Our Consumer Panel is one way we’re trying to gain a better understanding of what our community needs and expects from the legal profession and from us as its regulator.
Established in March 2020, and the first of its kind in Australia, Panel members bring a wealth of knowledge of consumer research, customer and disability advocacy, consumer policy and regulation and change management.
Consumer Panel members
Kat George (Chair)
Kat is an experienced consumer advocate and has led strategic policy reform, research, and stakeholder engagement in not-for-profit, government and regulatory settings. Kat has driven significant projects to promote economic and social inclusion, especially in relation to delivering equitable, consumer-focused outcomes in essential services markets. Kat has a Master of Laws (LL.M), with a focus on human rights, as well as consumer and competition law and policy. Kat is the Chair of the Board at Hope Street Youth and Family Services and previously served as Non-Executive Director on the Board of CHOICE.
Ado Barker
Ado is a social worker with extensive practice experience in the specialist homelessness and community legal assistance sectors. Within the homelessness sector, Ado has held varied roles, including direct crisis support, program management and coordination, and has also undertaken project work aimed at improving service system responses to homelessness and housing crisis. Currently, Ado is employed as a social worker at Justice Connect, working within Homeless Law’s integrated legal assistance program. Whether in direct practice or broader advocacy, Ado brings a critical, structural lens to his work, attuned to the role of systems and institutions in shaping the experiences of legal services consumers.
Adeel Nabeebux
Adeel Nabeebux has over 10 years of experience across financial services, leading strategy development and delivery. In addition to his legal background, Adeel brings experience in people leadership, project management, policy and strategy. Adeel has worked closely with boards and the Federal Government to establish the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort. Adeel is an advocate for diversity, inclusion and belonging at work, in his community and on the board of Arts Access Victoria. Adeel holds Bachelor’s degrees in Laws and Commerce from Melbourne University, as well as Master’s degrees in Risk Management and Business Law from Monash University.
Catherine Wolthuizen (Legal Services Board representative)
Catherine, Ombudsman, at the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria (EWOV) and has a track record of leadership in Australia and the UK, with a particular focus on dispute resolution and fair outcomes in regulated markets. Before joining EWOV, Catherine held positions as the Customer Advocate at NAB, Board Director of the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, panel member at the Australian Financial Services Ombudsman, Ombudsman with the UK Financial Ombudsman Service, Chair of the Economic Abuse Reference Group, and was a member of the UK Legal Services Consumer Panel.
Genevieve Grant
Associate Professor Genevieve Grant is Director of the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation in the Faculty of Law at Monash University. Genevieve's research uses empirical methods to evaluate justice system performance, including the design and operation of dispute resolution, civil justice and injury compensation systems. Genevieve’s research focuses on the experiences of participants in these systems, and she is particularly interested in using administrative data to enhance access to justice.
Hugh McDonald (Victoria Law Foundation representative)
Dr Hugh McDonald is Research Director at Victoria Law Foundation where he leads a team researching legal need and capability, and measuring what works to meet community legal need and capability. For more than twenty years Hugh has studied access to justice and legal need from all angles. He has worked closely with legal aid commissions, community legal centres, and state and federal governments, which has given him a deep understanding of legal services, justice institutions, and policy and practice.
Jeannie Paterson
Jeannie Marie Paterson is a Professor of Consumer Protection and Technology Law, as well as founding Director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics at the University of Melbourne. Jeannie’s research and teaching expertise lies in the fields of consumer protection and regulatory design. Much of her current work focuses on the regulatory and ethical challenges of Artificial Intelligence. Jeannie holds a current practising certificate and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She is an affiliate of the Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society and a member of both the research committee of the Consumer Protection Research Centre and the data governance advisory committee of Beyond Blue.
Simon Katterl
Simon has over a decade of experience working in mental health, regulatory and legal sectors. As the owner of Simon Katterl Consulting, he provides strategic advice, training, co-design and supervision services to the mental health and legal sector. With a lived experience of mental health issues, Simon previously worked at Victoria Legal Aid, the Mental Health Complaints Commission, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and has been commissioned to provide advice government departments and Ministers. He has published peer reviewed work on law, regulation and mental health and has published opinion pieces in the Age, Guardian and other outlets.
Panel’s achievements
To date, the Panel’s achievements include:
- Developing a framework to understand legal services from the perspective of the Consumer Principles: Access, Choice, Information, Quality, Safety, Fairness, Representation and Redress. This framework helps shape our policy and practice.
- Commissioning a Rapid Review into Consumer Experience of Legal Services, which informs ongoing research and initiatives.
- Advising on and supervising on major research projects:
- a deep dive into a group of costs complaints, in order to understand the root causes of costs dissatisfaction and
- commissioning research from the Victoria Law Foundation into lawyers’ pricing, scoping and matter management practices.
- Developing a framework to help us better understand consumer vulnerability and to regulate in such a way as to address areas of particular harm
- Consulting and advising on various strategic projects at the VLSB+C.
Through its ongoing work, the Panel continues to bring insight and original research to the VLSB+C to help us regulate in a more consumer-centric way.
Please note that the Consumer Panel does not have any involvement with particular complaints or cases managed by our office, but rather focuses on policy and research.