QUT celebrated the official reopening of the Faculty of Business and Law’s refurbished Moot Court on Tuesday, as a curtain-raiser to the law school’s 50th anniversary next year.
Legal professionals, judiciary, alumni, students and university leaders gathered at QUT’s Gardens Point campus, where the faculty’s Executive Dean, Professor Sharon Christensen, described the event as a “full-circle moment”, reflecting on her own experiences as a QUT law student and alumna.
“Some of my most vivid memories of this degree were made preparing for moots; rehearsing arguments, testing ideas and stepping into courtrooms to find my voice as an advocate,” Professor Christensen said.
She said legal education had evolved significantly over the past five decades, but the purpose of mooting remained unchanged.
“Mooting is part of our DNA. It teaches students to think critically, argue clearly and logically, respond under pressure and understand the law not simply as theory, but as something lived, practised and tested,” she said.
Professor Christensen said the refurbished facility represented more than a physical redevelopment.
“As we look ahead to the School of Law’s 50th anniversary in 2027, tonight is more than the reopening of a teaching space,” she said.
“It is a new chapter in our commitment to providing students with an education that is rigorous, practical and deeply connected to the profession they will help shape.”
Dean and Head of the School of Law, Professor Amanda Kennedy, said the revamped court was designed for how courts worked now.
“We asked our architects to prioritise flexibility in the design of our new facility so we would be able to run two simultaneous moot courts, also to reconfigure it into separate teaching spaces or open the whole space for teaching or competition moot finals,” Professor Kennedy said.
“This will give more students more time in the room, whether it be for mooting, observing, or learning in ways that a single-purpose space simply couldn’t accommodate.”
QUT Law alumni are invited to update their details and register their interest in anniversary activities by emailing Law50@qut.edu.au.
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