Work

The pandemic has shrunk Victoria’s prison population to a two-year low, with a reduction in crime and increased approval of bail applications arresting a 20-year trend of putting more people behind bars.Defence lawyers and justice reformers say the figures should be a “circuit breaker” to review government policies such as tight bail laws, which drove the growth in prisoner numbers before the COVID-19 crisis.

Victoria is considering the introduction of judge-only trials to keep the wheels of justice turning through the COVID-19 crisis and avoid a massive backlog of cases that threatens to clog the courts for years after the pandemic has passed.

Konrad Marshall The Age - April 29 2017Melbourne criminal defence lawyer Rob Stary has built a career representing everyone from terror suspects to drug addicts. Does the outspoken advocate ever regret what he says – and what he does?

The Sydney Morning Herald, October 2019Victoria Police have initiated a criminal investigation into two people suspected of being whistleblowers who exposed how ‘Helloworld Travel’ gave free international flights to the family of Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann. Detectives attended the homes of two former Helloworld Travel members and sought to question them about whether they accessed the information.Rob Stary, representative of one of the former Helloworld Travel members, said “"This sort of police activity, intentionally or not, works to frighten future whistleblowers into staying silent about possible conduct the public deserves to know about".

The Sydney Morning Herald, October 2019“How do you punish someone who has committed two very different crimes at the same time? That's the dilemma before the High Court”. Simon Moodie of Stary Norton Halphen discusses the murder sentence anomaly on ABC Radio.

The Guardian, December 2019Dr Yang Hengjun is being pushed to confess to spying allegations that potentially carry the death penalty.Dr. Yang’s Australian defence lawyer and human rights advocate, Rob Stary, said Chinese officials were attempting to isolate Yang from the outside world.Another of Dr. Yang’s lawyers, Sarah Condon, stated: “We also understand that during interrogations, which are now taking place on a daily basis, that Dr Yang’s wrists and feet are being shackled. He is being interrogated in a repetitive fashion. Despite being incarcerated now for many, many months, Dr Yang continues to be denied access to his lawyers.”

Jul 19, 2015 - Loddon Campaspe Community Legal CentreRob Stary's presentation at Talking Justice 2015 asks how we balance freedom of speech and discrimination.The Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre provides free legal information and advice to Central Victorians who can't afford a lawyer or who can't get legal aid.You can find more information on their website, or visit their YouTube channel to listen to more talks like this one

Jun 27, 2016 - RMIT City CampusThe Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative at RMIT is a joint venture between RMIT University and The Bridge of Hope Foundation that follows the work of others in the innocence movement who aim to both investigate claims of wrongful conviction and campaign for reform of issues that lead to these injustices.

Guest Speaker, Salvation Army Officer Brendan Nottle

Andrew Halphen has been awarded for his immense contribution to the criminal law section of Victoria Legal Aid at this years Victorian Legal Awards.Andrew now joins his legal partners, Robert Stary and Sam Norton in receiving this award.