La Trobe Law School Executive

Professor Fiona Kelly

Professor Fiona Kelly is Dean of the La Trobe Law School. She leads a dynamic team of scholars who are committed to making a difference in their local and global communities. Professor Kelly holds legal qualifications from Australia and Canada. Prior to joining La Trobe, she was an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

With more than 20 years’ experience in academia, the courts and the legal profession, Professor Kelly’s research focuses on the intersections between family law and health law, with a particular interest in the legal regulation of assisted reproduction. Her research has shaped family law reform across several jurisdictions, with her work on legal parentage in the context of assisted reproduction forming the basis for the world’s first law to recognise three-parent families. Professor Kelly has held grants from the Australian Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Family Law (2016-2020) and sits on the Board of the Victorian Assisted Reproduction Treatment Authority.

Professor Lorne Neudorf

Professor Lorne Neudorf is the La Trobe Law School’s Deputy Dean and Associate Dean, Academic and Partnerships. He is a qualified Canadian barrister and solicitor and received his legal education in Canada (Juris Doctor (University of Victoria); LLM (McGill University)) and the United Kingdom (PhD (University of Cambridge)). Prior to joining La Trobe, he was Deputy Dean of Law and Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide. Professor Neudorf has taught public law in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. His research takes a comparative perspective, focusing on legal institutions and the lawmaking process, with a particular interest in delegated legislation. Professor Neudorf’s work has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada, state and federal parliaments and the executive government. He has held several research grants as Chief Investigator, including from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Professor Neudorf is also co-founder and general editor of a new global book series, The Rule of Law in Context, published by Hart/Bloomsbury.

Associate Professor Madelaine Chiam

Associate Professor Madelaine Chiam is the Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching in the La Trobe Law School, where she was previously the Director of Teaching and Learning. Associate Professor Chiam’s research examines the relationships between the global and the local, and the language and histories of international law. She has a particular interest in the role of international law in Australian life. These research interests are drawn together in her book, International Law in Public Debate (2021). Dr Chiam is a member of the faculty of the Harvard Law School Institute for Global Law and Policy Workshop, a founding member of the La Trobe International Legal Studies Research Group and serves on the Council of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law.

Dr Maria Elander

Dr Maria Elander is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Graduate Research at La Trobe Law School. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, an MA in Human Rights Law from SOAS University of London, and a BA and BSS from Uppsala University, Sweden. Dr Elander researches in the fields of international criminal justice, law and humanities, and feminist legal theory, and is currently examining questions relating to testimony and archive in the aftermath of atrocity. Her monograph, Figuring Victims in International Criminal Justice, the Case of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (Routledge, 2018), won the 2019 Early Career Researcher Penny Pether Prize, awarded by the Law, Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia. At the La Trobe Law School, she teaches into the Bachelor of Criminology and the Criminology Honours program. She is a founding member of the La Trobe International Legal Studies Research Group.

Ms Amber Treseder Fitts

Ms Amber Treseder Fitts is the Senior School Manager for the La Trobe Law School. Ms Treseder Fitts has over 15 years of experience in Australian and international higher education, which has provided her with a sophisticated knowledge of the sector. She has complimented her specialist skills with a Master of Tertiary Education (Management), bringing a strong theoretical underpinning to the governance, operations and strategic planning for the School.

Read our Statement of Strategic Intent.