Stay current on the developments shaping Victorian criminal practice and sharpen the skills you rely on when the stakes are high. Join former judicial members, senior criminal law barristers and specialists to examine the issues you need to have on your radar. Get across significant legislative and appellate developments, spent conviction applications, youth justice reform and serious youth offending and financial forensics in white collar crime. Strengthen your skills central to effective practice, with practical guidance on your ethical duties and advocacy both in and outside the courtroom. Leave with current knowledge, practical insights and advocacy strategies you can apply to your criminal matters and everyday practice

Presenters

The Honourable Justin Hannebery KC, Crockett Chambers
The Honourable Justin Hannebery KC is a King’s Counsel practising in criminal law, occupational health and safety matters, coronial inquests, professional disciplinary proceedings and Royal Commissions. He has extensive experience in Supreme Court trials and bail applications and has appeared in appeals in the High Court and Courts of Appeal. He appeared in the Lawyer X Royal Commission and has significant experience in Confiscation Act matters. Justin signed the Bar Roll in 1998 and was appointed Silk in 2018. He served as a Judge of the County Court of Victoria from 2020 to 2022 and as President of the Victorian Bar in 2024 and 2025. He has also been leading counsel for Victoria Legal Aid’s Trial Counsel Development Program since 2011.


W. Brind (Zich) Zichy-Woinarski KC, Greens List Barristers
W. Brind (Zich) Zichy-Woinarski KC has practised at the Victorian Bar since 1970 and has extensive experience in criminal law, particularly white collar crime and associated regulatory matters. He has appeared as both defence counsel and prosecutor in committals, trials and appellate proceedings, including in the High Court. His practice has encompassed corporate and financial crime, bribery, occupational health and safety, environmental prosecutions, tax matters and professional disciplinary proceedings. Zich is a former Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria and chaired the Victorian Bar Ethics Committee from 1993 to 1999. He is a regular presenter on ethical issues and was joint author of Paul’s Police Offences and a Consultant Editor of Criminal Law, Investigation and Procedure Victoria.

Sam Norton, Partner, Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally
Sam is a Partner and Accredited Criminal Law Specialist at Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally. With more than 25 years’ experience practising exclusively in criminal law, he represents clients in complex and serious criminal matters throughout Victoria. Sam regularly appears in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts in contested hearings, jury trials, plea hearings and bail applications. His practice includes serious criminal matters, drug offences, sexual offences, white collar crime and fraud, and driving offences. Sam has been an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist since 2008 and is recognised by Doyle’s Guide as a leading criminal defence lawyer.


Emma Turnbull, Director, Emma Turnbull Lawyers
Emma Turnbull is the Director and founding partner of Emma Turnbull Lawyers, established in 2011. An Accredited Criminal Law Specialist, Emma has extensive experience in serious criminal cases, jury trials, committal proceedings, appeals and intervention order matters, and regularly appears across Victoria’s Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts. She holds Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws degrees and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Emma is also actively involved in legal education and professional development, presenting on criminal law, advocacy, leadership and lawyer wellbeing. She was named Lawyers Weekly Wellness Advocate of the Year in 2024.

Paul Galbally, Partner and Accredited Criminal Law Specialist, Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally
Paul is a Partner at Stary Norton Halphen & Galbally and an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist with more than three decades of experience in criminal defence. He has particular expertise in complex corporate and white collar prosecutions and has acted in some of Australia’s largest and most complex criminal matters. His experience includes representing clients in Public Inquiries, Royal Commissions, ASIC investigations and prosecutions, regulatory matters, extradition proceedings, and serious State and Commonwealth criminal cases. Paul Galbally has been recognised in The Best Lawyers in Australia™ for Criminal Defence since 2022 and was named Melbourne Criminal Defence Lawyer of the Year in 2024 and 2026.

Melinda Walker, Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law
Melinda is an Accredited Criminal Law Specialist with more than 25 years’ experience. Admitted to practice in 2000, she commenced sole practice in 2003 and attained Accredited Criminal Law Specialisation in 2014. Melinda practises exclusively in criminal law and represents clients at all levels of Victoria’s criminal justice system, appearing in the Children’s, Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts, including the Court of Appeal. Her practice encompasses bail applications, pleas, trials, appeals, driving offences and breach proceedings. Melinda is a member of the Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria and has maintained a longstanding commitment to advocacy for people involved in the criminal justice system


Dr Felicity Gerry KC, Libertas Chambers, London and Crockett Chambers
Dr Felicity Gerry KC is an international King's Counsel at Crockett Chambers (Melbourne) and Libertas Chambers (London), also admitted before the ICC and Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague and the DIFC in Dubai. Her engagement with legal technology spans three decades, from her early days as a junior in digital abuse cases through her 2014 paper "Using Innovative Technology in International Legal Education" (Sino-Australian Law Deans' Meeting) to published research on digital tools against human trafficking (Computer Law & Security Review; UNODC cybercrime module) and dealing with digital evidence in complex terrorism trials. As counsel in the Al Hassan defence at the ICC, the team faced challenges on admissibility of digital material from other jurisdictions. She is also instructed in an ECHR challenge to the admissibility of EncroChat evidence. Recognised for her insights at the intersection of law, AI and cybercrime, and holding a PhD and Honorary Professorships at Salford and Deakin Universities and as a visiting professor at DLSU in the Philippines, she brings practical, technically fluent and global insight to this discussion on AI-generated evidence.

Gordon Chisholm, Barrister, Parnell's Barristers
Gordon is a barrister practising principally in criminal law and is available for metropolitan and regional matters. He was admitted in 2010 and signed the Victorian Bar Roll in 2014. Gordon holds the Victorian Bar’s Indictable Crime Certificate and is included on Victoria Legal Aid’s Criminal Trial Preferred Barrister List. Before joining the Bar, he practised at Slades & Parsons Solicitors and was Associate to Her Honour Judge Lewitan AM. His broader practice encompasses criminal appeals, fraud and financial litigation, disciplinary and tribunal proceedings, coronial inquests, occupational health and safety and administrative law. Gordon holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts with Honours from the University of Melbourne.


Anoushka Jeronimus, Director (Youth Law Program), WEstjustic (Western Community Legal Centre)
Anoushka is Director of the Youth Law Program at WEstjustice, which she joined in 2020. Prior to this, she worked at Victoria Legal Aid, first with the Youth Legal Service and later the Youth Crime Team, before being appointed Program Manager of Youth Crime in 2014. She gained specialist accreditation in Children’s Law in 2012 and has extensive experience advocating for children and young people involved in the criminal justice system. At WEstjustice, Anoushka’s work has included advocacy on youth justice, disadvantage, bail and remand, diversion and systemic issues affecting young people in Melbourne’s west. She has also given evidence to the Yoorrook Justice Commission on complex social and justice issues affecting young people and their families.

Shea Grant, Associate, Emma Turnbull Lawyers
Shea joined the team at Emma Turnbull Lawyers in early 2025. Shea has successfully completed her Juris Doctor at RMIT, after earlier completing a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology) from the University of Melbourne in 2019. She is admitted in the Supreme Court of Victoria and specialises in criminal defence advocacy. Shea has had a passion for criminal law from a young age and has shadowed criminal defence barristers for over a decade while studying. Her background in criminology gives her a strong foundational awareness of the drivers of criminal offending, the context in which these matters arise and the benefits of early intervention and therapeutic justice. Shea prioritises understanding each client’s unique circumstances, ensuring she can advocate for them in a compassionate and direct manner. Shea regularly appears as an advocate in the Magistrate’s Court for criminal matters, including contest mentions, plea hearings, and mention hearings, and instructs counsel in County and Supreme Court trial matters.

Maria Cananzi, Barrister, Parnell's Barristers
Maria accepts briefs in all areas of criminal law, and at all levels. She also accepts briefs in quasi-criminal, administrative law, regulatory matters, inquiries, coronial inquests, and occupational health & safety prosecutions. She has a particular interest in the use of powers of compulsion in investigative settings. She is available to appear in all metropolitan and regional courts in Victoria. Before coming to the Bar, Maria worked at the Office of the Special Investigator. There, she assisted the Special Investigator and counsel assisting with complex legal questions arising out of the investigation into allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan. Previously, Maria was a Senior Registry Lawyer at the Court of Appeal Registry where she was responsible for the case management of appeals relating to, and arising out of, the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants. From 2019–21, Maria was the Associate to the Honourable Justice Weinberg AO in the Victorian Court of Appeal. In that role, she gained significant experience in criminal appeals. She completed her practical legal training at Stary Norton Halphen, where she worked on terrorism and homicide matters. Maria is reading with Andrew Imrie and her senior mentor is Ruth Shann SC.