DrGreg Byrne

Greg is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Deakin Law School. He was previously an Associate Teacher and Research Assistant at Monash University. Greg was also an independent legal policy consultant. Prior to that Greg provided legal policy advice to Victorian Attorneys-General and senior executives in the Department of Justice (Vic). As Director of, or Special Counsel to, legal policy business units in the department, he led major criminal law reforms including the overhaul and modernisation of criminal procedure laws (Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic)), reform of sexual offence laws, and the introduction of ground-breaking jury directions reforms (Jury Directions Act 2015 (Vic)). Through these reform processes, Greg chaired expert advisory groups that included judges, barristers, solicitors and policy officers. Greg represented Victoria on the national Model Criminal Code Officer's Committee for more than a decade, writing and recommending criminal law reforms for all Australian jurisdictions to follow. Greg represented Victoria as a witness giving evidence to, and as a representative on roundtables convened by, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Greg was the Director of legal policy advice and reform units in the department for approximately 15 years.

Greg began his career practising as a criminal lawyer at the Office of Public Prosecutions. Greg worked primarily as a solicitor but also appeared in the Supreme, County, and Magistrates' Court as a solicitor-advocate. He appeared as Counsel assisting the Coroner in two inquests concerning the deaths of two people killed by police officers in the course of their duty. He was also the solicitor in the first trial of a corporation for a serious indictable offence against the person.

Greg is an author, co-author, and co-editor of recently published books on the criminal law, criminal trials, juries and sexual offences. His books and published articles reflect his interest in both black letter law and interdisciplinary approaches to reform the criminal law. For example, his book Making Jury Trials Fair drew on work from multiple disciplines including psychology, linguistics, the politics of law reform and economics. In addition, Greg has written about sexual offences, homicide laws, jury directions, criminal appeals, and why we need a Juruies Advisory Council. 

RESEARCH PROFILE

Greg is the:

• author of Making Jury Trials Fair: A Jury-centric Approach to Criminal Laws, Guiding Juries and Juror Comprehension (Routledge, 2025)
• co-editor (with Jacqui Horan) of Sexual Assault Trials: Challenges and Innovations (LexisNexis, 2025); Greg also wrote one chapter (Victim Legal Representation) and co-authored another chapter in this book (Affirmative Consent)
• co-author (with Penny Crofts et al) of Waller and Williams Criminal Law Text and Cases (15th ed) (LexisNexis, 2025)
• co-author of two articles with the then President of Victoria's Court of Appeal, Justice Chris Maxwell about jury directions, and the reform process in Victoria and in England and Wales published in the Criminal Law Review and the Criminal Law Journal
• author of a prize-winning article that makes the case for establishing a Juries Advisory Council
• author of articles concerning the appeal to the High Court of Australia by Cardinal George Pell, 'detective' jurors, and sexual offence misconceptions in the jury room.

Greg has also made written submissions to the Victorian Law Reform Commission, and been cited extensively, in the Commission's reports on Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences (2021), Stalking (2021), and Recklessness (2024). Greg had one individual consultation and participated in one roundtable discussion with the Australian Law Reform Commission for its inquiry, Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence (2025). 

When working in the Department of Justice, Greg also wrote or edited, and was responsible for, discussion papers and reports on Sexual Offences, Jury Directions, Criminal Procedure, and Defensive Homicide. 

AWARDS AND PRIZES

Greg was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding services to criminal law (2014). This medal recognised Greg leadership and pivotal role in major law reform projects that not only modernised and improved laws and procedures but tackled difficult problems in innovative and collaborative ways despite the adversarial nature of criminal law. For his PhD Greg was awarded the Mollie Holman medal for the best thesis in Law at Monash University (2022). Greg was also awarded the Emeritus Professor HP Lee student publication prize (runner up) at Monash University (2021).