In the Media

31 August 2026

AI in the practice of law

After an unrepresented Macquarie University academic won a landmark Fair Work Commission case using AI rather than a lawyer, Matt Ward gives his take on what advanced AI tools mean for access to justice, the risk of self-represented litigants relying on hallucinated or misapplied case law, and why he doesn’t see AI replacing the human judgment juries, judges and advocates bring to criminal law.

15 May 2026

Matthew Ward – leading NSW Criminal lawyer a finalist for Criminal Partner of the Year

Matthew Ward named a finalist for Criminal Partner of the Year at the Australian Law Awards, recognised for his regional criminal law practice and advocacy for a dedicated Illawarra Drug Court.

25 November 2025

2025 Accredited Specialists recognised in special ceremony

Annalise Ritchie recognised as a newly Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law by the Law Society of NSW, one of 61 lawyers to pass the program in 2025.

29 October 2025

Drug Summit Recommendations

The NSW Government’s formal response to the Drug Summit’s 56 recommendations backed more than 50 of them but rejected scrapping sniffer dogs and strip searches at music festivals, and stopped short of a firm funding commitment or timeline for a Wollongong Drug Court, despite supporting it in principle. Matt Ward calls the response extremely disappointing, points to the roughly $150,000 to $160,000 a year cost of keeping someone in custody as the case for funding it, and sets out why Wollongong should rank alongside the far north coast and central coast as a priority location.

29 September 2025

Advocating for a Drug Court in the Illawarra Region

Six months after the NSW Government’s Drug Summit review flagged Wollongong for an expanded Drug Court, Matt Ward is still waiting on a funding commitment.

14 July 2025

Bail court

Transcript pending.

11 July 2025

Should NSW raise the age of criminal responsibility?

The ACT raised its age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 14 on 1 July 2025, leaving NSW’s age of 10 out of step. Annalise Ritchie unpacks how doli incapax works in NSW, why the proven-offence rate for 10-14 year olds has fallen from 76% to 16% since a 2016 High Court ruling, and the case for and against following the ACT’s lead.

31 May 2025

Bail laws

Recorded as police ministers and the Attorney General met nationally, and the NSW Cabinet held an emergency meeting, on bail laws and gendered violence. Matt Ward explains that most offences in NSW carry no presumption of bail at all, sets out the two tests courts actually apply (unacceptable risk, and show cause), and warns against a knee-jerk tightening of bail that wouldn’t address the wider service gaps in policing, victim support and education.

15 May 2025

NSW’s new centralised bail court, one week on

Following the alleged murder of Molly Ticehurst at Forbes in 2024 after her former partner was granted bail by a registrar, NSW moved to a centralised, Sydney-based bail court heard online. Annalise Ritchie reports on the first week of the new system for regional practitioners and clients — delays, an earlier cutoff time, and concerns raised by the Aboriginal Legal Service.

11 March 2025

Should we get rid of jury trials?

Responding to a former Deputy Police Commissioner’s call to scrap jury duty, Matt Ward makes the case for juries in serious criminal matters, walks through when judge-alone trials apply, and addresses claims that sexual assault trials are disproportionately likely to end in a hung jury. Recorded live to air alongside listener calls.

7 March 2025

ALRC’s 64 recommendations on sexual assault justice

The Australian Law Reform Commission handed down 64 recommendations aimed at improving how the justice system handles sexual assault matters, now before the Attorney General. Matt Ward gives his reaction as a defence lawyer to mandatory training, victim navigators, restorative justice options and the recommendations’ treatment of expert evidence.

17 July 2024

Matthew Ward – Wollongong criminal lawyer a finalist for regional lawyer of the year

Matthew Ward named a finalist for Regional/Suburban Lawyer of the Year at the Australian Law Awards for the second time, recognised for his work building legal services across regional NSW.

31 January 2024

Explained: what a majority verdict actually is

NSW proposed cutting the mandatory jury deliberation period for a majority verdict from eight hours to four. Matt Ward breaks down how majority verdicts work, the safeguards that remain in place, and why he supports the change — while addressing concerns raised by the Law Society and the Aboriginal Legal Service.

7 November 2020

2020 Morrisons Criminal Advocacy Competition

Matt Ward judged the grand final of UOW’s second annual criminal advocacy competition, an event Morrisons sponsors and lends its name to; top competitors were offered internships with the firm.

17 March 2020

Top 20 Legal Aid Fee Earning Law Firms in NSW

Morrisons ranked 20th among NSW’s highest-earning legal aid law firms for 2017-18, based on Legal Aid Commission figures.

15 January 2020

The Changing Climate of the Law

Matt Ward features in this UOW piece on how criminal law will need to evolve alongside climate policy, discussing what future ‘climate crime’ enforcement might look like.

26 March 2019

30 Under 30 finalists revealed

Matthew Ward named a finalist in the Criminal category of Lawyers Weekly’s 2019 30 Under 30 awards, recognising rising talent across the legal profession.