UK where he claimed asylum. I was with Benny at Heathrow Airport when Maria and Koteka came to the country and it was

10:43

Jennifer 100%

beautiful. I mean, six months before that, I didn't know if I'd see any of them ever again or if they'd ever see each other ever again.

11:02

Maria and Koteka. Super:
MARIA WENDA
Benny's wife

MARIA WENDA: We arrived in the UK and she already there. She was in the airport. And I was like surprised that, wow, she's still here.

11:10

Photo. Wenda with family and Jennifer

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I was supposed to go back to finish my law degree. But I couldn't do it.

11:18

Jennifer 100%. Super:
JENNIFER ROBINSON

Suddenly, people were talking about what to wear to the pub on Friday night, and I just thought, who cares? There’s bigger things going on in the world. I couldn’t… it’s all relative. So I took a year off to process what I'd been through. And when I came back to my law degree,

11:24

ANU GVs

I was motivated and threw myself into it because I knew what I wanted to do with it.

11:38

And that was to help the people of West Papua and to become a human rights lawyer.

11:43

Jennifer at Oxford

Music

11:48

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I really wanted to go back to the UK to be near Benny and Maria, who had settled in Oxford. I also knew I wanted to do postgraduate studies, but I couldn't afford to do that without a scholarship. So someone suggested that I apply

11:53

Jennifer 100%

for the Rhodes scholarship and I got it.

12:04

Jennifer greets Bob Wyllie

Music

12:07

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: She was very conscious when she went to Oxford that she did not fit the profile of the Rhodes Scholar because she was.

12:11

Lyndy 100%

a) female, public school, divorced parents, low income.

12:18

Jennifer walks with Bob Wyllie at Rhodes House

Bob Wyllie, Head Porter: "Many a grand summer ball as you know yourself being here for three of them."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: When I looked around at Oxford, even of the scholarship students, the great proportion of my year at least had been to private schools.

12:22

Bob Wyllie, Head Porter: "Can you remember your coming up dinner in here?"

Jennifer: "I do. I remember feeling so overwhelmed, I guess."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: It was a pretty big culture shock for a kid from the country to be sitting in a huge fancy dining hall next to kids from Eton.

12:34

One of my friends joked with me much later that when he met me, he thought,

12:48

Jennifer 100%

who's this bimbo? But he admitted that I proved him wrong.

12:54

Oxford dining hall

I will never forget my first dinner at Oxford. We were sitting in a grand dining hall surrounded by portraits of old white men, and we were welcomed with a speech talking about all the important, famous Balliol men – prime ministers, Nobel Prize winners.

13:00

Jennifer 100%

And then he said, ‘And we let women in, in the '70s. So look around fellows, you could be sitting next to your future wife.’ And I thought, wow, what are we, marriage fodder?

13:15

Geoffrey Robertson puts on jabot and robe

Geoffrey: "Thank heavens for Velcro."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: By my second year at Oxford, I started doing research work with Geoffrey Robertson QC, who I had long admired.

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: I liked her work. She was very industrious, she's very amicable and outgoing and inventive.

13:28

Geoffrey 100%. Super:
GEOFFREY ROBERTSON QC
barrister

She also had a nice sense of mischief, which I always think is essential.

13:45

Geoffrey dons wig

So I hired her.

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Since being in West Papua, I wanted to be a human rights lawyer, but I didn't know

13:50

Photo. Jennifer with Geoffrey

how to get there. There's no straightforward path. And to me, working with Geoffrey Robertson

13:56

Jennifer 100%

was a wonderful entrance into that work.

14:02

Archival. Foreign Correspondent Assange report. Super:

Reporter: Julian Assange, Australian-born editor-in-chief of the internet whistle-blower site Wikileaks.

Julian Assange: "Every organisation rests upon a mountain of secrets."

14:05

Geoffrey Robertson in lift/Assange internet montage

JENNIFER ROBINSON: In 2010, I remember Geoff giving me a call saying, ‘What do you know about WikiLeaks?’ And I said, well, they've been publishing

14:17

Jennifer 100%

some really interesting information and the editor's Australian. And he said we should get in contact with him because he is going to need our help.

14:26

Archival. Julian walks

KATHY LETTE, FRIEND: The thing about Julian is that he's brilliant but he has no social skills, which is why he gets into so much trouble all the time.

14:33

Kathy 100%. Super:
KATHY LETTE
friend

And so there was only one lawyer I thought who would understand him and that was Jen Robinson.

14:41

Archival. Julian walks

And they immediately clicked and she became his absolute champion.

KRISTINN HRAFNSSON, WIKILEAKS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jennifer has been a central figure in Julian's legal

14:47

Archival. Julian on embassy balcony

fight on many fronts and in so many

14:55

CCTV. Jennifer and Julian in conference

legal wrangles. There have been so many lawyers, you know, in so many countries and

14:58

Kristinn 100%. Super:
KRISTINN HRAFNSSON
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief

Jennifer has been at the centre of organising the whole defence basically.

15:04

Archival. Robertson, Jennifer, and Assange walk

JENNIFER ROBINSON: In the first two years that I was representing Julian, I had to deal with an arrest warrant,

15:12

Jennifer 100%

major international publications, an Interpol arrest notice, the banking blockade, the Swedish extradition case, his asylum claim with Ecuador.

15:19

Archival. 'Free Assange' poster on railing. Jennifer walks

It was a very intense time. I received death threats. I was warned not to walk home from the office on my own. I was

15:30

Re-enactment. Jennifer shows passport

warned about my phone being tapped. I was stopped trying to board a flight in London at Heathrow.

15:40

Jennifer 100%

And that was, that was shocking to me.

15:47

Jennifer at Heathrow airport. Super:
ABC News, 2012

Reporter: Miss "Robinson says she was told she might be on a travel watch list and may need special clearance to board a plane."

15:51

Jennifer: "I suspect if there is indeed a list and my name’s on it perhaps it has something to do with my work for WikiLeaks."

15:57

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: Our highest calling is to act for our client, no matter how

16:03

Geoffrey 100%. Super:
GEOFFREY ROBERTSON QC
barrister

demonised they happen to be. And of course, acting for Assange

16:11

Archival. Jennifer, Assange and Geoffrey outside court

means a certain degree of hostility.

Julian Assange: "And continue to protest my innocence."

16:17

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Much has been said in the media about Julian as a person by many people who have never met him or dealt with him, but this case is bigger than that. It is about the principle,

16:25

Jennifer 100%

the principle of protecting press freedom and freedom of speech.

16:33

Doughty Street chambers. Super: London, UK

I had always intended to go to the bar, whether in Australia or in the UK, and in 2016 I joined Doughty Street,

16:38

Photo. Robertson, Jennifer and others at function

which is Geoffrey's Chambers.

KATHY LETTE, FRIEND: Geoff came home to say he'd hired two new juniors.

16:46

Kathy 100%. Super:
KATHY LETTE
Geoffrey Robertson's former wife

So they both walked in and it's Amal Clooney and Jen Robinson. I mean, they're both supermodels.

16:52

GFX. Amal and Jennifer photos over chambers. Supers:
AMAL CLOONEY
JENNIFER ROBINSON

And I was like, are you kidding me? Was there not one plain, pasty faced,

16:58

Kathy 100%

pimply, lank-haired woman in the cull? Really?

17:04

Jennifer adjusts jabot and dons robe

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Doughty Street Chambers is the most remarkable place with a rich history of defending human rights and civil liberties.

SARAH DOBBIE, BARRISTER AND FORMER RESEARCH ASSISTANT: I think what drives a human rights lawyer is a profound sense of

17:08

Sarah 100%. Super:
SARAH DOBBIE
barrister and former research assistant

compassion and anger all at once. Getting to the point where instead of waiting for someone else to do something because they should, they might, they could – actually you just have to.

17:21

Jennifer dons barrister's wig

JENNIFER ROBINSON: It's a different way of thinking about the law than what I learnt at university.

Newsreader: "Actor Johnny Depp

17:33

News report. Super:
November 2020

has lost his defamation case against a British newspaper that claimed he had assaulted his former wife Amber Heard."

17:39

Jennifer, Amber and others into court. Depp into court

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Last year, while Julian's case was going on, I was also advising Amber Heard in Johnny Depp's defamation case against The Sun newspaper. That case raised significant concerns from domestic violence groups because of the

17:46

Jennifer 100%. Super:
JENNIFER ROBINSON

ways in which the law can be used to silence those who want to speak out about their allegations of domestic violence.

18:03

Amber addresses press outside court

Amber Heard: "It has been incredibly painful to relive the breakup of my relationship."

18:10

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I have worked on some very high-profile, controversial cases. I have never seen a client face the level of vitriol and abuse that I saw directed at Amber. And it's a

18:16

Jennifer 100%

sad reflection on where we are as a society, that a woman

18:33

Amber covers her face and into court. Department into court

who has got a restraining order in respect of domestic violence allegations has to face that kind of abuse. I'm very limited in what I can say about that case because it's still on appeal. And he is suing her personally for defamation in the United States.

18:37

Jennifer shares meal with Wenda family. Super::, UK

18:55

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: Well, she's achieved a degree of publicity because of her help to Amber Heard and Julian Assange and others. But I think

19:02

Geoffrey 100%

most of her work is unknown. And her work for West New Guinea, for example, has been extraordinary.

19:13

Dinner with Wenda family

Jennifer: "It’s a great thing you guys are so committed to your studies. And doing so well."

19:22

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Being on the ground in West Papua and seeing what I saw has left me with a lifelong commitment to their cause and the movement for self-determination.

Jennifer: "Your dad laughs at my Indonesian now. I need to practice a bit more."

Koteka Wenda: We call you Kaka Jen, Kaka Jen, which means big sister.

Jennifer: "It’s true."

19:25

KOTEKA WENDA, DAUGHTER: Whenever she comes, she doesn't just come for, like, lawyer stuff, but she comes in, she takes time and sits down with each of us. Asks,

19:49

Koteka and Maria. Super:
KOTEKA WENDA
daughter

‘What's going on in your life? How can I help?’ And then she’ll give us amazing advice.

19:57

Family dinner with Wendas

Jennifer: "But you’re not going to be a lawyer, right. You saw how hard I had to work."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Yes, I've given a lot to the cause, but I have received so much from them in

20:01

Jennifer 100%

terms of love and support and encouragement and opportunities to be involved in something so much bigger.

20:12

Jennifer and Benny look at photos

Jennifer: "Remember this trip when we got in so much trouble. I love this picture."

Benny Wenda: "Yeah, Port Moresby."

Jennifer: "As an Australian I thought well I’ll be alright but I was more worried about you.  Remember everybody got arrested?"

Benny Wenda: "It was terrible."

BENNY WENDA: My dream always because I already said to

20:19

Benny 100%. Super:
BENNY WENDA
West Papuan independence leader

one day you will become a big lawyer. At that point you will help me, but she never believed.

20:35

International Court of Justice hearing

JENNIFER ROBINSON: In 2018, I appeared in the International Court of Justice to argue for the legal principles that would protect West Papua.

20:41

Jennifer: "All States have the obligation to refrain from any action that deprives the people of their right to self-determination."

20:52

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I guess the message that I try to give to law students when I speak at universities is that it is possible to make a difference with the law

21:00

Jennifer 100%

and the law is, in fact, a powerful tool for social change.

21:07

Photo. Jennifer and Benny

BENNY WENDA: Without her, I cannot move, you know.

21:11

Benny 100%

She's like a backbone of the struggle itself.

21:16

Photo. Jen and Benny

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: She knew it was going to be a very long fight. In fact, she knows that the fight will probably go on as long as she is alive and even longer.

21:19

Lyndy 100%. Super:
LYNDY CRACKNELL

But she just knows also that unless you take on the fight, nothing is going to change.

21:29

Assange being dragged into police van. Super: London, April 2019

Reporter: "After 8 years of cat and mouse, Julian Assange is on the precipice of extradition to the United States."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I've been Julian's lawyer for 10 years now and It has been incredibly challenging.

21:35

Jennifer outside court

Jennifer: "He’s under a huge amount of pressure, with wide-ranging, significant cases in numerous jurisdictions to deal with."

21:53

Jennifer walks with Amal Clooney, Assange and Geoffrey Robertson

JENNIFER ROBINSON: But also has really given me remarkable experience as a lawyer, dealing with something so international, so controversial, so political.

21:59

Jennifer and woman into taxi

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: I knew she would be a valuable asset to the case, but I also knew there would be a personal toll. She fires up when she needs to fire up but then she's

22:10

Lyndy 100%

exhausted afterwards. So, you know, you worry about that.

22:26

Jennifer and woman in taxi

22:29

News report. 'Assange ruling'. Super:
January 2021

Reporter: "America’s bid to extradite Julian Assange from Britain is blocked but the Australian WikiLeaks founder remains behind bars."

22:36

Jennifer 100%

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Ultimately, we've won the extradition case on the grounds that he is a suicide risk.

22:46

Assange supporters

But the judgement is not a win for free speech. The United States have indicated they will appeal against the decision and it's likely that will be heard later this year.

22:52

Jennifer walks to Parliament House. Super:
Canberra, March 2021

Being back in Australia has given me the opportunity to sit down face to face with politicians to discuss Julian's case.

23:05

Jennifer addresses politicians

Jennifer: "Enough is enough. This has gone on for more than a decade. We won the case. It’s time for him to be returned home."

23:17

GEOFFREY ROBERTSON, BARRISTER: It's a fight, isn't it? And Assange at the moment faces 175 years in prison.

23:24

Geoffrey 100%. Super:
GEOFFREY ROBERTSON QC
barrister

And so I'm glad that Jen is still there helping him.

23:33

Acacia Awards launch. Super: Sydney, March 2021

23:39

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: She's always based her career on what she feels is important. She loves the fact that she didn't do it

23:52

Lyndy 100%

the traditional way. She came up through the public education system and now she wants to help more Jennifers.

24:00

Jennifer addresses group

Jennifer: "It’s really exciting. This is something that I've been thinking about for at least a decade."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I recently started a program called The Acacia Awards with the Public Education Foundation, together with a bunch of former public-school kids who have been successful in a variety of fields. So people like Adam Hills, Kathy Lette, Myf Warhurst, Tom Tilley. It provides

24:05

Jennifer 100%. Super:
JENNIFER ROBINSON

a scholarship, funding and the mentoring that I wish that I had had.

24:26

Jennifer addresses group

Jennifer: "When I was at school, I didn't really know a lawyer and certainly didn't see any examples of lawyers coming either from my school or even really in my local community."

24:30

Jennifer visits Bomaderry High School

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: A lot of public-school kids go on and do great things, but there's never been a loop back into the system,

24:38

Lyndy 100%

or not a consistent loop back, where they go back and say, I did this, you can too.

24:46

Jennifer visits Bomaderry High School

And I think if you want kids to harness their vision to a star, you got to show them a couple of stars.

24:51

JENNIFER ROBINSON: This is where I went to high school. It’s really important for me to be able to come back and speak to the students because I feel like I got a great education here and I want to encourage kids to know that they can do whatever they want from a public education.

24:59

Jennifer addresses high school students

"Hi, everyone. My name's Jen. I am a former Bomaderry High School student and was here 20-something years ago."

JENNIFER ROBINSON: Going back to my school was just so

25:13

Jennifer 100%

rewarding and it actually affected me emotionally.

25:23

Jennifer talks with high school students

Student: "What did you find most difficult about doing a law degree coming from a regional area?"

Jennifer: "There is socio-economic difference down here, but it was even more stark to me when I went to university.

25:26

I had to work three jobs to put myself through my law degree. You know, a lot of my friends who went to private schools had sort of private tutors and extra assistance and all of things that I had to do on my own. And so I think that actually puts you in really good stead when you get to university because it's such independent learning."

25:36

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I came away with the feeling – in fact, the students told me – that seeing someone who had come from where they came from and who had done this made them feel like it was more possible for them.

25:53

Jennifer 100%

And that really moved me.

26:04

Jennifer talks with high school students

Student: "Do you think you are the same person as you were in high school?"

26:07

Jennifer: "I think I'm the same person. Obviously, life experience changes you in some ways, but I love coming back and I still come back down the coast here a lot."

26:11

Jennifer greets friends

26:21

TERRY ROBINSON, FATHER: The best thing about Jen, she's so natural. She's never changed.

26:31

Terry 100%. Super:
TERRY ROBINSON
father

When she started go really well overseas, she'd just come home and it's the old Jen again.

26:35

Jennifer greets friends

TRACEY MCANDREW, FRIEND: So much has happened in all our lives. But she still comes home. We still catch up. And, yeah, she's just a really loyal person and

26:39

Tracey 100%. Super:
TRACEY McANDREW
friend

she will stick by you 100 per cent. And that's what she's done with some of her cases is she's stuck by those people and effectively become part of their family as well.

26:58

Jennifer at lunch with friends

Jennifer: "What are you reading? Harry Potter. He’s like me when I was that age. I was like you. I loved the books when I was little. I’d always be reading in the corner."

27:07

Jennifer walks pursued by photographers

ASH COONEY, SISTER: Being away from home has definitely been challenging for Jen, not only missing the family and I guess missing that strong sense of connection to your roots.

27:29

Ash 100%. Super:
ASH COONEY
sister

Being at the beach, being active, being on the horses. That's all really important to Jen.

27:36

New South Wales South Coast GVs. Jen riding horse on beach

Music

27:40

JENNIFER ROBINSON: I feel most at home here in Australia. This is my home. But I also love my work in London.

27:44

Jennifer 100%

My hope has always been that I'd be able to split my time between Australia and the UK. And I'm definitely working towards that.

27:50

Jen riding horse on beach

Music

27:58

LYNDY CRACKNELL, MOTHER: Once she's decided she's going to do something, she doesn't give up. It doesn't always give her the results she wants. I mean, Julian’s still in jail and West Papua’s still struggling,

28:02

Lyndy 100%

but she's making a difference.

28:11

Jen riding horse on beach

JENNIFER ROBINSON: There are times when working on these cases which involve massive power imbalances when I get down about it. But when you look at the course of history and the changes that have been possible, that's what gives me hope.

28:13

Jennifer at lookout on top of mountain

I once met Desmond Tutu and I asked him 'What got you through the darkest times of apartheid?' And he took my hand and he said to me, 'Jen, history is long, but know that justice will prevail.' And I try to remember that when I'm having a bad day.

28:33

Jennifer 100%

I do think that my career is really only just starting. As a barrister, life is long, career is long. In the law they say you get better with age. So I feel like, yeah, I'm only just starting.

28:52

Wenda family sing. Credits [see below]

[Singing]

29:10

Out point

29:39

RAISING THE BAR

Producer and Script

Greg Hassall

Producers

Roscoe Whalan (UK)

Quentin McDermott

Editor

Ian Harley

Camera

Simon Beardsell

Andrew Greaves

Quentin Davis

Sound

Anthony Frisina

Spiros Mavrangelos

Acknowledgements

Bomaderry High School

Camera

Tim Stevens

Andrew Kennedy

Production

Jack Hawke

Archive

Brian May

Graphics

Deborah McNamara

Compile Editor

Damien Davis

Post Production Audio

Jikou Sugano

Colourist

Chris Downey

Assistant Editors  

Ryan Brookhouse

Kai-Bin Wong

Publicity

Paul Akkermans

Promotions

LJ Grace

Legal

Kathryn Wilson

Digital Producer 

Megan Mackander

Production Coordinator

Victoria Allen

Assistant Production Manager

Georgia Slade

Senior Production Manager 

Michelle Roberts

Supervising Producer

Rebecca Latham

Executive Producer

Caitlin Shea