Title: Reflections on Royal Commissions: Can eliciting testimony ever be ethical?

Royal Commissions are powerful instruments of justice, yet the ethics of eliciting testimony within them remain deeply contested. Can the pursuit of truth justify the emotional toll placed on those who testify, especially when their vulnerability is central to the inquiry? Lorna Hallahan invites us to reflect on whether testimony in such settings can ever be truly ethical, or whether it must always be a careful negotiation between justice, care, and consent.

About Associate Professor Lorna Hallahan

Associate Professor Lorna Hallahan has been a social work academic since 2006, building on a professional career in disability advocacy and policy analysis and development. Her teaching is focussed on professional judgement and ethical decision-making and her research covers several fields of social policy. She was appointed Senior Research Advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. Fascinated with theology from her childhood in the Anglican Church and school, Lorna completed her PhD in disability theory and the doctrine of incarnation. During this time, she was also Honorary Chaplain at St Barnabas College. She is a member of the Parish of St Chad’s Fullarton, SA where she is an intercessor and occasional preacher.