Principal Legal Officer
Micheil Paton is Principal Legal Officer at the ALRC. Micheil joined the ALRC in 2018 and has contributed to the following ALRC Inquiries:
- Family Law
- Religious Exemptions in Anti-discrimination Legislation
- The Future of Law Reform
- Financial Services Legislation
- Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws
As Principal Legal Officer, Micheil supports the President and Commissioners by leading the legal team for specific law reform inquiries. Micheil was admitted to practice as an Australian Lawyer in 2005 and commenced his career in private legal practice, focusing on family law and property. Micheil was then Senior Legal Associate to the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia. He worked for a number of years in Papua New Guinea advising government and civil society on family violence, child protection and human rights. Micheil has also worked for several years in the Northern Territory of Australia in the community sector and with government. He is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland, has undertaken short-term academic roles and has contributed to academic publications. Micheil graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and was later awarded a Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law (Distinction) from the University of Oxford. He is currently undertaking a PhD in law reform and design part-time at the Australian National University.
The Future of Law Reform in Australia
The Law Society of Tasmania Law Letter Article by ALRC Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton
Read moreQ&A with students at the University of Sydney
On 24 September 2020, ALRC Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton and Senior Legal Officer Sarah Fulton answered questions from students in a class on Law Reform, at the request of Professor Simon Rice OAM, the Kim Santow Chair of Law and Social Justice at the University of Sydney Law School. The students had read a …
Read moreSurveillance Capitalism Interview
Hear ALRC Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton speak about the ALRC report on “Serious Invasions of Privacy” with broadcaster Toby Halligan from Triple RRR radio.
Read moreDignity and the Future of Family Law
In December 2019 Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton and Legal Officer Phoebe Tapley were published in the Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity analysing aspects of the ALRC’s Family Law Inquiry report through the lens of “human dignity”. This paper reviews the approach taken by the Australian Law Reform Commission in its recent family …
Read moreWhere next for law reform? Report Launch
On Monday 2 December 2019, the ALRC launched the report of the Future of Law Reform project at a well-attended and high-spirited event in the Commonwealth Law Courts building in Brisbane. President of the ALRC, Justice Sarah Derrington, outlined the origins and purposes of the project, reflecting on the ALRC’s longstanding commitment to public involvement …
Read moreAustralia’s no-fault divorce—why it remains controversial
In October 2019 Principal Legal Officer Micheil Paton spoke with ABC Radio National about some of the history of family law reform in Australia, and some of the ALRC’s recommendations from its Family Law Inquiry. Listen to the Rational National episode
Read moreWhere next for law reform? Seminars
In May and June 2019, the ALRC held four seminars on the future of law reform in conjunction with the Law Schools at UNSW, ANU and Melbourne University.
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