The Strathcona Medal is awarded at Presentation Night each year to an Old Strathconian. The medal is given in recognition of excellence in a profession and exceptional service to the wider community in the spirit of the School motto; Bravely. Faithfully, Happily. All Old Strathconians are eligible for nomination. This year we are pleased to announce Amanda Whitfort (’87) as the recipient of the 2020 Strathcona Medal.
Amanda Whitfort (’87)
Associate Professor and Director of Knowledge Exchange & Impact, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
BA (Hons) Monash, LLB Monash, LLM London, MSc International Animal Welfare Science, Law and Ethics (Edinburgh); Solicitor and Barrister Supreme Court of Victoria and High Court of Australia; Barrister of the High Court of Hong Kong SAR
Associate Professor Amanda Whitfort BA (Hons)(Monash), LLB(Monash), LLM(London), MSc (Edinburgh) was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Australia and has extensive practical experience in criminal law and prosecutions. She left Melbourne for Hong Kong in 1998 and for 20 years has led the Criminal Litigation course on the PCLL (postgraduate certificate in laws) for the University of Hong Kong’s Law Faculty. After becoming the first local resident of Hong Kong to pass the Overseas Bar Qualification Examinations in 2005, she was admitted to the Hong Kong Bar.
In 2008 she was awarded a Public Policy Research Grant by the Hong Kong government to provide a comparative international review of the animal welfare laws of Hong Kong in partnership with Dr Fiona Woodhouse, Deputy Director (Welfare) of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong). In 2009 she developed and began teaching an undergraduate programme in Animal Law at HKU, the first internationally focused Animal Law course in Asia. In 2011, she was awarded the Law Faculty’s Knowledge Exchange award for her transfer of animal welfare related legal knowledge to the SPCA (Hong Kong), the Hong Kong Administration and the Hong Kong public. In the same year she was awarded a publically funded grant to review the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s local wild animal conservation legislation. In 2016, she secured both a knowledge exchange grant to develop species victim impact statements for endangered species in trade : Wildlife Crime: Knowledge Transfer for Informed Sentencing and a further research grant to evaluate Hong Kong’s legislative powers to regulate international trade in endangered wild animals. Since 2010 she has sat on the legal working party advising the Hong Kong Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department on animal management.
Associate Professor Whitfort’s research and knowledge exchange in animal related laws have resulted in significant legislative and policy change for Hong Kong including legislation which outlawed puppy mills. In 2017, she was awarded the University’s Knowledge Exchange Excellence Award in recognition of her work’s outstanding societal impact. She has published and presented internationally on Criminal and Animal Law and is the leading authority on animal welfare law in Hong Kong.
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