Law Week 2020

Starting 18 May, Law Week is an annual festival making learning about the legal profession easy.

This year, VCAT's contributions have gone digital.

Given the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the format has changed substantially this year, but it remains an event the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is proud to continue participating in.

To counter the challenges of hosting in-person presentations and seminars, we have created a short series of videos that cover VCAT’s background and current operations, our extensive response to the pandemic and insights into important changes to the Guardianship Laws introduced this year, and what they mean for the public.

President Justice Michelle Quigley outlines VCAT’s history, evolution, caseload and current operations. 
Victoria was a pioneer of how tribunals across Australia work, consisting of a comprehensive amalgamation of smaller tribunals across the state to provide a faster, more economical and less formal alternative to the standard court system. 

VCAT makes it easier for Victorians to resolve disputes by covering a significant breadth of services and divisions, and hearing over 85,000 matters a year. 

To find out more about how we manage this caseload and the evolution of our services, be sure to watch this video!
 

CEO Mary Amiridis talks through the substantive changes VCAT made in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This has been a particularly acute balancing act given VCAT’s caseload, the requirements for social distancing, and the rapid evolution of our services. Mary provides a detailed timeline of how we initially responded, how we balanced the safety needs of our staff with those of the general public and the difficult decisions we made to ensure we continue to provide as many services to Victorians as we can.

The journey isn’t over yet but the proactive adaption VCAT has undergone provides fascinating insight into large scale crisis management.

Deputy President Genevieve Nihill discusses our Human Rights Division from the macro to the micro.

The Division and its Human Rights List plays an incredibly important role in orchestrating and managing the affairs of thousands of Victorians, and this presentation explains how these delicate decisions are made, as well as their ongoing oversight to ensure the individuals involved get the care most representative of their interests.

The Division has also been impacted by a swathe of new legislation this year, which this video outlines in detail.

Find out more about other Law Week events.