Applications have now closed for an Australian Academy of Law Research Grant. 

There were 27 applications.

The proposed research may be empirical, theoretical, doctrinal or practical.

The criteria were:

• the extent to which the proposed research accords with the AAL’s objects;
• its importance;
• its originality;
• its feasibility; and
• its value for money.

The amount of each grant depended on the nature and quality of the applications both individually and comparatively.

The following grants have been awarded for 2025, listed in no particular order:

• Prototyping AI-Assisted Legal Issue Identification to Enhance Access to Justice Services – $4,862.50 – applicant, Dr Paul Burgess (Monash University)
• Judicial narrative and voice in family violence matters: written resources for judicial officers – $6,000 – applicant, Dr Nina Hudson (Independent Research Consultant)
• Aspects of Modern Judging: Joint Judgments and Law Reform – $5,000 – applicant, Mr Kieran Pender, (Honorary Senior Lecturer, ANU College of Law)
• Generative AI in the courts – Cases dataset -$5,000 – applicant, Ms Vicki McNamara (Senior Research Associate, Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW)
• Identifying blockers and enablers of collaboration in the quantum technology ecosystem: opportunities and challenges for research security legal and regulatory frameworks in Australia – $4,936.55 – applicant, Dr Susanne Lloyd-Jones (Lecturer, UTS Faculty of Law)
• A critical analysis of the erosion of the presumption of innocence through media reporting of criminal trials: are current contempt laws adequate to withstand the threat? – $5,156 -applicant, Dr Gaye Lansdell (Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Law Faculty, Monash University)

I am very pleased to be able to say a forthcoming grant to the AAL by the Alan and Mary-Louise Archibald Foundation has been allocated to support the project of Dr Lansdell. The Academy is very grateful to the Foundation for its generosity.