The Victorian Government has made five appointments to the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria as part of efforts to continue reducing court backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attorney General Jaclyn Symes congratulated Julia Barling, Kirstie Grigor, Robyn Hamilton, Christina Windisch and Marko Sabljak on their appointments as magistrates.
The new appointments will help in speeding up the resolution of court and tribunal matters and driving down court backlogs, ensuring Victorians continue to have access to a fair and accessible judicial system.
Ms Barling has practised law for 19 years and has been an adjunct lecturer and mentor at the College of Law since 2021. Holding extensive experience in family law practice and mediation, Ms Barling founded Barling Mediation in 2021 and previously worked for Maddens Lawyers and Victoria Legal Aid.
Ms Grigor was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria and High Court of Australia in 2000 and holds a wealth of criminal law and regulatory offences experience having most recently held the role of head of criminal law at Gordon Legal.
Ms Hamilton has served as a judicial registrar to the Children’s Court of Victoria since 2021 and has practised law for more than 23 years. Prior to joining the Children’s Court, Ms Hamilton worked at Victoria Legal Aid for 18 years. Ms Hamilton holds extensive experience in children and youth justice.
Ms Windisch was admitted to practice law in 1994 and is highly experienced in family and criminal law. Ms Windisch established her own practice in 2008. Prior to this Ms Windisch was a partner at Nicholls, Windisch and Associates and worked with the Youth Advocacy & Legal Service for eight years.
Mr Sabljak has practised law for more than 29 years and has served as a judicial registrar to the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria since 2021. With extensive experience in criminal law, Mr Sabljak previously worked with Victoria Police as a specialist criminal lawyer and prior to that worked with the Office of Public Prosecutions Victoria for 17 years.
As stated by Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes
“I’m excited to welcome five distinguished and deserving newmagistrates, each bringing with them a range of experience and expertise.“
“Having such a variety of skills on the bench is an important part of our work to make justice fairer and more accessible to Victorians.”
