As building defects increase so do the legal complications for homeowners and property lawyers, this is especially the case in Victoria where widespread cladding issues have caused significant risks for homeowners. In light of these issues, regulatory reform has taken place in Victoria including the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. We spoke to property lawyer Megan Thorburn for greater understanding around these new and vital regulations.

Family lawyers must be aware of how violence can affect their clients, their client’s case and so be able to identify domestic violence. Abuse isn’t always physical. Indeed, it can assume many dimensions - including psychological, economic, and emotional - and occur differently depending on power disparities between the people involved. On 22 September 2023 the National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence were released by the Attorney-General’s Department (‘A-G’).

To understand where legal AI use cases are showing up within family law, the College spoke with two highly experienced practitioners who have incorporated AI into their legal practice in different ways. Fiona Kirkman, principal at Kirkman Family Law and Nationally Accredited Mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, embraced ChatGPT early on in her practice, while Jenna Downy, solicitor at Family Law Matters, helped train LawY, an AI legal research assistant.