A symposium titled "The Lethal Maternal: The Past in the Present and Future Projections" was held on Friday 31 May 2024. Funded by the cross-campus History and Legacies of Violence Network and coordinated by Professor Carolyn Strange, Head of the School of History, the event brought together researchers from various disciplines including researchers from the School of History, the Centre for Classical Studies, the Centre for Early Modern Studies, the College of Law, and the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. 

Guest speakers for the symposium were Dr Anna-Maria Arabia, Chief Executive of the Australian Academy of Science, and Professor Christopher Milroy, OBE, a forensic scientist from the University of Ottawa. The symposium offered the first interdisciplinary response to the 2023 pardoning of Kathleen Folbigg for the alleged culpable homicides of her children, drawing attention to the interplay between historical tropes and cutting-edge genetic research in charting possible ways forward in determining the culpability of offenders and the credibility of evidence in maternal neonaticides.