Kaitlin Loeffler-White, 31 January, 2023
From a Maritime Warfare Officer in the Royal Australian Navy to an award-winning law student, QUT Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (Graduate Entry) student Cameron Livingstone proves it’s never too late to start a new career.
Making a real difference in society has always been Cameron’s goal, and after 12 years working in the maritime industry, he decided to change careers and pursue a future in law.
“I embarked on a career change in my late 20’s,” he said.
“For over a decade, I had worked at sea on commercial and military ships.”
With a background in marine science, Cameron wanted to merge the skills he had already developed with new skills in law.
“I think lawyers have a unique ability to combine advocacy, policy, and critical thinking with driving real change, so I decided to transition to a legal career.
Cameron chose QUT for its real-world reputation, world-class teaching staff, and proximity to Brisbane’s CBD.
“You could finish class at 1 pm and be sitting in the Supreme Court observing by 1.15 pm because [QUT] is so close to the court complex,” said Cameron.
During his studies, Cameron undertook a Commonwealth Parliamentary internship where he developed a policy research project and had opportunities to sit in parliament and work in a Sydney-based electorate office.
“Watching the parliamentary debates over the climate change bill was something I’ll never forget. It will radically change Australia’s carbon footprint, and observing the debates go on the floor was fascinating,” he said.
In his final year, Cameron noticed an advertisement in a QUT boardroom for students to submit high-performing essays to The Global Undergraduate Awards. Cameron decided to submit an essay he had written on ‘Administrative Law Reform of the Bias Rule in the Digital Age’.
“I adapted the topic of an essay I had written for Administrative Law to suit emerging technologies, which is a big focus of QUT’s curriculum,” said Cameron.
The essay explored situations where algorithms make decisions instead of humans.
“Administrative law generally requires any government decision-maker to be impartial. But where a computer algorithm makes a decision, how can the public be confident that it is truly impartial?” he continued.
“The average person and the court are not computer programmers, so they can’t see how the algorithm makes its decision”.
Cameron Livingstone, Bachelor of Laws (Honours) holding his Global Undergraduate Award. Photograph: Tony Phillips/QUT
Cameron's hard work paid off when, just a few months after submitting his essay, he was recognised as a winner of The Global Undergraduate Awards in the Oceania Region in the law category.
Cameron’s advice to students considering applying for competitions and awards is to back yourself and to be confident in the work and teaching at QUT.
“Know that the teaching you have received is world-class and you are a world-class, student. Be confident that being a QUT Law student does put you on a world stage”, he said.
As he is approaching the completion of his course, Cameron is currently undertaking the Allianz Insurance Leadership Program while working as part of Allianz’s corporate governance and legal team in Sydney.
To learn more about studying Law at QUT, click here.