David Heilpern is an Australian lawyer and author. After attending school in Sydney, and university in Sydney, Canberra and Lismore, New South Wales, Heilpern became a solicitor and barrister. He is the author of For Fear of Favour: Sexual Assault of Young Prisoners, a prominent study of sexual assault in prisons, and has been an advocate of prison and law reform. In 1998 he became one of the youngest Magistrates in New South Wales. In 2004 he was awarded Southern Cross University's Alumnus of the Decade Award. Early life and education Heilpern is the son of former Byron Shire Councillor, Sandra Heilpern. He initially attended Lane Cove Public School in Sydney, but his parents became concerned when the "school suggested that I needed to conform more, and told my parents that my rebellion was so regular that I needed to see a psychiatrist". He transferred to nearby independent democratic school Currambena in 1970. Recounting his memory of the alternative education he received there, he remarked:Currambena was a revolution for me. I was asked questions about what I wanted to do each day. I learnt because I wanted to learn...The lessons of Currambena stayed with me as I did well at school, became a criminal lawyer, then the youngest head of a law school, then the youngest Magistrate in New South Wales...I can honestly attribute much of my success to my years at Currambena, for it gave me a love of learning that seems so rare these days, especially among boys. Heilpern studied law in Sydney and Canberra, and undertook postgraduate study at Southern Cross University, completing a Masters of Law by Research in 1998. In 2004, he was the joint recipient of that university's Alumnus of the Decade Award. Career Heilpern became a solicitor and barrister with the Australian Government Solicitor and in private practice, specialising in criminal law. Working on the New South Wales north coast, he was one of a group who prompted the establishment of a law degree at Southern Cross University, and he taught in the program, becoming the Deputy Head of School. In 1998, or early 1999, he became one of the youngest Magistrates in New South Wales. As a young barrister, Heilpern rose to prominence following the publication of a study of sexual assault amongst young men in prisons. Heilpern interviewed 300 prisoners aged between 18 and 25, finding that around half reported experiencing