25 members transitioned to non-sessional status

On 16 June 2021 the Governor in Council formally approved the conversion of the following 25 sessional members to non-sessional status for the duration of their appointments.

Member Kerrie Birtwistle 
Member Dalia Cook
Member Lara Crocker
Member Domenico Calabro
Member Robert Daly
Member Picha Djohan
Member Sydney Fry
Member Peter Gaschk 
Member Juliette Halliday 
Member Christopher Harty 
Member Jessica Klingender 
Member Rebecca Leshinsky 
Member Owen Mahoney 
Member Sarah McDonald 
Member Anne Moon 
Member Judith Perlstein 
Member Tania Petranis 
Member Ian Scott 
Member Alison Slattery
Member Karina Shpigel
Member Mary-Anne Taranto 
Member Jane Tait 
Member Tracy Watson 
Member Shiran Wickramasinghe 
Member Rebecca Wilson   

With a number of members retiring in the last 12 months, this key step not only provides stability and security to members’ tenure but also allows us to retain members with crucial subject matter expertise, respond to individual member requests and helps us with COVID recovery by addressing the significant demand for VCAT services. 

This decision was made after months of consultation with key stakeholders, current Attorney-General the Hon. Jaclyn Symes, previous Attorney-General the Hon. Jill Henessy and the Department of Justice & Community Safety. This is in additional to an extensive EOI process to comprehensively analyse demand. 

We’d like to thank all those involved in this process as we strive to continually improve our service delivery.