What is your role and what does it entail? 

I’m a Legal Counsel at Paramount, working within the litigation sub-team. My role is primarily centred on providing prepublication advice across a wide range of programs including 10 News, 10 News+, Gogglebox, Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Cheap Seats, Sam Pang Tonight, and most recently, Big Brother.

Day to day, this means I review scripts and footage to identify and address potential legal risks such as defamation, contempt of court, privacy, copyright, and broader reputational or regulatory concerns. I work closely with producers and reporters to find ways to tell stories without exposing the company and our journalists to unnecessary legal risk. I also handle complaints, subpoenas, and other legal requests as they arise.

I’ve been with Paramount for two years. Before starting at Paramount I worked in the media team of a commercial law firm in Melbourne.

What do you love most about your job? 

I love how creative working in this area is as a lawyer. When I was in law school, I worried that a legal career would feel rigid and I would lack any creative fulfilment, but my experience working in media law at Paramount has been the complete opposite.

A huge part of my job is finding creative solutions: figuring out how we can tell a story safely without losing its impact, reworking scripts with journalists, and navigating tricky legal issues in ways that allow important stories to be delivered to the Australian public. It’s a blend of the analytical and the creative that I didn’t think I’d get in law, and that is definitely one of my favourite aspects of the role.

What do you find the most challenging part of your job? 

The stakes are high and the deadlines are often tight.  As prepublication lawyers the pressure to make the right call sometimes moments before broadcast can be intense. Different shows also carry different risks, so switching from hard news to entertainment to live content requires constantly adjusting your legal approach.

Balancing speed with precision is essential, especially when the consequences of getting it wrong can be significant and can put the company and also individual journalists in the firing line. 

But this is also the part of the job that makes it so exciting and rewarding!

You had a lot to do with Big Brother. Can you talk us through what that looks like day to day?

For the recent season of Big Brother I was on the Gold Coast working out of the control room at Dreamworld on the 24/7 live stream. As you can imagine,  this brought with it plenty of legal risks that needed to be managed. 

When you have a house full of regular people spending so much time together you can imagine there are constant conversations about the good and the bad in people’s lives –  which can include issues with families, relationships, workplaces, and personal histories, all of which can be littered with legal risks.

At Dreamworld I worked side by side with Endemol Shine Australia’s producers and compliance team, monitoring the live feed day and night, flagging and escalating any potential legal issues. It was a very dynamic environment as we had to deal with completely different issues from moment to moment and never knew what would happen next in the house! It was an incredibly fun and unique experience.

Who is the India outside of work? What do you love to do on weekends?

Outside of work, I try to balance the fast pace of my job with more relaxed hobbies. I love pilates, running and long walks. Weekends usually involve brunch or dinner with family and friends or trying out bakeries around Melbourne for the best chocolate croissant.

I’m also an avid reader and am currently addicted to doing the New York Times crossword daily (although I’m no good at it!)

What are your top 3 favourite Instagram accounts?

It’s very hard to pick favourites but a few I find myself checking out a lot recently are @milliondollarlistingssydney (for some Sydney property eye candy), @diet_prada (the perfect mix of fashion and news), and @mel_tracina (mostly to stalk all of Mel’s amazing Big Brother outfits!).