Ruby Hutchison Memorial Address

Professor Jane K Winn

Professor Winn, is the Charles I Stone Professor of Law and Director of the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce & Technology at the University of Washington, Seattle.

A graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of London and a Fulbright Scholar, Professor Winn is a leading international authority on electronic commerce law and technological and governance issues surrounding information security. She joined the University of Washington faculty in 2002. Her current research interests include electronic commerce law developments in the United States, the European Union, and China. She is co-author of Law of Electronic Commerce and the casebook Electronic Commerce, and editor of Consumer Protection in the Age of the ‘Information Economy”.

In 2007 she taught Cybersecurity Law and Electronic Commerce Law as part of the Masters of Law course at the University of Melbourne Law School.

Ruby Hutchison (1892 - 1974)
A Founder of the Modern Australian Consumer Movement

The Ruby Hutchison Memorial Address is named after Ruby Hutchison who in 1962 was the first woman elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council and who was instrumental in the establishment of the Australian Consumers Association, now known as CHOICE.

Ruby Hutchison was born in Melbourne in 1892, and at the age of four, moved with her family to the goldfields of Western Australia.  Her family settled first at Cue, then moved to Day Dawn, and finally Meekatharra.

At the age of 49, and with seven adult children, Ruby enrolled in the University of Western Australia to study public administration, public speaking, psychology and languages.

In 1954, at 62 years of age, Ruby Hutchison was the first woman to be elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council.

A passionate advocate for the reform of the undemocratic voting system for the Legislative Council, Ruby was also part of the successful push to have women appointed as jurors in 1957.

Her interest in youth affairs and equal opportunity was reflected in her work with people suffering from epilepsy and intellectual disabilities.  She was a founder of the Western Australian Epilepsy Association and the Nulsen Haven which provided accommodation for children with intellectual disabilities.

Following her realisation that there was a need for an organisation which protected consumers, Ruby embarked on two years of research, with assistance from organisations in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

In 1959, the research and advocacy of Ruby Hutchison was instrumental in the founding the Australian Consumers' Association, publishers of Choice.