Professor Paula Gerber has been a lawyer for over 25 years, and worked on three continents in a variety of capacities. She spent five years working as a solicitor with Baker & Mckenzie in London, and five years as an attorney in Los Angeles, before returning to Australia where she worked for Mallesons (now King & Wood Mallesons) and later became a partner at Maddocks.
Professor Gerber moved from private practice into academia in 2000, beginning her academic career at the University of Melbourne (Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning and the Law School), before moving to Monash University in late 2004.
On this page, you can find out more about Professor Gerber’s education, employment, voluntary positions and awards.
Education
PhD – University of Melbourne, Australia (2008). Thesis: From Convention to Classroom: the Long Road to Human Rights Education.
LLM {International and Comparative Law} – Monash University, Australia (2002).
M.Sc. {Construction Law} (Distinction) – King’s College, London, UK (1991). Thesis: Arbitration of Construction Disputes in America and England – a Comparative Study.
LLB – Queensland University of Technology, Australia (1986).
Jurisdictions where Professor Gerber has been admitted as a lawyer
Australia: Queensland: 1986, New South Wales and Victoria: 1995
England & Wales: 1989
USA, California: 1990
Employment History
2016 – present: Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University.
2012 – 2015: Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University.
2004 – 2011: Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Monash University.
2004 – 2014: Sessional Member and Mediator, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
2001: Visiting Professor University of Prishtina, Kosovo.
2000 – 2004: Director of Studies (Construction Law) & Senior Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne.
2000 – 2004: Senior Fellow, Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning, University of Melbourne.
2000 – 2004: Consultant, Lander & Rogers, Lawyers.
2000 – 2004: Assessor of Trainee Mediators, Australian Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators.
1997 – 1999: Partner, Maddocks, Solicitors.
1995 – 1997: Senior Associate, Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons), Solicitors, Melbourne.
1990 – 1994: Attorney, Hunt Ortmann Attorneys, Los Angeles, California.
1990 – 1993: Examiner of Practice Bar Exams, California BarBri
1987 – 1990: Solicitor, Baker & McKenzie, London.
1986 – 1987: Paralegal, Durrant Piesse (now Hogan Lovells), London.
1985: Associate to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Sir Bob Andrews, Brisbane, Australia.
Miscellaneous Appointments
2013 – present: Immediate Past President, and current Director, of Kaleidoscope Australia Human Rights Foundation.
2012 – present: Member of the Society of Construction Law Australia, Academic Subcommittee.
2011 – present: Editor of the ‘Discrimination and Refugees’ section of the Australian Journal of Administrative Law.
2011 – present: Member of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Technology, Engineering and Construction List Users Group.
2011 – 2013: Australasian Law Teachers Association, Monash University Representative.
2009 – 2012: Member of the Board of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
2005 – present: Deputy Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law.
Awards and Honours
Monash University Vice Chancellor’s Diversity and Inclusion Award (2015)
LexisNexis Centenary Book Award, Finalist (2013)
Monash Law Faculty Dean’s Award for Excellence in Innovation and External Collaboration (2012)
Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2011)
Monash University Law Faculty Award for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher (2011)
Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women (2011).
Monash University Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching Award. Special Commendation (2010)
Monash University, Law Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence (2009)
Queensland University of Technology, Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award (Law) (1997)
Law Institute of Victoria, Journal Writer’s Award (1997)
National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Foundation Award recognising my outstanding contribution in establishing NAWIC in Australia (1997)
Telstra Australian Businesswoman of the Year (Private Sector – Over 100 Employees) (1996)
Telstra Victorian Businesswoman of the Year (Private Sector – Over 100 Employees) (1996)
Crystal Vision Award – NAWIC USA (1996)
Consultancies
Dr Gerber’s expertise is often called upon by government and industry. For example, she has been engaged by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department to undertake international comparative research into best practice in school-based human rights education and by the Victorian Building Authority to undertake research into the ways in which the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) is relied upon in construction litigation in the Victorian County Court.
Grants
Dr Gerber has enjoyed a great deal of success in securing highly competitive research grants to fund her scholarly pursuits.
In recent years, she has obtained the following Australian and international grants:
- ARC Linkage Grant ‘Closing the Gap on Indigenous Birth Registration’ $150,000 from ARC and $432,000 in cash and in-kind from seven industry partners (2012-2015).
- Monash University Research Accelerator Program ($110,000) (2011 – 2012).
- Monash University Law Faculty Small Grant ($5,000) [Construction Law] (2010).
- Monash University Law Faculty Small Grant ($4,600) [Indigenous Birth Registration] (2009).
- Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Grant (approx $27,000) [Human Rights Education] (2008-2009).
Professor Paula Gerber 