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Stefanie Garber
A not-for-profit corporation has been appointed as the new publisher of the Victorian Law Reports, marking the first change in publisher in over a century.
BarNet, under its newly launched publishing entity Little William Bourke, will publish the reports both online and in a hard-copy version for the next five years.
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Prior to this change, LexisNexis Butterworths had been charged with publishing the reports for more than 100 years.
Law librarian Petal Kinder has been appointed as Little William Bourke’s CEO, while Peter G Willis SC will act as editor of the reports.
The appointment was made by the Council of Law Reporting in Victoria. Chairman Justice Cameron Macaulay suggested improving digital availability of the reports was a key consideration.
“Under the new publishing regime, greater emphasis will be given to making the reports available online, quickly and at an affordable cost, while retaining the option of hard copy subscription,” he said.
“In keeping with the council's desire to improve access to justice, the council is aiming to achieve the widest dissemination of the reports at the lowest price. Following an open market process, the council chose BarNet as the publisher able to achieve this aim.”
BarNet was established in 2000 as a not-for-profit, and now provides free digital access to a suite of legal information via its JADE portal.
BarNet’s online sales portal for the Victorian Reports is expected to be launched in May.
