We are therefore mindful that, in line with the Council`s strategic priorities for legal services, we must allocate resources to improve the consistency of the regulation of the legal profession across all legal systems of uniform law. As part of the Victorian Government`s efforts to achieve efficiency and improvement across the public sector, the Attorney General of Victoria provided us with a statement of expectations for the 2019-2021 period. Four areas were identified where changes could benefit lawyers and consumers of legal services. The Statement of Expectations and our initial response are publicly available. The Victorian Legal Services Board and the Commissioner are independent statutory authorities responsible for regulating the legal profession in Victoria, including overseeing the independent system for administering and responding to complaints against lawyers. The Victorian Legal Services Board is an independent statutory body responsible for regulating the legal profession in the State of Victoria. Originally created under the Legal Profession Act, 2004, the Committee`s role and functions are now governed by the Uniform Application of the Laws in the Legal Profession Act, 2014. Our goal is to maintain and strengthen public confidence in the legal profession in Victoria. We do so because the integrity of the legal profession is essential to the legitimacy of the judicial system and to the maintenance and protection of the rule of law. Our corporate strategy exemplifies our clear direction to ensure we are an effective regulator for the Victorian legal profession.
Liz is a lawyer specializing in consumer complaints related to lawyers and works for both lawyers and consumers. She is a recognized expert in cost law as co-author of Quick on Costs, Australia`s preeminent text. She has run her own law firm, been a member of the VCAT Legal Practice List, a member of the Supreme Court of Victoria`s Fees Committee, Chair of the LIV Cost Law Specialization Advisory Council and Chair of the LIV Cost Lawyers Section. Liz runs a consulting firm that advises government and corporate legal departments on best practices in lawyer management External. She regularly acts as an expert witness on best practices in legal work and cost management in class actions and other major litigation. VLSB+C is responsible for the regulation of lawyers in Victoria, of whom more than 25,600 hold a current professional certificate. The role of VLSB+C is to protect consumers and the public through effective regulation of lawyers and law firms. VLSB+C also supports the legal profession in achieving the highest standards of ethics and legal practice. Catherine brings to the Commission her considerable experience as a consumer advocate and ombudsman. She is a Client Advocate at NAB, where she makes decisions on complex and sensitive complaints and advises on how to improve complaint handling and outcomes for clients in general.
She is also a board member of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, an independent consumer representative at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and chair of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, a consumer policy think tank based in Victoria. Catherine was previously Ombudsman and Head of Market Affairs at the UK`s Financial Ombudsman Service and is the former CEO of Consumer Law Centre Victoria (later Consumer Action Legal Centre). She was a Senior Policy Officer at Choice and a past President of the Consumers` Federation of Australia. Her overseas experience includes leading international human rights NGOs, Fair Trials and the UK whistleblower NGO, and she was a member of the Legal Services Consumer Panel in England – the expert advisory board of the UK Legal Services Board. Jennifer is a lawyer with 30 years of experience, primarily in equities, trading, fixed income and fixed income, and has an extensive not-for-profit practice. Jennifer was appointed QC in 2000 and has served as President of the Australian Bar Association, Victorian Bar and Tax Bar Association. Jennifer is also the inaugural Chair of the Law Council Charities and Not for Profits Committee, Director of the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand and the inaugural Chair of the Australian Bar Association Tax Committee. She is a member of the Melbourne Law School Advisory Council and the Melbourne Law School Tax Group Advisory Board.
She is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Jennifer received a PA in June 2020 for her significant contributions to the law, the legal profession and women lawyers. The Victorian Legal Services Board (“Council”) and the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner (“Commissioner”) are independent statutory bodies responsible for regulating the legal profession in Victoria. The two agencies operate effectively as a single organization and are collectively known as VLSB+C. Previously, she was a Special Advisor at Clayton Utz and held a number of legal, management and engagement roles at World Vision Australia. Since 2010, Ms. McLeay has been CEO of Justice Connect, a leading organization dedicated to pro bono legal aid for those in need in Victoria and New South Wales. “I thank Mr.
McGarvie for his work over the past eight years to oversee important consumer-focused reforms to Victoria`s legal profession.” Geoff is a Chartered Business Law Specialist and runs a Victorian Central Law Firm specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution techniques. Over the past 40 years or so, Geoff has built an extensive portfolio of legal experience spanning the public, private and corporate sectors. He offers his time as a mentor through the Law Institute of Victoria and the University of Melbourne Faculty of Law. Geoff is a past president of the Law Institute of Victoria and a former executive member of the Law Council of Australia, currently a director of Bendigo Community Health and a board member of several Bendigo-based community organisations. Geoff is also a regular commentator on ABC Regional Radio on legal issues. We understand that lawyers and the wider Victorian community expect us to be efficient and effective regulators of the legal profession. As a result, we focus our regulatory resources on activities that address areas where legal services can be most harmful to consumers. In doing so, we strive to strike a balance between responding to immediate problems and identifying emerging problems. We achieve these goals through our approach to regulating the legal profession, our role as directors and our organizational objectives. Our Regulatory Approach Statement clearly outlines how we intend to fulfill our role as regulators of the Victorian legal profession. It describes our operational approach to fulfilling our legislative responsibilities by explaining how we set regulatory priorities, make resource allocation decisions and apply the suite of regulatory tools at our disposal.
The legal requirements we must comply with are set out in the Uniform Law Application in the Legal Profession Act, 2014 and the Uniform Legal Profession Act (Schedule 1 to the Act). We strive to carry out our legislative responsibilities in accordance with the objectives of the Act and the Uniform Act and in a manner that: Citations attributed to Attorney General Martin Pakula Fiona is a non-executive director of Hills Ltd, Select Harvests Ltd and BWX Ltd. She is a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in business and financial management, governance, risk management and auditing. Fiona has held senior positions at BHP Billiton Ltd and Coles Group Ltd and has served as CFO of several healthcare organizations. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Lynne is an economist with over 30 years of experience in the public sector. She is Vice-Chair of the South Australian Essential Services Commission and Commissioner of the Commonwealth Grants Commission and the Victorian Building Authority. Lynne has previously held senior positions in several ministries and was Chair of the Victorian Government Procurement Board. Lynne holds an MA in Economics from the University of Melbourne and the London School of Economics, a PhD from Monash University and is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Institute of Public Administration Australia.
Mr. Russell Daily, current Executive Director of Complaints and Intervention at the Commission des services juridiques de Victoria, will become Interim Commissioner until Ms. McLeay takes office on January 8, 2018. This appointment is a dual role and Ms. McLeay will also serve as CEO of the Victorian Legal Services Board. Ms. McLeay holds a Master of International Law from the University of Melbourne, a Master of Public Service Law from New York University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales. Ian Silk is Managing Director of AustralianSuper, Australia`s largest and fastest growing pension fund. AustralianSuper is an industry fund for members with over 2.3 million members and over 285,000 contributing companies.
Ian is also Chairman of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors and Director of Industry Super Australia. Ian holds a bachelor`s degree in economics, a diploma in financial services (financial planning) and a graduate diploma in industrial relations law. We use the data collected through our work to identify future trends and develop regulatory work programs to proactively address emerging risks.