Integrated legal assistance services can provide great support to people experiencing complex disadvantage, distress or trauma, but keeping legal information private in these circumstances can be complicated. In this episode of ‘Old Law, New Law’, Eve Gallagher, Team Leader of our Legal privilege and integrated legal assistance services inquiry, talks with VLRC Chair, Tony North and senior staff from three integrated legal assistance services in Victoria about ways of addressing these problems.
How can the courts safely use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency and access to justice? Can AI supplement the human elements of how courts work? What about the problems of deepfakes, bias and ‘hallucinations’?
In this episode of ‘Old Law, New Law’, Nick and Natalie talk to the team behind the VLRC’s current review of AI and the courts: Kathryn Terry, Emily Clark and Jen-Tsen Kwok.
Some 5,000 – 6,000 people serve on juries in Victoria every year. In this episode we talk to Victorian Juries Commissioner Paul Dore about his role in bringing jurors into the courtroom and what happens when they get there. Topics covered in this wide-ranging conversation include the impact of traumatic trials on jurors, the problem of jurors doing their own research on Google, and what can be done to improve the juror experience.
Serving on a jury is an important civic duty, but you may be surprised to learn that people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have low vision are unable to serve on juries in Victoria. In May 2023 the VLRC published a report, Inclusive Juries, with a set of recommendations for reform that would enable more people to serve using reasonable adjustments. Nick talks to Emma Cashen, team leader of the Inclusive Juries project, and Phoebe Lindner, a senior policy and research officer at the VLRC, about how Victorian juries can be made more inclusive and representative.
If someone kicks a person in the head and they are badly hurt, they might be charged with recklessly causing serious injury. But what does ‘reckless’ mean in a legal sense? The meaning in the law is not the same as in everyday speech, and differs between jurisdictions. Law courts have to work out what was going on in someone’s mind at the exact moment of an action to decide if they are guilty of reckless behaviour. Nick and Gemma talk to Tony North KC, Chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, and members of the VLRC team that is considering recklessness in Victoria.
A conversation between Tony North QC, Chair of the VLRC, and Fiona Patten MP, leader of the Reason Party and Chair of the Victorian Parliament’s legal and social issues committee, on why law reform matters and the different ways that the VLRC and the parliamentary committee approach law reform. Interviewer: Lynne Haultain, Executive Director of the Victoria Law Foundation. Recorded for Law Week, May 2022.
In November the VLRC published an eagerly awaited report with 91 recommendations to reform how the justice system responds to sexual offences in Victoria. Gemma and Nick talk to the Chair of the VLRC, Tony North QC and team leader Jacinth Pathmanathan about reforms to criminal trials, restorative justice, affirmative consent, and how to make reporting easier.
Most of us have a rough idea of what stalking involves – the stereotype of a creepy guy following you around – but in the era of social media and lockdowns, cyberstalking is also a growing problem. Some 14,000 cases of stalking-related offences occurred in Victoria last year, and that is only the tip of the iceberg. Gemma and Nick talk to Tony North, Marie Barnard and Michelle McDonnell of the VLRC’s inquiry into stalking laws. How does the law currently deal with stalking, and what can you do if you are being stalked? To find out more, visit Stalking – Victorian Law Reform Commission.
Nick and Gemma talk to Professor Ron McCallum AO, Professor of Law at Sydney Law School and the first totally blind person appointed to a university Chair in Australia, about the VLRC’s inquiry into how to assist people who are blind, have low vision, deaf or hard of hearing to serve on juries in Victoria. They are joined by Chair of the VLRC the Hon. Tony North and team leader Emma Cashen.
In this episode we talk to the team working on the VLRC’s current inquiry, Improving the Response of the Justice System to Sexual Offences. The topics covered include: barriers to reporting sexual offences, alternative ways of reporting, specialist courts, and restorative justice.
An interview with the Chair of the VLRC, the Hon. Tony North, about why the VLRC has recommended that the laws of contempt of court should be clarified in legislation.
Disputes between neighbours about trees are common. They may involve dangerous branches, roots that damage property, or even poison. The law in this area is complex and difficult to find, while it is not clear to people how they can resolve their disputes without expensive and stressful legal action. That’s why the VLRC recently completed a report on the law of neighbourhood tree disputes, recommending a new Act to help people resolve their problems. In this episode Nick and Gemma talk to Emma Cashen, team leader of the tree disputes inquiry, and Natalie Lilford, the Commission’s community law reform manager.
One of the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s functions is to examine, report and make recommendations to the Attorney-General on any matter the Commission considers of general community concern. These Community Law Reform projects, which are separate from those initiated by the Attorney-General, deal with relatively minor issues which, nevertheless, deeply affect the lives of Victorians. They exemplify the Commission’s commitment to community consultation and the idea that law reform best comes out of the day-to-day experience of ordinary people. Discussing the importance of our Community Law Reform program is program manager Natalie Lilford and Chair of the Commission, the Hon. Anthony North QC.
By the time those accused of serious crime have their day in court, they have already undergone a pretrial process. Committal proceedings can involve court appearances, pleas, presentation of evidence and witness testimony. What is the point of all this pre-amble? Does it speed up the course of justice or bog it down? In this episode we look at the committal process in Victoria and why it might be in need of reform. Nick and Gemma discuss the key issues with Michael McKiterick, leader of the VLRC team looking into committals, and Senior Research and Policy Officer Briana Proud.
Contempt of court’ can include everything from blowing bubblegum in court to publishing suppressed information. But what actually is it, and does the law need to be reformed? Nick Gadd and Gemma Walsh speak with Anna Beesley and Helen Donovan, and Bruce Gardner, Acting Chair of the VLRC. They discuss scandalising the court, contempt in the face of the court, juror contempt, publication contempt, disobedience contempt, and whether a bubblegum bubble might send you to jail.
The Chairperson of the VLRC is the Hon Tony North KC. Mr North is a former judge of the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. Admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1976, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1989. In 1995, Mr North was made judge of the Federal Court of Australia, where he served until his retirement in 2018. He also served, from 2004, as additional judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT. During his time as judge, Mr North presided over cases involving constitutional and commercial law, industrial and employment law, taxation, intellectual property and native title. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Laws from the University of London. In January 2024 Mr North was appointed a Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and took leave from the VLRC to fulfil that role until March 2025. In April 2025, he was elected president of the Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Agencies (CALRAs).
Past Commissioner Example
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Dr Vivian Waller
Director and Principal Solicitor, Waller Legal
Dr Vivian Waller was admitted to legal practice in 1995. She is the Director and Managing Partner of law firm Waller Legal. She has 25 years experience representing survivors of institutional child sexual abuse including litigation in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia. Dr Waller was instrumental in the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse where she represented 20 survivor witnesses in case studies inquiring into the Melbourne Response, Victorian State Wards, Yeshiva Bondi and Melbourne, Catholic Church Authorities in Ballarat and the Criminal Justice System. She has written submissions for the Royal Commission and appeared before the Senate Committee in relation to the establishment of the National Redress Scheme. Dr Waller represented, on a pro bono basis, the complainant in the criminal prosecution and appeals process in relation to allegations against Cardinal George Pell. She holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Monash University. Dr Waller was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in November 2020.
Dan Nicholson
Executive Director, Criminal Law, Victoria Legal Aid
Dan Nicholson is the Deputy Victorian Ombudsman. Before that he was the Executive Director, Criminal Law at Victoria Legal Aid, responsible for the delivery of legally aided criminal law services across the state. Dan worked with VLA from 2012 in a range of roles, including as the Executive Director, Civil Justice, Access and Equity. Dan previously managed the Human Rights Unit at the Victorian Department of Justice, was Associate to Justice Maxwell, President of the Court of Appeal, and worked at Fitzroy Legal Service. He has worked on a range of human rights issues in Cambodia and Timor-Leste. Dan was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in September 2018, and as a Director of the Sentencing Advisory Council in 2021.
Professor Bernadette McSherry
Commissioner
Emeritus Professor Bernadette McSherry holds an honorary position in the Melbourne Law School, having served as the Foundation Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute at the University of Melbourne from 2013 to mid-2021. She is an internationally recognised legal academic in the fields of criminal law and mental health law and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia as well as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She served as a Legal Member of the Victorian Mental Health Tribunal for 18 years until mid-2018 and served as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. She was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in June 2018.
Kathleen Foley SC
Commissioner
Kathleen Foley SC is a barrister with a broad practice spanning public law, commercial law and common law. She also has a significant public interest litigation practice, representing clients in environmental, police tort and human rights cases. In addition to her work as a barrister, Kathleen is a writer and gender equality advocate. She was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in November 2020. Prior to commencing at the Victorian Bar, Kathleen worked as an attorney in New York and as a solicitor in the government sector in Western Australia.
The Hon Jennifer Coate AO
Commissioner
The Hon Jennifer Coate has held a number of judicial appointments including Magistrate, Deputy Chief Magistrate, the inaugural President of the Children’s Court of Victoria, Judge of the County Court of Victoria, the first female State Coroner of Victoria, and Judge of the Family Court of Australia. She served for five years on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and in 2020 conducted an Inquiry into Hotel Quarantine in Victoria. In January 2019, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law in May 2022, and was awarded Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Monash University in September 2023. Ms Coate is the Chair of the Victorian Victims of Crime Consultative Committee. She was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in June 2020 and reappointed for four years in July 2022. She served as Acting Chair of the VLRC from January 2024 to March 2025.
