Rate My Professor Liam Elphick

Liam Elphick is a Lecturer at the Monash University Faculty of Law. He is a leading expert on the intersection between LGBTIQ+ rights and religious freedom, and on ensuring protection from discrimination for LGBTIQ+ communities. A prominent media commentator, he addresses contemporary issues in discrimination law, including marriage equality, religious body exceptions, rights of LGBTIQ+ staff and students in religious schools, the proposed federal Religious Discrimination Bill, and inclusion of transgender and gender-diverse athletes in sport. As a member of the Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group since 2017, he provides expertise to law reform inquiries and parliamentary committees. Elphick has long been involved in LGBTIQ+ advocacy, serving as Co-Convenor of the Victorian Pride Lobby, member of the LGBTIQA+ Advisory Committee for the City of Stonnington Council, and advisor to the Victorian Government’s LGBTIQ+ Taskforce Justice Working Group. Previously, he was LGBTIQ Advisor and Equity & Diversity Advisor at the University of Western Australia Law School, and Chair of the Board at Proud 2 Play, an organization focused on LGBTIQ+ inclusion in sport.

Elphick holds a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours (2016) and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (2013), both from the University of Western Australia, and is completing his Doctor of Philosophy in Law at the University of Melbourne. His thesis examines the tort-like aspects of discrimination law to advance substantive equality. Career highlights include Sessional Teacher at La Trobe University, Associate Lecturer at the University of Western Australia, Associate to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, and nearly a decade as an AFL Scout for the Port Adelaide Football Club. He is currently an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. With over ten years of tertiary teaching experience in private law subjects such as torts, contracts, equity, and trusts, he has won multiple teaching awards, including the Monash Students Association Teaching 'Above and Beyond' Award in 2021. He has led empirical research projects on legal education, student attendance, engagement, and wellbeing. Select publications are “Under my umbrella: LGBTQIA+ rights, LGBTQIA+ researchers and ‘internal allyship’” (Alternative Law Journal, 2024, with A. Ricciardo), “Religious schools: a transparent right to discriminate?” (Griffith Law Review, 2023, with A. Taylor), “Insurance discrimination and hepatitis C: recent developments and the need for reforms” (Insurance Law Journal, 2022), and “Human rights, gender and sport: lessons from Australian Rules Football” (2021, with K. Seear). Elphick is on the Editorial Board of the Alternative Law Journal, serves as Early Career Academic Representative on the Australasian Law Academics Association Executive Committee, and is Co-Convener and Founder of the Berkeley LGBTIQ Network and Berkeley Equality Law Early Career Network.