Staff Spotlight: Llewellyn Spink

Llewellyn grew up in Sydney and studied a combined Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney. After graduating, he moved into commercial law, scoring a position in the litigation team at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, before heading to London where he worked for King & Wood Mallesons. 

Despite enjoying the challenge of litigation, and even successfully taking a matter to the High Court of Australia - on time limits for liquidators to commence unfair preference proceedings against creditors -  Llewellyn found he was no longer inspired by this work. 

I would enjoy the technical complexities of a case – engaging with the law and using it to construct an argument that is ultimately run in court. But ultimately, I realised I wasn’t passionate about the matters I was working on. I wanted to be doing something more for the world - Llewellyn Spink

Human rights 

Llewellyn has always had an interest in human rights and helping people. Throughout his commercial law career, he took part in pro bono programs and volunteered with Redfern Legal Centre, giving advice on discrimination issues. 

Upon returning to Sydney from London, he completed a Master of Laws focusing on human rights and international law. He immediately put his knowledge into practice by briefly volunteering at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights in Phnom Penh, looking into current issues in Cambodia like corporate land grabbing and violations of political freedoms. 

He then joined the Disability Royal Commission as a Senior Lawyer. As part of the Office of the Solicitor Assisting, he worked on several public hearings which examined significant issues affecting people with disability, such as barriers to effective health care.  

“When doctors see a patient with an intellectual disability, often they’ll ascribe all their symptoms to their disability, which can mean that their health complaints go undiagnosed and untreated.”  

“People with intellectual disabilities can have poor health outcomes because of this failure in our health care system to properly meet their needs. The Royal Commission ultimately made several recommendations to address this problem, particularly to improve the education and training of health professionals.” 

Working at the Disability Royal Commission confirmed for Llewellyn that he wanted to focus his professional career on human rights. This led Llewellyn to the Australian Human Rights Commission (Commission), where he was appointed as a Senior Lawyer in its legal team.  

While he did not cross paths with former Human Rights Commissioner and now HTI Co-Director Ed Santow, Llewellyn worked on progressing recommendations from the Commission’s report on Technology and Human Rights that Ed had led. This included a guidance resource for insurers on avoiding discrimination when using AI and a human rights impact assessment tool for banks using AI. 

“That’s how I became both fascinated and concerned with the impact of AI on human rights,” Llewellyn said. 

AI and human rights 

When Llewellyn saw the ad for the role in AI Corporate Governance with HTI, he described it as the perfect fit. “It was an exciting opportunity to make a difference in an emerging area of human rights. Enabling me to combine my commercial experience with my human rights expertise, this role provides an amazing opportunity to practically address the harms of AI through corporate governance.” 

In many areas of human rights, you only see incremental improvements over a long, long time. But AI is an area where there is currently a lot interest and momentum. And if we can get the right guardrails in place now, we can avoid a lot of problems in the future - Llewellyn Spink

Llewellyn and the AI Corporate Governance team have created many resources and opportunities for leaders to improve their organisations’ use of AI. Llewellyn is particularly proud of the Directors’ Guide to AI Governance developed jointly between HTI and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.  

“There’s a lot of talk at a high level about AI governance, but there’s less practical information about what directors and their organisations need to do. This guide provides that. It is the culmination of almost two years of research, and establishes a clear framework to help directors to take immediate action on AI governance.” 

Amateur theatre 

Working in law can be stressful. Recently Llewellyn reconnected with his love of acting, as an outlet outside of work. 

“I've always enjoyed acting and the theatre. I had the lead role in two musicals at high school and I was in law revue at university, which is like a variety sketch show with singing and dancing,” he said. “But when you start working full-time, it's hard to find the time to continue with these interests.” 

“In 2023, I wanted to inject more fun into my life so I started an acting course through Darlo Drama. This year, I did my first play with them, Play with Repeats by Martin Crimp. And it was a lot of fun! It's a great creative release. You step into the role, this whole other person, and then you perform. I love it.”