Rate My Professor Jamie Walvisch

Dr Jamie Walvisch is a Senior Lecturer in the Law School at the University of Western Australia, a position he has held since 2023. He earned his Bachelor of Arts (Honours 1), Bachelor of Laws (Honours 1), and Doctor of Philosophy in Law from Monash University, graduating first in his class with the Supreme Court Prize for his undergraduate degrees. Before entering academia, Walvisch served as a Research and Policy Officer at the Victorian Law Reform Commission, the Australian Institute of Criminology, and the Judicial College of Victoria. In these roles, he co-authored law reform reports on defences to homicide, fraud, electronic commerce-related crime, and violence associated with motor vehicle use, and developed the Victorian Criminal Charge Book, a key judicial reference for criminal jury trials.

Walvisch joined academia in 2013, teaching at Monash University and the University of Melbourne prior to UWA. His teaching expertise spans criminal law and procedure, evidence law, torts, lawyers’ ethics, and forensic evidence, recognized by awards including the Monash Faculty of Law Award for Teaching Excellence (2016), the Monash Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence (Early Career) (2016), and an Australian Awards for University Teaching citation (2017). His interdisciplinary research examines the intersection of mental health law and criminal law, particularly sentencing, integrating insights from psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, and forensic sciences. Notable publications include co-editing The Future of Mental Health, Disability and Criminal Law and The Feminist Legislation Project: Rewriting Laws for Gender-Based Justice. Recent articles feature “Unwell, Unconvicted and Uncooperative: Should Forensic Patients be Required to Engage with Mental Health Experts to Secure their Release from Custody?” (University of Western Australia Law Review, 2025) and “Forensic Science in the Justice System: Learnings from the Queensland DNA Inquiry” (Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2025). He received the UWA Law School Early-Career Research Award in 2024. Walvisch contributes to law reform as a former consultant to the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (2022-23) on equal opportunity law and sexual offences, and serves as a sessional legal member of Western Australia’s Mental Health Tribunal since 2024, and as a board member of the Australian Academy of Forensic Science (Victorian Chapter).