VCAT Author Award for Castan Centre Deputy Director
(L-R) The Hon Justice Greg Garde QC and Associate Professor Paula Gerber.
Associate Professor Paula Gerber of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law has added another achievement to her impressive list of accolades with a VCAT Author Award, presented last month.
Associate Professor Gerber, who is Deputy Director of the Castan Centre, was presented with the VCAT Author Award last month by the President of VCAT, the Honourable Justice Greg Garde QC.
The award recognises her outstanding contribution as an author and to the community of Victoria, and is only the second of its kind awarded by VCAT.
"It is wonderful to have my scholarship recognised and appreciated outside of purely academic circles," Dr Gerber said.
"I write with the aim of improving the law and the way it is practised. For an organisation such as VCAT to respect and appreciate the value of my research and writing suggests that my work is having an impact, and that is, after all, what all researchers ultimately want."
Dr Gerber's most recent awards include the 2012 Faculty of Law Dean's Award for Excellence in Innovation and External Collaboration and the 2011 Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
Dr Gerber is a former member of the board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. She came to the field of human rights after many years as a construction lawyer, working in London and Los Angeles to assist clients to resolve disputes on major projects. She continues to work across both fields, including hearing building cases as a member and mediator at VCAT. She teaches, researches and writes in both human rights and construction law and has written numerous books, journal articles and book chapters in both disciplines.