Ian L. Gray AM (born 1950) is a retired Victorian lawyer, and former judge, chief magistrate and State Coroner at the

Coroners Court of Victoria The name of "Coroners Court" is the generic name given to proceedings in which a Coroner holds an inquest in Victoria. Jurisdiction Coroners have jurisdiction over the remains of a person and the power to make findings in respect of the cause ...

Education

Gray completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, graduating in 1973.

Career

He initially practised as a private solicitor, before beginning work as a community lawyer in a Community Legal Service and at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. In 1982, he was admitted to the Victorian Bar and practiced as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, specialising in criminal law.Ian Gray – Prominent Monash Alumnus
/ref> In 1987, Gray was appointed as the Principal Legal Advisor for the

Northern Land Council The Northern Land Council (NLC) is a land council representing the Aboriginal peoples of the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia, with its head office in Darwin. While the NLC was established in 1974, its origins began in the strug ...

in Darwin. In 1990, Gray was appointed a magistrate in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. By 1992, he was Chief Magistrate of the Northern Territory. In that role he took issue with a government policy of mandatory sentencing for property offences and, as a coroner, dealt with the first case of a euthanasia death under the NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. From 1995 to 1997, Gray served on the national Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation as a representative of the Northern Territory. In 1998, he returned to the Victorian bar, specialising in criminal, administrative and employment law. In 2000, Gray was appointed as head of the Land and Property Unit of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). This role involved leading an international team working on the development of a modern land law system, and rules for resolving land disputes, in the post- conflict nation. He has since maintained a close connection with Timor Leste. In March 2001, he was appointed Chief Magistrate of the

Magistrates' Court of Victoria The Magistrates' Court of Victoria is the lowest court in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The court possesses original jurisdiction over summary offences and indictable offence, in ...

, where he led over 100 magistrates, covering 52 locations across the State of Victoria. Among Gray's initiatives was opening the Court to live filming of case hearings for a national TV series titled The Code: Crime and Justice in 2007. On 29 November 2012, he was appointed a judge of the County Court of Victoria and commenced his appointment as State Coroner of Victoria the same day. From 2013 to 2015 Gray chaired the RMIT University B. Juris Doctor advisory board. He has been an adjunct professor at

Victoria University Victoria University may refer to: * Victoria University (Australia), a public research university in Melbourne, Australia * Victoria University, Toronto, a constituent college of the federal University of Toronto in Canada * Victoria University of ...

since 2010.

Chief Magistrate of Victoria

During Gray's time in office, a number of major reforms were made at the Magistrates' Court. The establishment of innovative new specialist courts, such as the Drug Court, the Family Violence Court and the Koori Court, are a few examples of the type of change which Gray oversaw.

County Court and State Coroner

In 2012, Gray was appointed to the County Court and made State

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

of Victoria, replacing Jennifer Coate. As State Coroner he conducted a number of high-profile investigations including the inquests into the deaths of Luke Batty and Jill Meagher. His recommendations in the Luke Batty case were supported in the findings of Australia's first royal commission into family violence in 2016 Gray retired as State Coroner (and County Court judge) at the end of 2015. In 2018-2019 he served as the inaugural Chair of the Victorian Post Sentence Authority, established after a spate of parolee murders in Melbourne to monitor the post- release compliance by serious offenders with Supervision orders made by Courts.

Order of Australia

In June 2021, Gray was made a member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) for “significant service to the law, and to indigenous justice”.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Ian Australian magistrates Judges from Melbourne 20th-century Australian judges 21st-century Australian judges Monash Law School alumni Living people 1950 births