ABOUT
Andrew’s work is best understood as one continuous practice.
He works in courtrooms across Australia on matters in which alleged facts are contested in a forensic environment, the consequences are serious and the story matters. He has listened to people describe defining moments in their lives—in courtrooms, remote communities, corporate boardrooms, gaol cells and interview rooms.
At times, fine lines need to be drawn
Polemic arguments may be raised
Institutional forces will come into play and at times resist self-reflection
Reasonable minds can still differ
Power differentials must be noticed
Each stakeholder must be given their space
Ultimately, the truth matters
Andrew brings the same skills to writers’ rooms, film sets and editing suites.
The audience may be a court, a reader or a viewer. The form changes, but the central task remains: understand the evidence then present complicated human experience truthfully, accessibly and with emotional and intellectual force.
Andrew’s work is best understood as one continuous practice.
ORIGINS
Born in Rangoon, Burma — now Yangon, Myanmar — Andrew arrived in Australia in 1969 with his Burmese parents and four siblings after the family fled the military junta. Migration and cultural transition shaped his concern with identity, fairness and the treatment of people misunderstood by institutions. His six children are Butchulla from K’gari, making questions of culture, family and belonging personal as well as professional.
A CAREER BUILT ON TRUST
Andrew has been entrusted with stories that mattered deeply to those living them: accused people protesting innocence, families seeking justice, communities confronting loss, institutions facing difficult questions and creative teams trying to tell an honest story.
Publishing and screen are not departures from law, but continuations in another form. Examining evidence, testing competing narratives and speaking for people in crisis developed the habits central to the creative work: recognise what is missing, separate evidence from assumption, and know when a story should resist a simple conclusion.
THE METHOD, IN EVERY MEDIUM
Andrew maintains his courtroom practice as well as working across documentary, scripted television, fiction, non-fiction and strategic advisory, drawn to projects about justice, identity, belonging, leadership, community and public trust.