Rate My Professor Mirella Atherton

Dr Mirella Atherton serves as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Justice within the Faculty of Law at the University of Newcastle. She earned her PhD, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Science (Honours) from the University of Newcastle, along with a Bachelor of Laws from Macquarie University. Specializing in Banking and Finance Law, her research interests include banking, complaints, compulsory income management, consumer protection, cryptocurrency, data privacy, digital transactions, digital footprint, finance, financial hardship, fraud, gambling with credit, privacy, responsible lending, and vulnerability. Fields of Research classifications highlight banking, finance and securities law (80%), law reform (10%), and access to justice (10%). Atherton is involved in projects such as Protection of the Human Identity in the Digital Age, a sole-authored book on privacy, surveillance, personal data, and technology's impact; Justice, the Digital Revolution, Society and the Individual, co-authored with Professor Bruno Zeller; Privacy of Financial Data; Financial Crime from an Australian perspective; Digital Scams; Gaming and Gambling with Credit; Cryptocurrency; and Human simulations for legal education. She is available to co-supervise PhD research in these areas.

Atherton's scholarly contributions encompass books like Justice, the Digital Revolution, Society and the Individual (2025, with B. Zeller) and PROTECTION OF HUMAN IDENTITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE (2025); journal articles including Liberal Democracy, Society and the Digital Revolution (2025, Liverpool Law Review, with B. Zeller), Crypto-Assets and Property Law: Emerging Challenges in International Trade and Investment (2025, American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, with R. Walters and B. Zeller), Treating Vulnerable Consumers 'Fairly' When They Make a Complaint About Banking or Finance in Australia (2020, Bond Law Review, with T. Sourdin), and Vulnerability and dispute resolution in the banking and finance sector (2019, Social Business, with T. Sourdin); chapters such as Banking and Finance (2018); and conference presentations like The Digital Revolution In Banking and Finance (2023). She has received awards including Outstanding Achievement - Multidisciplinary Team Awarded $217,330 in Funding for Education Research (2025, Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success), Best Research Paper (2017, ELFSC Research Committee), and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2016, English Language and Foundation Studies Centre). Atherton engages in media commentary on topics like cashback apps, online gambling, scams, class actions, and data breaches, and volunteers with the Criminal Justice Support Network.