Premier

Appointments To New Judicial Commission Board

14 February 2017

The Andrews Labor Government has appointed four eminent Victorians to the Board of the Judicial Commission of Victoria, which will be up and running from July.

To ensure the Commission is ready to start work from day one, Attorney-General Martin Pakula has appointed Claire Keating, Helen Silver, Graham Atkinson and Ross Herron to the Board.

Established by the Labor Government, the Commission is a new independent body to hear complaints from Victorians about the conduct of judicial officers and VCAT members.

Any member of the public or legal profession will be able to make a complaint to the Commission about a range of issues, including excessive delays in giving judgments, courtroom demeanour and health issues affecting a judicial officer or a VCAT member’s ability to perform their role.

It will be empowered to refer the most serious complaints to a specially convened Investigating Panel with coercive powers.

Claire Keating is a chartered accountant with more than 25 years’ experience specialising in superannuation and funds management. She is a director of a number of companies including NAB Wealth subsidiaries and is also a director of Victoria’s largest non-government provider of disability services, Yooralla.

Helen Silver is the Chief General Manager at Allianz Australia and has had a long and distinguished career in the public sector including as Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet from 2008 to June 2013.

Graham Atkinson is Director and Principal Consultant at Atkinson Consulting Group and has nearly 30 years’ experience consulting with government and Indigenous communities on matters including land justice and heritage, economic and social planning, good governance and change management.

Ross Herron is a chartered accountant and former senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is a board member of Kinetic Superannuation Ltd, Select Harvests Ltd and Insurance Manufacturers Australia Ltd. He is also Chair of the Board of GUD Holdings Ltd and was formerly Chair of the RACV.

The four new appointees will join the Heads of jurisdiction of each Victorian court and the Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) on the Board of the Commission.

Quotes attributable to Attorney-General Martin Pakula

“This is about ensuring Victorians have a more accessible, independent and transparent justice system.”

“I’m pleased to announce the appointments of these four distinguished Victorians, and I look forward to their contributions to this important new institution.”

Reviewed 19 August 2020

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