Dean's Message

Welcome to Melbourne Law School – a vibrant and remarkable place to study law.

Matthew Harding

Melbourne Law School is a community of students, scholars and staff with a shared commitment to generating transformational public benefit through legal education and research. Our community includes an extensive network of alumni and friends in the legal profession and elsewhere, both in Australia and around the world.

We strive for a lively and inclusive academic life, which is enriched by the talents, energy, and diversity of our students and faculty. Our teaching programs provide students with a rich and engaging range of educational opportunities, while our research endeavours have an extraordinary breadth and depth, as reflected in our numerous research hubs, partnerships and initiatives.

As an institution that plays an important role in the Australian legal landscape, we have a strong commitment to the ongoing work of recognising Indigenous laws and Indigenous perspectives on settler law. At the same time, we maintain a range of international partnerships that connect students and staff to leading law schools around the world, in Asia, North America, Europe and elsewhere.

Since Melbourne Law School’s inception in 1857, we have always looked for new and better ways to carry out our mandate of legal education and research. This spirit of innovation has resulted in a remarkable legacy of achievement, built by generations of alumni and staff. We are proud today to be recognised as one of the world’s leading law schools, as reflected in our placement as the number =7 law school globally in the 2023 Times Higher Education world university rankings by subject.

I welcome you to Melbourne Law School and invite you to explore all aspects of our scholarly life. For those of you who might be considering joining our community, whether as students, staff or supporters, we also welcome the opportunity to talk further with you about the School and its activities.

Professor Matthew Harding
Dean