Liam McAuliffe

Professional Background

Liam practises in public and administrative law, common law, regulatory law, quasi-criminal and criminal law. He acts for government and private clients. 

He provides written advice to State and Federal Government Departments, as well as statutory authorities and bodies in relation to statutory interpretation and administrative decision-making.

Public and administrative law

Liam appears in coronial inquests, judicial review proceedings, public interest immunity matters, as well as confidentiality and suppression order proceedings. He also appears in VCAT in public law and human rights matters, merits review proceedings, privacy law and professional conduct matters. Liam also practises in federal law matters, including under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Common law

He regularly acts in common law matters, principally those involving occupational health and safety, institutional abuse, police torts and intentional torts. Liam is regularly briefed in negligence actions relating to health practitioners and legal professionals.

Regulatory, quasi-criminal and criminal law

Liam regularly appears in the County Court and the Magistrates' Court in criminal matters for both the defence and prosecution. He has significant experience in matters under the Serious Offenders Act 2018, and under the Crimes Mental Impairment (Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997. Liam is experienced in regulatory prosecutions and in professional disciplinary matters. He also maintains an appellate practice relating to criminal law matters.

Liam also has a significant interest and experience in terrorism related matters. In Victoria, he has acted for Corrections Victoria in matters relating to Division 105A of the Criminal Code and, in NSW, for the Attorney-General in matters under the Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017 (NSW).

He holds a current Baseline security clearance.

Prior experience

Prior to coming to the Bar, Liam had over eight years' experience as a solicitor. Liam was a Principal Solicitor in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Branch at the Victorian Government Solicitor's Office (VGSO). Before working at the VGSO, Liam worked as a solicitor-advocate at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions NSW for several years, and before that as a community lawyer at Marrickville Legal Centre.

Liam read with Karen Argiropoulos. His senior mentor is Paul Holdenson KC.

He completed his LLM (Criminal Law and Forensics) in 2023. A list of cases in which Liam has appeared is available under the “Cases” tab here.