Meet Our People - Sue Marshall

SZCC Manager, Sue Marshall

The Sir Zelman Cowen Centre (SZCC) is celebrating its tenth year in 2012. Part of the Victoria Law School, the Centre delivers quality training, research and support to the judiciary, legal practitioners, court staff and other professionals associated with the legal sector. As part of an ongoing ‘meet our people’ series, we’d like to introduce the SZCC Centre manager, Sue Marshall.

Sue joined Victoria University in 2001 to teach in the Advanced Diploma of Legal Practice as a sessional, becoming full-time a year later.  In 2003, Sue won her first National Teaching and Learning Grant together with Lisa Curran to develop a program to train teachers in WebCT. Sue worked on tender writing for the School of Business before joining the Sir Zelman Centre (SZCC) as Business Manager in 2005. Together with her fabulous team, the centre has made many achievements including the development of a three year program to deliver elder abuse prevention professional education for government; providing legal compliance resources  for local government; family violence training for court staff; research grants for support and education programs for indigenous communities enabling them to independently identify and protect their cultural heritage; indigenous corporate governance training; and the diverse range of high quality courses in legal and business education for various of government and business organisations.

Starting life as a self-confessed ‘air force brat’, Sue Marshall lived at many addresses until her family settled back in her birthplace, Melbourne, when she was 9. The need to choose a football team on her first day at a new school saw the commencement of a lifelong love affair with the Richmond Tigers. She is still a passionate and hopeful supporter - despite only having fading memories of successes the 70’s and early 80’s to draw upon.

Sue travelled overseas for work and play, completing an arts/law degree at Melbourne University alongside. She went on to launch three ventures with three friends – namely Albert Park Bookstore, Brunswick Street Bookstore, and Greville Street Bookstore.

Sue may lay claim to being the first woman to request her articles to be interrupted by maternity leave; the Supreme Court granted her only 6 weeks off.  After juggling family life (2 children) with practice, volunteering at the Women’s Information and Referral Exchange (WIRE), and the bookshop(s), Sue set up her own consultancy business that began with offering legal advice predominantly in the area of sale of goods, contract and intellectual property law. Over the next decade, Sue set up a national sales and distribution business. She had a third child.

Sue has represented artists and designers, designed and implemented small business systems, and coached managers of executive teams. She counts surviving the recessions in the 80’s and 90’s as one of her most valuable experiences. In 2000, Sue began teaching intellectual property law part-time – a challenge she found exciting and fulfilling.

Sue has lived at Mount Macedon for 22 years and loves gardening, cooking, reading, travelling, her dog, and her chooks. She counts her three children - Jackson, Jessica and Darcy - as her greatest achievements.  She is committed to making a difference through her work, and passionate about cross sectoral collaboration and empowering people through education. Sue’s vision is that every VU student graduates competent in the essential 8 legal literacies for every workplace.

This year, Sue will celebrate turning 50 with 50 wonderful women. Congratulations, Sue!