Matthew Collins (barrister)


Dr Matthew John Collins is an Australian barrister. He practises predominantly in media law, particularly defamation, as well as constitutional and commercial law. He is best known for having acted in a number of high profile defamation and free speech cases. In the Queen’s Birthday honours list for 2019 he became a member of the Order of Australia for “significant service to the law, to legal standards, and to education.”

Early life

Collins was born in Adelaide to Robyn Dolan and John Collins. He was educated at Port Moresby International High School and Prince Alfred College and studied law and arts at Adelaide University. He was associate to Justice Donnell M Ryan of the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne and a solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques.
Collins has a partner, Leonard Vary, who is the CEO of the Sidney Myer Fund and the Myer Foundation. They live in Melbourne.
Collins is the older brother of Luke Collins, journalist and former New York Correspondent of The Australian Financial Review, who is the Global Editor-in-Chief of professional-services firm Ernst & Young.

Professional life

Collins was admitted to practice as a lawyer in 1994 and became a barrister in 1999. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2011 and Queen’s Counsel in 2014.
Collins holds a PhD from Melbourne University. His led to his first book, The Law of Defamation and the Internet, which ran to three editions. He also wrote Collins on Defamation, a text on the law of libel and slander in England and Wales.
Collins has acted in a number of significant media law cases, including Andrew Bolt’s trial for racial discrimination under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, the Joe Hockey v Fairfax Media ‘Treasurer for Sale’ litigation, and actress Rebel Wilson’s defamation case against Bauer Media, which reportedly resulted in the highest damages award in a defamation case in Australian history.. This award was subsequently overturned on appeal and is no longer the highest damages award in Australia.
Collins is a Senior Fellow at the Melbourne Law School and a member of the . With his partner, Collins has established a scholarship for disadvantaged students in his father’s name.
Collins is a former member of the Council of the Victorian Bar and served as its President from November 2017 to November 2019, Senior Vice-President, Chair of its Readers’ Course Sub-Committee, Executive of its Education and Professional Development Committee and member of its Indictable Crime Certificate Committee.
Collins has written widely in other areas, including freedom of speech in the age of terrorism and marriage equality.