Winter Vacation Scholars gain hands-on research experience at Warren Centre
2026 Winter Vacation Scholars celebrate their achievements with academics from the Law Faculty (L to R) Associate Professor Becky Batagol, Associate Professor Samantha Currie, Professor Genevieve Grant, Sally Andersen, Associate Professor Cristy Clark, Associate Professor Paul Burgess and Dr Jess Mant.
Nine Monash Law students spent June and July immersed in legal research as part of the Warren Centre for Civil Justice's 2026 Winter Vacation Scholars Program, working alongside academics on projects spanning a range of contemporary legal issues.
This program offers students paid research experience with Warren Centre-affiliated academics, providing a unique opportunity to contribute to active research while developing practical skills and professional connections. Since its introduction, the program has supported more than 90 students and has become an important pathway for students interested in research and academic careers.
Read more about the Warren Centre for Civil Justice
For Warren Centre Fellow Liam Elphick, who recently supervised a project examining the common law history of discrimination law, the benefits of the program also extend to the academics as well.
"The opportunity to work one-on-one with a student on a research project is so valuable, and we both always end up learning a lot. I've ended up retaining longer-term connections with all of the students I've been lucky enough to have as my research scholar."
The following profiles highlight the experiences of the 2026 Winter Vacation Scholars and the diverse research projects they contributed to during their placements.
Mr Oliver Nguyen
Supervisor: Dr Jacqueline Weinberg
AI Is Changing the Landscape in Legal Education and Practice: What does this mean for Law Schools?
Project overview: The convergence of legal tech innovation and legal education presents a unique opportunity to prepare future lawyers for the rapidly evolving demands of legal practice in 2030. This project examines the impact of artificial intelligence on legal practice and legal education, with a focus on student skill development as current law students prepare for their future practice in rapidly changing environments.
Mr Matthew O'Shanesy
Supervisor: A/Prof Cristy Clark
Remedying climate injustice in ACT public housing
Project overview: In August 2024, the ACT became the first jurisdiction in Australia to recognise the right to a healthy environment, with the right taking effect on 17 March 2025. In September 2025, the ACT also recognised the right to housing. Despite these progressive developments, Canberra Community Law has observed a growing repairs crisis in ACT public housing, with tenants waiting for up to 12 months for urgent repairs. Working in collaboration with Canberra Community Law (online), this project will complete stage one of a report into gaps in the realisation of the right to a healthy environment and the right to adequate housing for residents of ACT public housing.
Miss Michelle Chen
Supervisor: Dr Paul Burgess
Productive Friction: From Legal Education to Civil Justice
Project overview: This project considers whether Friction - an AI-supported assessment platform developed by the TAILER Lab (Technology and AI in Legal Education Research Lab) at Monash Law - can be used to enhance access to justice. Friction's founding premise is that AI use by students, legal practitioners, or anyone navigating a complex process or system, will occur regardless of institutional rules, assessment policies, or other preventive mechanisms. The relevant question is not whether people will use AI; they will. The question is whether they will engage with it critically or passively.
Mr Hugh Ford
Supervisor: Emily Singh
AI-Assisted Supervision Support for Students in Community Legal Practice
Project overview: The TAILER Lab at Monash Law is developing a secure AI assistant for law clinic students, accessible when supervisors are temporarily unavailable. The tool provides structured procedural guidance — helping students identify next steps in client matters and clarify process questions as a ‘human in the loop’ supplement to supervisor judgment. All outputs remain subject to supervisor sign-off. The project has direct access to justice significance. Monash Law Clinics assists around 1,600 individuals per year. A validated AI supervision support tool has the potential to extend the reach of supervised legal services nationally, contributing to addressing significant unmet legal need in the community legal centre sector.
Read more about the Warren Centre for Civil Justice
Miss Salome Obeyesekere
Supervisor: Jennifer Lindstrom and A/Prof Becky Batagol
Analysis of literature on risk assessment/screening tools in family dispute resolution/mediation
Project overview: This project will involve a targeted literature review of family violence risk assessment tools, with a focus on best practice principles, efficacy, and critical evaluations of existing frameworks. Particular attention will be given to tools such as MARAM and Family DOORS, alongside other relevant instruments.
Mr Brysen Famularo
Supervisor: Sally Anderson
The New Delegation Problem for Courts and Civil Justice Institutions
Project overview: Courts and civil justice institutions are rapidly adopting AI tools for functions previously performed by humans: case triage, document classification, and decision support. Fundamental governance questions remain unresolved: which judicial and quasi-judicial functions can appropriately be delegated to AI, and which cannot? What accountability and procedural constraints should apply?
Ms Cian Truong
Supervisor: A/Prof Samantha Currie
Sex Work Decriminalisation and Access to Justice in Victoria
Project overview: Following the introduction of the Sex Work Decriminalisation Act 2022 (Vic), sex workers in Victoria can now access legal protections through mainstream civil justice systems. These include protections against discrimination, unsafe working conditions, and exploitation. This project examines how these legal protections operate in practice. It will explore the pathways available to sex workers to enforce their rights, such as making discrimination complaints to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, reporting safety issues to WorkSafe Victoria, and accessing legal support through services like Southside Justice. The project will critically assess whether these mechanisms are accessible and effective in practice, and identify barriers that may persist despite legal reform. It will contribute to a broader research program on regulation, labour, and vulnerability. The research is designed to inform ongoing evaluation and anticipated policy review of the decriminalisation framework in late 2026.
Mr Arya Banerjee
Supervisor: A/Prof Cate Banks
Unrecognised Loss: How Grief Shapes the Experiences of Family Violence Clients in Legal Settings
Project overview: This project asks students to examine how grief, as a psychological and social experience, intersects with family violence law and what obligations or opportunities this creates for legal practitioners. It explores how grief shapes the experiences of family violence clients in legal settings, and what this means for lawyers.
Mr Max Huyton
Supervisor: Dr Jess Mant
Designing a Courtroom Observation Framework for Procedural Justice in Family Court Hearings
Project overview: This project will develop a structured observation framework to support an empirical study of procedural justice in family court hearings involving self-represented litigants (SRLs), particularly ‘uneven’ hearings where one party is represented and the other is not. The aim is to identify what features of court hearings should be observed, how this data should be recorded, and how existing methodological approaches can be adapted to this context.