Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Cate Banks is a trauma-informed lawyer, mediator and sociolegal researcher who worked in both the community and in universities for over 30 years.
Cate's strength in trauma-informed work laid the groundwork for her expertise in health justice partnerships and interdisciplinary collaborations with social work, medical, nursing, linguistic and interpreting services. Her work aims to interrogate the law and access to justice in innovative, therapeutic and preventative ways. Her work provides clients with client focused, wrap-around services with other professional disciplines.
Cate is a committed teacher, role model, and mentor. She believes that we learn by doing, and her role as a senior supervising lawyer in the first health justice partnership she set up at Monash Law Clinics is testament to that work. In that legal clinic, Cate teaches students to apply trauma-informed skills to assist clients that live on the precipice of disadvantage.
Cate took a significant break from full-time employment during 2000 - 2018 juggling her roles and being mother to her family.
Research interests
Cate's research interests are at the intersections of social, health and law particularly
- substituted decisionmaking
- family and gender violence
- Family law and social policy
- Child protection
- Non-adversarial justice (particularly restorative processes)
- Access to justice
- Dispute resolution
- trauma informed practice
- ethics and professional responsibility
University Service
Cate is a member of:
- Faculty Research Committee
- Wellbeing Committee
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Law, Graduate Certificate in Dispute Resolution
Award Date: 1 Feb 2011
Family Law, Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution, Australian Institute of Social Relations
Award Date: 1 Oct 2010
Law, Doctor of Philosophy, Lost in Translation - A History of Moral Rights in Australian Law, Griffith University
Award Date: 2 Feb 2005
Law (Hons), Bachelor, Griffith University
Award Date: 16 Dec 1996
Politics and Public Policy, Bachelor, Griffith University
Award Date: 16 Dec 1996
External positions
Director of the Board, Dugdale Trust for Women and Girls
5 May 2020 → …
Director of the Board, Victorian Women's Benevolent Trust
5 May 2020 → …
Director of the Board, Victorian Women's Trust Limited
5 May 2020 → …
Facilitator - Defence Ombudsman, Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman (CO) (Australia)
3 Jul 2017 → 2021
Director of the Board, Elder Mediation Australasian Network
1 Jan 2013 → …
Panel Member - Dispute Resolution Panel, Department of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) (Queensland)
5 Sept 2008 → 2021
Past President and Chair, Domestic Violence Action Centre
Research area keywords
- Family Violence
- access to justice
- Health and Wellbeing
- Family Law
- Mediation
- Trauma informed care
- guardianship
- interdisciplinary research
- Interdisciplinary Education
- Preventative Intervention
- therapeutic jurisprudence
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Elder Abuse And Cognitive Impairment
Burns, K. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Warren, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Harris, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Pfitzner, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Banks, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Benier, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Moir , E. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Stevens , C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lim, Y. Y. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Avella Archila, A. (Project Manager)
15/01/25 → 1/06/26
Project: Research
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Violence and Vulnerability: Mapping the intersections between family violence and caring relationships
Banks, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
1/06/24 → 31/05/25
Project: Research
-
Improving legal, policy and practice responses to the intersection of domestic violence perpetration and child sexual abuse offending
Salter, M. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Dragiewicz, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lynch, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Banks, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Woodlock, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Maltzahn, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Breckenridge, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & McLeod, D. (Chief Investigator (CI))
13/06/23 → 12/06/25
Project: Research
-
Hearing our story, safeguarding our future
Banks, C. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Peake, J. (Partner Investigator (PI))
31/01/23 → 31/01/24
Project: Research
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Health and justice partnerships for young adults – when health and law unite in care
Ewais, T. & Banks, C., Oct 2018, In: Health Education Journal. 77, 6, p. 656-666 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
Helping those who help themselves: evaluating QPILCH’s Self Representation Service
Giddings, J., McKimmie, B., Banks, C. & Butler, T., 2015, In: Journal of Judicial Administration. 24, 3, p. 135-153 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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Technology is the answer...but what was the question? Experiments in the delivery of legal services to regional, rural and remote clients
Hunter, R., Banks, C. & Giddings, J., 2007, Transforming Lives: Law and Social Process: Papers from the Legal Services Research Centre's International Research Conference, Transforming Lives, Queen's University, Belfast, 19th to 21st April, 2006. Pleasence, P., Buck, A. & Balmer, N. J. (eds.). UK: The Stationary Office, p. 133-160 28 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Review of exposure draft of the Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Bill 2005
Banks, C., Batagol, B., Carson, R., Fehlberg, B., Harrison, M., Hunter, R., Kaspiew, R., MacLean, M., Rathus, Z., Rhoades, H., Sheehan, G. & Young, L., 2005, In: Australian Journal of Family Law. 19, 2, p. 79 - 93 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Other
Prizes
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Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Industry and Community Education Programs (Community)
Lindstrom, J. (Recipient), Giddings, J. M. (Recipient), Weinberg, J. (Recipient), Paneth, J. (Recipient), Fletcher, M. (Recipient), Hyams, R. (Recipient), Andersen, S. (Recipient), Kowal, S. (Recipient), Banks, C. (Recipient), Gertner, F. (Recipient), Maramis, S. (Recipient) & Townsend, J. (Recipient), 30 Nov 2022
Prize: Other distinction
Activities
- 2 Submissions to industry or govt committees, commissions and inquiries
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Submission to Consultation on the Family Law Amendment Bill 2023
Mant, J. (Contributor), Batagol, B. (Contributor) & Banks, C. (Contributor)
27 Feb 2023Activity: External Academic Engagement › Submissions to industry or govt committees, commissions and inquiries
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Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Family Law Amendment Bill 2023
Batagol, B. (Contributor), Banks, C. (Contributor) & Mant, J. (Contributor)
23 Jun 2023Activity: External Academic Engagement › Submissions to industry or govt committees, commissions and inquiries