Two University of Tasmania students have shared an Australian Insurance Law Association prize for achieving the highest marks in insurance law subjects.
Scott Currie, 26, graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 2022. Penny Stevenson, 43, who is now in her seventh year of part-time study while raising a young family and working part-time as a teacher, will graduate at the end of 2023.
AILA presents student prizes to the top students in insurance subjects at several universities around Australia annually to encourage law graduates to seek careers in the insurance industry.
Mr Currie has just moved from Hobart to Canberra to join the Attorney-General’s Department.
He will initially work on the restructure of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The Federal Government has announced the AAT will be abolished and replaced with a new federal administrative review body.
Mr Currie said he was excited about the opportunity to put into practice lessons learnt in his insurance law studies.
“We examined different dispute resolution systems and considered ways to make them more efficient, streamlined and less intensive in terms of time and money for participants,” he said.
Those skills will be relevant in developing the new structure to replace the AAT.
Mr Currie says the Attorney-General’s Department role is an opportunity to integrate law and policy and he expects to gain an insight into the policy behind dispute resolution from “a big picture perspective”.
Hobart-based Mrs Stevenson has “an open mind” on how she will use her legal skills when she graduates. “I still enjoy teaching but definitely want to use my new learnings.”
She’s keen on environmental law and says climate change risk is particularly important to the insurance industry so a career path there is “always a possibility”.
Despite studying education and joining the teaching profession, Mrs Stevenson said she had always been interested in studying law after completing an introductory subject as “a taster”. However, she waited until after the birth of her second child and starting part-time teaching before returning to university to embark on a Bachelor of Laws.
Mr Currie and Mrs Stevenson will share the $500 prize, which Mr Currie says will assist with the costs of moving interstate for his new job. Mrs Stevenson will use the funds to help defray the cost of textbooks. Both thanked AILA for the association’s generosity in making the prize available.
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