Jeannie Paterson

Jeannie Paterson is a Professor of Law (consumer protection) in the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne. As co-founding director and co-director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics (CAIDE), she is affiliated with the Digital Access and Equity Research Program in the Melbourne Social Equity Institute. Her research addresses consumer protection law and the regulatory challenges posed by artificial intelligence, including effective regulation for AI safety and liability, legal responses to human-AI relationships in consumer roles, consumer credit law, contracts, and the integration of technology in legal frameworks. Paterson's work explores three interrelated themes: support for consumers facing hardship and marginalisation, the ethics and regulation of AI and digital technologies in consumer markets, and regulatory design to protect consumer rights while promoting safe and trustworthy technology. She teaches Australian Consumer Law and AI, Ethics and the Law in the Melbourne Law Masters and Breadth programs, and regularly presents seminars and masterclasses on consumer protection, contract law, and AI to businesses, government agencies, health providers, and not-for-profits.

A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, Paterson serves as Academic Editor of the Journal of Law, Technology and Humans. She holds memberships on the consumer committee of the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner, the AI Committee of Beyond Blue, the research committee and Expert Advisory Panel of the Consumer Policy Research Centre, the University of Melbourne's AI in Research Committee, and in 2024, the Commonwealth Government's AI Advisory Committee. She is an affiliate of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society. Her scholarship has influenced judicial decisions, cited by the High Court of Australia (2019, 2022, 2023) and the Supreme Court of Canada (2021), and informed law reform reports from the Australian Government (2019-2023), the ACCC (2019), and the Australian Law Reform Commission (2022, 2023). Paterson has authored review reports for ASEAN (2015), ASIC, AFCA (2019), and the Banking and Financial Services Royal Commission (2017). Key publications include Principles of Contract Law (co-authored with Andrew Robertson), 'Good Proctor or "Big Brother"? Ethics of Online Exam Supervision Technologies' (2021, with Simon Coghlan and Tim Miller), 'The Australian Unfair Contract Terms Law: The Rise of Substantive Fairness as a Ground for Review of Standard Form Consumer Contracts' (2009), and 'Scrutinising COVIDSafe: Frameworks for Evaluating Digital Contact Tracing Technologies' (2020, with Amy Lodders). She has led Australian Research Council Discovery Grants (2014-2017, 2018-2021), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade projects (2023-2024), and participates in an MRFF-funded project with Orygen Youth Mental Health (2022-2027).

Professional Email: jeanniep@unimelb.edu.au