Royal Commission’s Senior Counsel, Dr Kerri Mellifont QC, appointed to the Supreme Court of Queensland

The Chair of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, Ronald Sackville AO QC, has congratulated Dr Kerri Mellifont QC to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland.

Dr Mellifont was appointed counsel assisting the Royal Commission in September 2019 and has been involved in assisting a number of public hearings.

She will cease her role at the commission after the announcement of her appointment to the Supreme Court of Queensland, from 4 October.

Mr Sackville said:

“Dr Mellifont has brought a wealth of legal expertise and experience to her work with the Royal Commission, with a particular focus on education and criminal justice issues as they affect people with disability. Although we will be sorry to her go, I can think of no more fitting candidate for such an important role in our legal system.”

Dr Mellifont was admitted into practice in 1994 and commenced at the private bar in 2001.

She has almost 30 years’ experience in criminal and regulatory law, and became Doctor of Juridical Science in 2007.

In that time, she has assisted many inquiries and inquests, including as Senior Counsel assisting Queensland Floods Commission (2011), Senior Legal Officer at Forde Inquiry into Child Abuse (1998 – 1999) and was recipient of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland (WLAQ) Woman Lawyer of the Year Award 2017.

The amending legislation, designed to protect confidential information about a person’s experience of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation provided to the Royal Commission outside of a private session beyond the life of our inquiry, passed in Parliament today.

Currently, the Royal Commission can guarantee that this kind of information provided on a confidential basis outside of a private session will be protected during the term of our inquiry, but not beyond it.

With today’s legislation, the Royal Commission will be able to guarantee the confidentiality of submissions and other sensitive information about a person’s experiences both during and beyond the term of our inquiry. Information provided in private sessions is already protected during the inquiry and when it is over.