2024

3 March 2024 

MCLA Lenten Retreat "Both Magistrate and Saint: Wisdom from St Augustine of Hippo"

Led by Fr Michael Buck

20 February 2024 

MCLA Inaugural CPD "Navigating the Intersection of Canon Law and Civil Law in Practice".

Speaker: Fr Richard Waddell JCL

29 January 2024 

Red Mass

Click here to read about the 2024 Red Mass.

2023

14 September 2023

Annual Dinner

Speaker: Chris Uhlmann - "In Defence of Western Civilisation: Defending our Cultural Heritage. To read about the dinner click here.

5 March 2023

Lenten Retreat led by Fr Cameron Forbes.

30 January 2023

Red Mass

Click here to read about the 2023 Red Mass.

2022

1 September 2022

Annual Dinner

Speaker: The Honourable Justice Simon Steward, High Court of Australia, - " The Christian Judge in an increasingly secular world'.  Click here to read about the annual dinner.

27 March 2022

MCLA Lenten Retreat led by the Rev. Dr. Paschal M. Corby OFM Conv.

2021

14 March 2021

MCLA Lenten Retreat led by Fr Peter Fitzsimons.

2020

4 March

Breakfast talk - Paul Santamaria QC  "Failing our most vulnerable - the Assisted Suicide Regime".

2019

6 October

Inaugural MCLA Retreat led by our Chaplain, Rev. Fr Cameron Forbes.

30 July

Breakfast talk - Mark Sneddon spoke on "Being Faithful in a Secular and Politicized Workplace". The talk included a Q&A session with Angus Monro, founder of the Faith Network for employees of a major Australian bank. Mark was introduced by Tony Macken of A.J. Macken & Co.

20 May

Breakfast and Q&A session with American blogger, author and film critic Rod Dreher.

1 March

Dinner with guest speaker Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli, introduced by Justice Christopher Beale.

29 January

Red Mass to mark the commencement of the legal year.

2018

13 December

Christmas Mass and drinks.

15 March

Breakfast talk - canon lawyer Dr Maria Casey rsj spoke on the topic “From Fitzroy to Rome:
The Journey to Canonization of Mary MacKillop”.

29 January

Red Mass to mark the commencement of the legal year.

2017

17 June - Annual Dinner - Professor Margaret Somerville spoke on "The Ethical Imagination and the Proposed Victorian Euthanasia Laws". The dinner was co-hosted with the Catholic Doctors' Association of Victoria.

16 May - breakfast talk - Adelaide barrister Christopher Brohier spoke on the topic "Not Only in America: The Need to Protect Religious Freedom in Australia".

30 January - Red Mass to mark the commencement of the legal year.

2016

8 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

8 July - Mass and dinner - barrister Julian McMahon spoke on the topic "Capital Punishment and the Rule of Law". The dinner was co-hosted with the Catholic Doctors' Association of Victoria.

16 March - Mass and breakfast - Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins MLC spoke on the Infant Viability Bill.

1 February - Red Mass to mark the commencement of the legal year.

2015

31 July - Mass and dinner - Fr Michael Tate AO, formerly Dean of Law at the University of Tasmania, federal Senator and Justice Minister, and Ambassador to the Holy See, spoke on the topic "From Ministry to Ministry".

14 April - Mass and breakfast - barrister and navy veteran Gray Connolly spoke on “100 Years in the Light of Just War Theory: From World War I to Afghanistan”.

3 March - Mass and breakfast - Geoff Horgan QC, Deputy Commissioner at IBAC, spoke on “Iconography and the Law: Parallel Paths”.

2 February - Red Mass to mark the commencement of the legal year

2014

9 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

15 August - Mass and dinner - Sir James Gobbo AC CVO, former Supreme Court Justice and Governor of Victoria, spoke on “The Challenges of Catholic Identity”. Sir James was introduced by Judge Frank Gucciardo.

13 May - Mass and breakfast - Javier Martínez, Archbishop of Granada, Spain, spoke on "Faith in the Public Square: the Challenges of Secularisation"

6 March - Mass and breakfast - Christine Campbell MP spoke on "Freedom of Conscience in the context of the prosecution of Dr Mark Hobart".

2013

10 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

23 October - Mass and breakfast - Frank Kigenza, a young African lawyer, spoke about the justice system in Rwanda and his work with Lawyers of Hope, a partner of CLEAR International Australia. The breakfast was co-hosted with the Christian Legal Society of Victoria.

16 August - Mass and dinner - Attorney General of Victoria Robert Clark spoke on "The Rule of Law". The Attorney General was introduced by Justice Richard Tracey RFD of the Federal Court.

21 May - St Ives' Day Mass and drinks.

22 March - Mass and breakfast - health researcher Dr Renate Klein spoke on the topic “Is it ever OK to use a woman’s body in surrogacy? Recent legal developments in Australia and internationally.

2012

12 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

22 May - St Ives' Day Mass and drinks.

14 March  - Mass and breakfast - RMIT lecturer Dr Caroline Norma spoke on the topic “Females for Sale and Selling a Lie: Prostitution in Victoria”

2011

13 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

26 August - Mass and dinner - Bishop Eugene Hurley of Darwin spoke on “Reflections on the law and justice”, including some comments on the NT Intervention and refugees.

19 May - St Ives' Day Mass and drinks.

7 April - Mass and breakfast - barrister Julian McMahon spoke on the topic "St Thomas More: His Life in London".

2010

15 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

6 October - seminar on "St Justin Martyr's Plea for Religious Liberty" by law graduate, academic and author, Robert Haddad. Robert was introduced by Professor Adam Cooper of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family.


13 August - Mass and dinner - Professor Greg Craven, Vice-Chancellor of ACU National and constitutional law expert, spoke on "Australian Constitutional Necessities". Professor Craven was introduced by barrister Chris Beale.

19 May  - The Feast of St Ives - Mass and breakfast - Fr Joe Caddy spoke on the topic "Faith, Prisons and Justice: The Reflections of a Prison Chaplain"

18 March - Evening talk and drinks - Peter Kavanagh MP, State MP for the Democratic Labor Party, spoke on "Campaign and Parliamentary Experiences".

2009

8 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.

11 November - Seminar on the topic "Counting the Cost of Donor Conception" with the following speakers:
*Myfwanwy Walker - a young woman conceived by artificial insemination from an anonymous sperm donor.
*Romana Rossi - the mother of a teenage son conceived by the same method.Both speakers are members of TangledWebs, which opposes donor conception and campaigns for the rights of donor-conceived children to know their natural parents and extended family.

12 June - Mass and dinner - Justice Susan Crennan AC of the High Court spoke on the topic of pro bono work. Justice Crennan was introduced by Justice Paul Coghlan of the Supreme Court.

11 March - Mass and breakfast - Commissioner Gareth Grainger of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission spoke on "Why I became a Catholic".

2008

9 December - Christmas Mass and drinks

5 September - Mass and dinner - Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE, former Chief Justice of the High Court, spoke on "Law, Values and Culture". Sir Gerard was introduced by Justice Anthony Cavanough of the Supreme Court.
17 June - Mass and breakfast - Professor Mary Crock, Professor of Public Law at the University of Sydney, spoke on "A reform agenda for justice in immigration and refugee law".

22 May - St Ives Day Mass and drinks.
11 March - Seminar on"Relationships Registers: A question of justice or an attack on the family?" by John Heard, law graduate, philosophy student at the University of Melbourne, and author of the popular Dreadnought blog, http://johnheard.blogspot.com/.

2007

11 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.
29 October - Christine Campbell MP conducted a briefing seminar on making submissions to the Victorian Law Reform Commission's inquiry into abortion law reform.
16 October - Mass and breakfast - Professor Ian Harper, Chair of the Australian Fair Pay Commission, spoke on "Wealth: our greatest moral blindness". The event was co-hosted with the Christian Legal Society of Victoria.
14 September - seminar for law and medical students at Monash University, with talks by Anna Krohn of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family, speaking on "Personal Virtue", and Marcia Riordan, Executive Officer, Archdiocese Respect Life Office. The event was co-hosted with Catholics on Campus and the Catholic Doctors Association of Victoria.
3 August - Mass and dinner - Bishop Anthony Fisher OP spoke on "The law and conscience". The Bishop was introduced by Paul Santamaria QC.
22 June - Mass for the repose of the soul of solicitor Brendan Keilar, murdered in the CBD on 18 June.
17 May - St Ives Day Mass and drinks.
30 March - Ethics seminar for law and medical students at Monash University. The event was co-hosted with Catholics on Campus and the Catholic Doctors Association of Victoria.
27 February - Mass and breakfast - Magistrate John Doherty spoke on "Courts and lawyers as agents of therapeutic change".

2006

12 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.
20 November: Seminar on "The Legal Implications of Decriminalisation of Abortion", with talks by Professor David A.Schleuter, Hardy Professor of Law at St. Mary's University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas, and Linda L. Schleuter, Vice President of Legal Affairs, the Justice Foundation, USA. The seminar was chaired by Joseph Santamaria QC.
1 November - Mass and breakfast - Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision, spoke on "Have Christians lost their confidence?" The event was co-hosted with the Christian Legal Society of Victoria.
26 July - Seminar and drinks - Professor Patrick Quirk from Ave Maria School of Law, Michigan, spoke on "Controversial decisions of the US Supreme Court".
18 May - St Ives Day Mass and drinks.
28 February - Mass and breakfast - Barrister Julian McMahon spoke on "Defending a capital matter: some reflections on the Van Nugyen case".

2005

13 December - Christmas Mass (celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart) and drinks.
2 December - Mass for the repose of the soul of Van Tuong Nguyen from Melbourne, who was hanged that morning in Singapore for drug trafficking.
25 October - Mass and breakfast - His Honour Judge Frank Walsh, Judge of the County Court of Victoria, spoke on "The law: reflections of the past; thoughts for the future".
2 August - The MCLA hosted a conversation hour with 2 Seminarians from China, entitled "Navigating the moral minefield that is China". The moderator for the evening was Bill Shorten, lawyer and National and Victorian Branch Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union.
28 May - Mass and dinner - the speaker was Bishop Mark Coleridge. This event was a testimonial to Senator Brian Harradine, who retired from the Commonwealth Parliament on 1 July 2005. The event was co-hosted with the Catholic Doctors Association of Victoria, the International Association of Catholic Bioethicists and the Knights of Malta.
19 May - St Ives Day Mass and drinks.
1 March - Mass and breakfast - A. J. (Tony) Macken of A.J. Macken & Co., a boutique industrial and employment law practice, spoke on "Catholic lawyers and the Australian workplace".

2004

7 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.
26 October - Mass and breakfast - Brian Collis QC, Chairman of the AFL tribunal, spoke on "Life, the law and football".
18 June - Mass and Dinner - the Honourable Chief Justice Murray Gleeson AO, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, spoke on "Rights and values".
May - St Ives Day Mass and drinks.

2003

9 December - Christmas Mass and drinks.
28 October - Mass and breakfast - Kevin Andrews MP, Minister for Industrial Relations, spoke on "Faith and politics".
28 May - Mass and breakfast - Judge Frances Hogan spoke on "Keeping in touch with compassion and spirituality".
18 February - Mass and breakfast - Justice Geoffrey Giudice, President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and Federal Court Judge, spoke on "Equity, good conscience and the substantial merits of the case".

2002

December - Christmas Mass and drinks.
17 September - Mass and breakfast - former lawyer Fr Peter Hansen from the Mary of the Cross Drug and Alcohol Centre spoke on "Dealing with the marginalised in our society: a lawyer's approach".
28 May - Mass and breakfast - County Court Judge David Jones spoke on "Morality in professional life".
19 February - Mass and breakfast - Paul Coghlan QC, Director of Public Prosecutions for Victoria, spoke on "The challenges of daily working life as a Catholic Lawyer".

2001

December - Christmas Mass and drinks.