Waller, Peter Louis

Positions summary

Sir Leo Cussen Chair of Law, 1965-2000; Dean of the Faculty of Law, 1968-1970; Emeritus Professor 2001. Foundation President of Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, 1972-1974; Chairman, Australian Red Cross Society International Humanitarian Law Committee, 1978-1985; Commissioner and Chairman, Law Reform Victoria, 1982-1985; Chairman, Standing Review and Advisory Committee on Infertility, 1985-1993; Commissioner, Law Reform Commission, 1986-1991; Chairman, Victorian Infertility Treatment Authority, 1995- ; since 1991 and 1997 member of Boards of Governors of Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University.

Biography

Louis Waller was born in Poland in 1935 and became an Australian citizen in 1946. He graduated Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Melbourne in 1956 and was appointed tutor in law there in the same year. In 1958 he was awarded a Bachelor of Civil Laws with Honours at Oxford and took up a senior lectureship in law at the University of Melbourne in 1959. In March 1964 Waller was appointed to a part-time lecturers position at Monash and was admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in May 1964. 

Waller took up his appointment to the Sir Leo Cussen Chair of Law at Monash in 1965 and from 1968-70 served as Dean of the Faculty of Law. He served as Acting Dean of Law in 1998. Waller's research interests include criminal law, evidence, medical law and law reform. Appointments outside Monash have included: Member, Board of Governors Tel Aviv University 1991- Member, Board of Governors Hebrew University of Jerusalem 1997- Chairman, Victorian Infertility Treatment Authority 1995- Part-time Commissioner, Law Reform Commission 1986-91 Chairman, Standing Review & Advisory Committee on Infertility 1985-93 Chairman, Law Reform Victoria 1984-85 Commissioner, Law Reform Victoria 1982-84 Chairman, International Humanitarian Law Committee, Australian Red Cross Society 1978-85 Consultant to Law Reform Commission of Canada 1974-75 Foundation President of Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service 1972-74.

Papers

Addresses 1974-2012
Drafts and final copies of addresses together with materials used, associated correspondence, and papers for related conferences.

Correspondence files 1961-2017
Personal and professional correspondence, including two runs of correspondence generated while Acting Dean of Law 1987-88 and 1998-99.

Course files 1967-2015
Records related to subjects taught chiefly within the faculty of Law; files related to courses at RMIT and Geelong Hospital (both 1970s) are also included. Subjects include Administration of Criminal Justice, Criminal Law, Elements of Forensic Medicine, Evidence, Legal Issues in Medicine, and Legal Process.

Files related to the Infertility Treatment Authority (ITA) 1995-2002

Files related to the IVF Committee 1982-1985

Files related to the Law Reform Commission of Victoria 1970-1992

Files related to the Standing Review and Advisory Committee on Infertility (SRACI) 1982-1994

Jewish community files 1967-2015
Subject files related to involvement with Jewish community groups and organisations, chiefly dated to 1980s and 1990s.

Personal references 1982-2017
Copies of confidential references given by Prof. Waller for friends, colleagues and students

Research files 1951-1999
Files related to range of areas of the law and to criminal procedures, and including specific legal cases in which Prof. Waller appears to have taken an interest.

Student notebooks 1952-1960
Notebooks from Prof. Waller's days as law student, at University of Melbourne and Oxford University in 1950s

Subject files 1960-2018
Correspondence files related to Prof. Waller's work while with the Faculty of Law, including files related to Monash centres and committees. Also includes files related to study leave at Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities at University of Edinburgh; and files related to publication of monographs.

See also
High Court Publications: Valedictory Dinner Speech

Emeritus Professor Louis Waller

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia: Emeritus Professor Louis Waller