Dr Ian Freckelton AO KC

Dr Ian Freckelton AO KC is an experienced advocate with a broad national trial, appellate and advisory practice in:

• The High Court
• Intermediate appellate courts
• The Federal Court
• The Family Court
• State and Territory Supreme and County/District Courts
• Coroners’ Courts
• Tribunals

Ian is available (with and without juniors) to advise and appear in all jurisdictions. He is a member of Castan Chambers in Melbourne and the Bar Associations of Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory

 

Dr Freckelton has a busy mixed trial, appellate and advisory practice in administrative law, disciplinary law, personal injury law, human rights law, criminal law and commercial law. His advocacy style is contemporary, assertive, rigorously researched and prepared, and strategically nuanced to the forum in which he appears. His focus is upon addressing the full picture of disputes which bring clients to him for legal advice, recognising that law and litigation are just a part of the overall fabric of relationships that can lead people and entities into conflict.

He has represented individuals and institutions in many significant and sensitive cases involving government instrumentalities. He has also appeared in many inquisitorial proceedings, including judicial inquiries/Royal Commissions and high profile coroners’ inquests. In addition, he has provided advice to persons and entities likely to be affected by parliamentary inquiries and investigations conducted by entities such as ASIC and anti-corruption bodies.

Dr Freckelton has a particular expertise in the use of expert evidence in respect of technical areas of endeavour (medical, scientific, accounting and engineering) in litigation, and in health law generally.

Dr Freckelton’s practice as a King’s Counsel is based at Castan Chambers in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne. He is briefed throughout Australia. He is a member of the Victorian, Northern Territory and Tasmanian Bar Associations and took silk in 2007.

In over three decades at the Bar, Dr Freckelton has appeared in leading cases across a wide range of legal areas in all States and Territories in Australia. He has also undertaken advisory work for cases in New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand.

In 2019 and 2020 he was rated by Doyle’s Guide as among Victoria’s Leading Senior Counsel in Criminal Law. In 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 he was rated by Best Lawyers in Australia in Public Law, Personal Injury Law and Commercial Law  and in 2021, 2022 , 2023 and 2024 by Doyle’s Guide as a Leading Barrister in Administrative Law, Public Law and Judicial Review.

Dr Freckelton has particular expertise in professional discipline and in integrity issues and accountability – in government, in institutions such as local councils, universities and corporations, in research and in the giving of expert evidence. He is an expert in research misconduct and its legal repercussions.

He has conducted inquiries into allegations/concerns about prominent figures and allegations of impropriety in relation to sensitive matters. Between 2017 and 2019 he was briefed to conduct an investigation into concerns about sexually inappropriate conduct on the part of the Melbourne Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle and in 2021 he conducted an inquiry into Victoria’s regulator of gambling. Between 2020 and 2021 he was Chair of the Counsel Committee of the Victorian Bar.

Between 2017 and 2023 Dr Freckelton was a part-time judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Nauru, principally dealing with judicial reviews and appeals.

Dr Freckelton has also been appointed to a number of tribunals on a part-time basis, including:

• the Social Security Appeals Tribunal;
• the Mental Health Tribunal of Victori

the Psychosurgery Review Board of Victoria;the Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria;the Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria;the Disciplinary Appeals Board of Victoria;the Investigation Review Panel;the Suitability Panel of Victoria, andthe Northern Suburbs Football Disciplinary Tribunal.

 

Aside from undergraduate degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney, Dr Freckelton holds a PhD (in relation to expert evidence) from Griffith University and a “higher doctorate”, an LLD (in relation to health law), from the University of Melbourne.

Dr Freckelton is the Editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine and the Founding Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. He is the author of some 50 books and over 750 articles and chapters of books. He has given more than 800 professional addresses in more than 40 countries.

He is an elected Fellow of three learned academies – the Australian Academy of Law, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine. In 2024 he was awarded the Prix Philippe Pinel, the highest award bestowed by the International Academy of Law and Psychiatry. He is also a winner of both the Victorian Bar Public Interest / Justice Innovation Pro Bono Award and the Tim McCoy Award (with others) for work on the “Children in Barwon Prison case”. In 2019 he received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from Griffith University.

In 2021 Dr Freckelton was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to the law and to the legal profession, across fields including health, medicine and technology.”

View Dr Freckelton's Leading Cases as Counsel

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