Weir Legal and Consulting specialise in acting for government regulators.
We bring together expertise advising regulators at all levels of government on a broad range of regulatory issues including:
Our Team is comprised of our Managing Director, Bronwyn Weir, Special Counsels, Krista Weymouth and Frances Hall and our administrative assistant, Victoria Whyte.
We act for all 3 levels of government and whilst based in Victoria, Weir legal and Consulting are nationally recognised, regularly acting for government across Australia.
Weir Legal and Consulting is known for its work in building regulation but we also act for regulators across a range of sectors including education, health, water and climate related regulation. Our firm is on the Victorian State Government Legal Panel and the legal panel for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
We have worked with a number of state and commonwealth regulators across a range of sectors to develop and embed risk-based decision making frameworks. Our model for these frameworks balances discretionary decision making with the need for consistency and fairness helping authorised officers to respond proportionately when presented with alleged non-compliance.
Our team undertake advocacy in courts and tribunals regularly and give presentations to our clients on a broad range of regulatory issues.
Weir Legal and Consulting are known for giving pragmatic, efficient and thorough advice. We have been told we are easy to work with, reliable and trustworthy. Given our strong expertise in government law we have a comprehensive understanding of model litigant obligations and the context in which most of our clients operate as government officials.
Bronwyn Weir, Director, has over 25 years experience. She has been appointed by governments to undertake reviews and advise on important reforms. Examples include her co-appointment with Professor Peter Shergold by all of Australia’s Building Ministers to prepare a report on building regulatory systems across Australia. The Building Confidence Report (BCR) was published in April 2018 and remains influential in policy reform for the building sector. The Building Confidence Report (BCR)
As a result of her extensive work in the area of building regulation, Bronwyn is frequently asked by the media to comment on building related matters and to present at building industry events and conferences.
In additional to her reputation in building industry regulation, Bronwyn has advised regulators in early childhood education, water laws including greenfield and urban development and health and community services regulation. She has also recently been involved in reviews of illicit tobacco laws and supply chain challenges as a result of the impacts of COVID 19.
Bronwyn has presented at ANZSOG events as part of the National Regulators Community of Practice including at their annual conference, reflecting her reputation in the area of regulatory law.
Krista Weymouth, Special Counsel, has almost 20 years’ experience.
Prior to joining Weir Legal and Consulting Krista was general counsel for a state government statutory authority. She has also had extensive experience advising local, State and Commonwealth regulators at a large law firm and at the Australian Government Solicitor. During her time in private practice Krista completed a number of secondments with regulators, including in the building and health space.
Krista conducts prosecutions for a range of state and local government clients. She appears in tribunals and courts regularly and presents on regulatory matters to a broad range of clients.
Krista recently advised a brand new Victorian regulator on establishing is initial policies and procedures to enable it to commence operations. She has also been involved in a number of reviews for government bodies to assess the adequacy of existing laws and the effectiveness of policies and procedures.
Frances Hall, Special Counsel, has over 22 years’ experience in regulatory advice, litigation and enforcement proceedings for local and state governments and a range of regulatory authorities.
Frances joined Weir Legal and Consulting as a Special Counsel in 2023, after 14 years at a large law firm in which she acted as a trusted advisor for a range of government and statutory authority clients, providing advice, advocacy and a pragmatic perspective on a wide range of regulatory and administrative law issues.
Her primary focus has been building regulation advice and she has acted extensively for local and state government authorities. She has also given broader regulatory advice on long service leave regulation including acting in judicial review proceedings in appellate courts. Fran also acts as counsel assisting in occupational licensing matters including in merits review hearings.
Victoria Whyte provides administrative support as part of the Weir Legal and Consulting team. She has been a legal secretary for almost 10 years working in a range of legal practices and areas of law. Victoria manages our busy schedules and is integral to the efficient delivery of our legal and consulting services. She is often a regular point of contact for clients.