Matthew Keeley
Director and Solicitor, Youth Law Australia, UNSW Sydney
Areas of Expertise
Matthew is Director of the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre t/a Youth Law Australia (YLA), an affiliated Centre within UNSW Law and has held that position since 2010. He is a solicitor, public advocate, and researcher whose interests include children’s law, disability law, human rights, cyberlaw, human services law and government (administrative) law. Matthew spent his early career as a lawyer and manager across private, government and non-governmental legal practices including at the then Northern Territory Department of Law, Queensland Advocacy Inc., and People with Disability Australia. Prior to leading YLA, Matthew was Director of Legal Services at the then NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care. In his current role, Matthew leads and participates in research in the areas of child protection and cybersafety, amongst others. Matthew also leads projects at the intersection of law, technology and innovation and seeks to explore how low cost, high impact technology and service design may be used to enhance access to legal solutions.
Matthew is an experienced research leader and Co-Investigator (with SPRC). His research addresses social policy contexts in which the human and legal rights of children are impacted. From his role at YLA Matthew has gained knowledge of state, territory and commonwealth laws and practice in a number of areas relating to children, families and human services, including young offender laws, child protection, domestic and family violence, policing, education, information sharing and privacy, making him a key asset to the team.
Relevant Projects
Matthew is currently co-leading a law reform project on raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility with the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice at UNSW Law and sits on the NSW Legal Assistance Forum Working Group on Doli Incapax as the representative of Community Legal Centres NSW.
• Matthew has worked on a number of consulting projects with SPRC:
• Evaluation of three Initiatives: A Place To Go, Broadmeadow Children’s Court Pilot and Thriving Families NSW – NSW Department of Communities and Justice. (2020)
• Evaluation of Justice Advocacy Services – NSW Department of Communities & Justice (2019-2020)
• Inter-jurisdictional Child Protection Information Sharing – NSW Family and Community Services (on behalf of the Children’s and Families Secretaries (CAFS) working group). (2017)
• Child Protection Information Sharing – NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. (2014-2015)
• Research on Youth Exposure to, and Management of, Cyber-Bullying Incidents in Australia – Australian Government, Department of Communications. (2014)
Selected recent publications
Keeley M; Bullen JE; Bates S; Katz I; Choi A, 2015, Opportunities for Information Sharing: Case studies, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW, Sydney, SPRC Report 04/2015, http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/SPRC_Report__Opportunities_for_Information_Sharing.pdf
Katz I; Keeley M; Spears B; Taddeo C; Swirski T; Bates S, 2014, Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia: Synthesis report, Social Policy Research Centre: UNSW Australia, Sydney, SPRC Report 16/14, https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/Youth_exposure_to_and_management_of_cyberbullying_in_Australia__Synthesis_report.pdf
Spears B; Keeley M; Bates S; Katz I, 2014, Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia Part A: Literature review on the estimated prevalence of cyberbullying involving Australian minors, Social Policy Research Centre: UNSW Australia, Sydney, SPRC Report 09/14, https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/Youth_exposure_to_and_management_of_cyberbullying_in_Australia_Part_A.pdf
Keeley M; Katz I; Bates S; Wong M, 2014, Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia Part B: Cyberbullying incidents involving Australian minors, the nature of the incidents and how they are currently being dealt with, Social Policy Research Centre: UNSW Australia, Sydney, SPRC Report 10/14, https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/Youth_exposure_to_and_management_of_cyberbullying_in_Australia_Part_B.pdf
Spears B; Taddeo C; Swirski T; Keeley M; Katz I; Collin P; Daly T; Bates S, 2014, Research on youth exposure to, and management of, cyberbullying incidents in Australia Part C: An evidence-based assessment of deterrents to youth cyberbullying, Social Policy Research Centre: UNSW Australia, Sydney, SPRC Report 11/14, https://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/media/SPRCFile/Youth_exposure_to_and_management_of_cyberbullying_in_Australia_Part_C.pdf
Tallon K, Choi A, Keeley M, Elliott J & Maher D, 2012. New Voices / New Laws: School-age young people in New South Wales speak out about the criminal laws that apply to their online behaviour, Sydney, National Children’s and Youth Law Centre and Legal Aid NSW
Jelenic T & Keeley M, 2013. End Child Marriage: Report on the Forced Marriage of Children in Australia, Sydney, National Children’s and Youth Law Centre.
Keeley M, Choi A, Muhunthan J & Rapaport P, 2013. Caps, Apps and Other Mobile Traps: Responding to young Australian’s financial and legal issues arising from their mobile phone usage. Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, 2013.