Ffyona Livingstone Clark

Professional Background

Ffyona has particular expertise in death investigations and prosecutions, sex offences, white collar crime, child abuse allegations, and complex offences involving juvenile/youthful offenders. Ffyona is available to appear in Victoria, the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland.

Since coming to the Bar, Ffyona has appeared in a wide range of matters across every level of the State hierarchy from VCAT through to the Court of Appeal. She has appeared in jury trials (led and unled) in the County Court and the ACT Supreme Court, and in contested hearings in the Children's Court, Coroners Court, Magistrates' Court, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Her opinion and advice practice is equally diverse. 

Before coming to the Bar Ffyona worked as a solicitor advocate in private practice, at Victoria Legal Aid, and at the Department of Health and Human Services (now DFFH). She has also worked at the Coroners' Court of Victoria, Robert Stary Lawyers (now Stary Norton Halphen), and Legal Aid Queensland. 

 

Academic Work

In 2019, Ffyona completed a Master of Laws (Criminal Practice) with Distinction. Her minor thesis related to issues with the pre-recorded evidence of child complainants in sex offences; it was marked by the Honourable Terry Buddin SC (NSW Supreme Court/Court of Criminal Appeal), and completed under the supervision of Hugh Selby (Barrister, author).  

Ffyona is currently undertaking a PhD at La Trobe University. Her research continues on from the preliminary findings of her LLM minor thesis, with a particular focus on the interplay between evidence law and investigative interviewing techniques. 

Ffyona has been a sessional academic at Deakin University since 2020; she was previously a sessional academic at The Australian National University in its GDLP Program. 

 

Publications

She is the co-author (with Felicity Gerry QC)  # of the 'Children' and 'Sex Work' chapters in Bourke’s Criminal Law Victoria #, published by LexisNexis.
 

Committee Memberships

• Criminal Bar Association Committee, Ordinary Member (since 2018)
• Victorian Bar LGBTI Working Group, a sub-group of the Bar's Equality & Diversity Committee (since 2019)
• Australian Bar Association Criminal Law Committee (since 2019)
• Australian Bar Association Diversity & Inclusion Committee (2019 - 2021)

Ffyona is also an interstate member of the ACT Bar Assocation. 

Ffyona read with Elizabeth Ruddle QC (now Senior Crown Prosecutor for Victoria). Her senior mentor is Rachel Doyle