MEET THE REAL JUSTIN McGOVERN
Justin sees himself as just another student, trying to balance study
with work and other commitments. In addition to studying a dual
law and arts degree, Justin is involved with several on-campus
organisations, including USQ Council and the USQ Law Society.
In late July, Justin captained USQ’s first team in the
QUT Shine Lawyers Torts Moot Competition, which
attracts teams from universities throughout Australia
and New Zealand. While he describes this experience
as challenging, he says that USQ’s success in the
competition demonstrated that we can hold our own
against the top universities in the country and we are
a force to be reckoned with.
Justin is the President of the USQ Law Society and
over the past year the Society has dramatically
increased membership, partnered with the College
of Law to provide careers workshops for members
and established a highly successful internal mooting
tournament.
and sent their first delegation to the ALSA Annual
Conference in early July. This has provided USQ’s
law students with lots of opportunities to compete,
network and develop their professional skills with
other law students from around Australia, New
Zealand, and South-East Asia.
Justin is also the current Student Representative
member of the USQ Council. This role requires that he
keep abreast of student issues across the university by
maintaining an extensive understanding of the higher
education sector and USQ’s place in that market in
order to make informed decisions that impact the
direction of the university as a whole in the short,
medium, and long-term. The most recent significant
decision Justin was involved in was USQ’s acquisition
of the UQ Ipswich Campus.
The Grand Final of this mooting tournament saw the
Toowoomba courthouse filled with local lawyers,
students and academics, and can be seen as a great
In his spare time (what spare time!), Justin is also
success. The Society have also become actively
involved with the performing arts community in
engaged with the Australian Law Students Association Toowoomba. He is currently involved in Opera