Ben Piper

From 1985 to 2006 I worked as a legislative drafter in the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Victoria, Australia.  During that time I had a 1 year secondment to the Department of Justice (Victoria), and a 3 month secondment to the Department of Transport (Victoria). 

From 2006 to 2013 I worked at the National Transport Commission (Australia).  Throughout that time I was the Commission’s chief legislative drafter, but I also held a number of senior managerial positions in legal and policy areas. 

Since late 2013 I have attempted to do as little as possible (apart from travelling), although I still do occasional work as a consultant legislative drafter, and now also, obviously, as an Athabasca University instructor.

From 1982 to the present I have been involved with community legal services in a voluntary capacity as a legal adviser and as an administrator.  I have also been extensively involved in, in a voluntary capacity, numerous other community activities.

Over the years I have been a fairly regular attendee of CALC (Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel), Clarity and PLAIN Conferences, and at one time or another I have presented papers at each of those Conferences.  A number of those papers have been published, usually in either “The Loophole” (the CALC journal) or in the Clarity Journal.  Most of my papers relate to plain language issues.  The use of plain language in laws has been a particular interest of mine throughout my professional life.

---

Educational credentials

• B.Com. (University of Melbourne)
• LL.B. (University of Melbourne)
• LL.M. (University of Melbourne)