Members and staff
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Members
Members of the Commission are appointed by the Governor in Council on the advice of the Attorney-General. The Law Reform Commission Act 1968 provides that the Commission must consist of at least three members, who may be full-time or part-time members. Each person appointed to be a Commission member must be a person appearing to the Governor in Council to be suitably qualified by the holding of judicial office or by experience as a barrister or as a solicitor or as a teacher of law in a University.
Chairperson
The Hon Justice R G Atkinson BA (Hons) BEd St LLB (Hons)
1 January 2002—20 December 2013Justice Atkinson was admitted to the Bar in 1987 and had a broad general public and private litigation practice in Courts and tribunals including constitutional, administrative, corporate and industrial cases.
While in practice at the Bar, Her Honour was also the first member and then the first President of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal, a member of and then Deputy Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission, Hearing Commissioner for the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal.
Her Honour was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland on 3 September 1998. She is also President of the International Commission of Jurists (Qld branch) and member of the Queensland University of Technology Faculty Advisory Committee for Law Courses.
Part-time Members
Mr John Bond SC BCom LLB (Hons)
17 March 2005–20 December 2013Mr Bond was admitted to the Queensland Bar in 1987. He has been in private practice at the Queensland Bar since then. He was appointed as a Senior Counsel for the State of Queensland in 1999. He has also been admitted to practice in New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and in the Northern Territory. He is entitled to practice in the Federal and High Courts.
Mr Bond’s practice is in the area of commercial litigation and advice. Within that context, areas in which he has advised or appeared have concerned, inter alia, administrative law; arbitration; banking and finance; building and construction contracts; constitutional law; contract law; corporations law; insurance; leases; mining; native title; professional liability; trade practices and trusts and equity.
Prof Brian Fitzgerald BA (Griff) LLB (Hons) (QUT) BCL (Oxon) LLM (Harv) PhD (Griff)
21 December 2010–20 December 2013Professor Fitzgerald studied law at the Queensland University of Technology (‘QUT’), graduating as a University Medallist in Law. He holds postgraduate degrees in law from Oxford University and Harvard University. He is well known in the areas of intellectual property and internet law, and has worked closely with Australian governments on facilitating access to public sector information.
From 1998 to 2002 Professor Fitzgerald was Head of the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University in New South Wales, and from January 2002 to January 2007 was appointed as Head of the School of Law at QUT. In 2009, he was appointed to the Australian Government’s ‘Government 2.0 Taskforce’ and to the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property. From 2007 to March 2012, Professor Fitzgerald was a specialist Research Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation at QUT. He is currently the Executive Dean of Law at the Australian Catholic University.
Mr Brian J Herd BA LLB
15 November 2002–20 December 2013Mr Herd was admitted as a Solicitor in 1983 and has been in private practice since then.
For many years he has practised in the area of commercial law and litigation but has, in the last few years, concentrated on the area of Elder Law, or law for older people, encompassing estate and life planning, guardianship and administration, family and business succession and lifestyle options, including aged care and retirement.
He has prepared and presented numerous papers and seminars on aspects of Elder Law and is a member of the Queensland Law Society’s Aged Care and Retirement Committee and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys of America.
Mrs Soraya Ryan BCom LLB (Hons)
21 December 2010–20 December 2013Mrs Ryan was admitted as a barrister in 1991, and practises mainly in criminal law. She has worked as a Crown Prosecutor at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and as counsel at Legal Aid Queensland. In 2010, Mrs Ryan entered private practice.
Mrs Ryan taught evidence for several years at the University of Queensland and is one of the current authors of Carter’s Criminal Law of Queensland. In 2008, Mrs Ryan assisted the Queensland Law Reform Commission in its review of the excuse of accident and the defence of provocation.
Secretariat
| Ms Claire Riethmuller | Director |
| Mrs Cathy Green | Assistant Director |
| Ms Anita Galeazzi | Legal Officer |
| Ms Paula Rogers | Legal Officer |
| Mrs Jenny Manthey | A/Commission Secretary |
| Ms Kahren Giles | Administrative Officer |
Last reviewed: 1 Feburary 2013
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