Celia Moodie is the Manager for Service Excellence at Victim Support Service SA, an organisation that has proudly delivered services, support and advocacy to victims/survivors of crime and abuse in SA for over forty years.
Her role involves policy and project work for the organisation, with a strong rights-focused and trauma informed understanding of the lived experience of victims/survivors. Celia is also a consultant to the Law Society of South Australia’s Human Rights Committee on the rights of victims/survivors. She has written various submissions to both state and federal government on proposed law reform impacting victims/survivors of crime and abuse.
Celia joined VSS in 2016 with a specialist interest in domestic and family violence, working with the inaugural Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service, to establish its governance, information management systems and operational processes. Prior to this she had completed her dissertation at the Adelaide University Law School in the relevance of family violence to property distribution under the provisions of Family Law Act. Most recently, Celia was fortunate to be invited to co-author an upcoming book chapter on Victimology with Professor Willem de Lint from Flinders University, to be published 2020/2021.
In a research capacity, Celia is interested in family law reform recognising the relevance of family violence when determining property interests. She is also an advocate for the well-considered introduction of a coercive control offence in Australian jurisdictions, with an interest in the coordination and development of specialist family violence courts across criminal and family law jurisdictions. Recently Celia was invited to appear as witness to the Joint Select Committee Review on Australia’s Family Law System, where she spoke on the need for better understanding of the nature of domestic and family violence and its traumatic effects on victims/survivors, including children who witness violence and abuse.
Previously Celia has worked with Felicity Gerry QC on international commercial surrogacy research in the context of human trafficking, as well as trauma informed courts procedures. She is interested in further research in therapeutic jurisprudence within the criminal justice system. She is an advocate in the context of modern slavery and human trafficking, writing various submissions and articles on the introduction of Modern Slavery laws in Australia She enjoys working with people who work in the prevention of crime and abuse against the vulnerable and young. In 2019 she worked with sector partners and LGBTIQA+ young people to develop a wallet card emphasising their right to be safe. She also cares deeply about environmental and animal rights, and in 2015/2016 sat on the Board of the Conservation Council of South Australia.
Pronouns: She/her/ them
Qualifications: LLB (Hons) BA (Hons) GDLP