Terry O'Gorman

Terry O'Gorman is the president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties. He is also a lawyer. In 1979, O'Gorman was elected President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties and served as president up until 1985.He again held presidency from 1990 to 1994. He is currently the Vice President of the QCCL. O'Gorman specialises in criminal law, yet it was the area of Aboriginal Aid in which he first commenced his legal career. An influential member of the QCCL, "it was during the days as a university student and under the rule of Joh Bjelke-Petersen that he first became aware of the need to protect civil rights." In 2003 he pleaded guilty to drink driving after the vehicle he was driving rolled in to a police car. In 2008 O'Gorman commented that "civil liberties on the streets have improved, but the battle has moved to a 'law and order auction' being played out in the media, which used to be centred around the political cycle but now appears to be a permanent fixture."

Raised in Brisbane, he was one of 15 children raised in a Catholic family which included two police officers, another lawyer, and three nuns. His upbringing could be described as right wing. As a university student during the Bjelke Petersen years, O'Gorman became aware of the need to fight for human rights. His early working years were spent with Aboriginal Legal Aid. It was there that he noticed the brutal treatment of indigenous Australians at the hands of the police. Taking matters into their own hands, O'Gorman and colleagues began secretly taping the police. This resulted in a number of miscarriage of justice cases being proved.

By cross-examining Joh Bjelke Petersen during the Fitzgerald Inquiry, he was instrumental in changing the thinking and mindset of judges and politicians who refused to believe that the police were abusing their positions of power.

In later years O'Gorman became involved in the Australian Council of Civil Liberties. He has also been involved in a number of issues involving racism, treatment of asylum-seekers, the introduction of the Smart Card and the Go card. He has also been critical of the way that Australia's police have dealt with indigenous Australians, and the resulting Deaths in custody.

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