Rob Hulls

Rob Justin Hulls AM (born 23 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2012, representing the electorate of Niddrie.

[6] Hulls was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for "significant service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, and to the law" in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.

In 1993, he was defeated by Bob Katter, the former member's son, who had been a minister in the Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern and Cooper ministries at state level in Queensland.

Following his election to the State Parliament, in the lower-house seat of Niddrie, Rob Hulls' replacement as Brumby's Chief of Staff was Julia Gillard, who later in her own career became Australia's first female prime minister (2010–13).

[11] As attorney-general, Rob Hulls instigated significant and lasting changes to Victoria's legal system which saw Victoria become a national leader in progressive social justice reform, such as removing barriers to accessing assisted reproductive technology and abolishing laws that discriminated against people in same-sex relationships; many of Hulls' reforms have become an accepted and valued part of the state's mainstream justice and social welfare systems and have influenced other jurisdictions to follow suit.

Additionally, he introduced an open tender process for applicants to Victoria's judiciary to ensure that more women and people from diverse backgrounds were appointed.

[15][16] He was unsuccessful in a campaign to defrock the legal profession and ban the wearing of wigs in courts, a move that was actively opposed by the Victorian Bar Association.