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Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh
Dr

Rebecca Ananian-Welsh

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+61 7 336 52218

Overview

Background

Associate Professor Rebecca Ananian-Welsh is a constitutional law scholar, Executive Director of Public Law with the Centre for Public International and Comparative Law (CPICL), and Chief Editor of the University of Queensland Law Journal. Her research focuses on courts, national security and press freedom and she has published widely in these fields, including more than 25 journal articles and 4 books. Her research interests focus on the separation of judicial power, the constitutional role and nature of courts, national security law and policy, and press freedom in security contexts.

Rebecca is an Honorary Senior Fellow at Melbourne Law School and has been a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Prior to joining UQ, She held positions at UNSW Law with the Laureate Fellowship Project 'Anti-Terror Laws and the Democratic Challenge' and the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law's Terrorism & Law Project, as a litigation solicitor with global law firm DLA Piper, and as a legal officer with the Federal Attorney-General's Department Canberra.

Availability

Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts, University of Wollongong
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Law, University of Wollongong
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Wollongong
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales

Research interests

  • National Security Law and Policy

  • Courts and judges

  • Press freedom

Research impacts

Rebecca is dedicated to community engagement and impact, and has held positions with organisations including:

  • Australian Association of Constitutional Law National Executive Council and Queensland Chapter Committee.
  • Australian Judicial Officers Association Inaugural Standing Committee on Judicial Independence;
  • Centre for Public Integrity, Accountability Institutions and Transparency Committees.

Rebecca writes regularly for The Conversation, has given evidence to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Australian Law Reform Commission and other federal and state inquiries, and has contributed to numerous submissions to government with respect to national security and constitutional issues. She is presently part of a multi-institution research team researching the legal definition of 'terrorist act' for the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor.

Rebecca's research has been cited by the High Court and Federal Court of Australia, and has been recognised in numerous Faculty and School awards, as well as in an Academy of Social Sciences in Australia Paul Bourke Award for Early Career Research. Her book 'The Tim Carmody Affair: Australia's Greatest Judicial Crisis' (co-authored with Profs Gabrielle Appleby and Andrew Lynch) was shortlisted for a Queensland Literary Award,and her Sydney Law Review article 'The Inherent Jurisdiction of Courts and the Fair Trial' was shortlisted for the 2020 Article of the Year in the Australian Legal Research Awards.

Works

Search Professor Rebecca Ananian-Welsh’s works on UQ eSpace

76 works between 2011 and 2025

1 - 20 of 76 works

Featured

2017

Book

Regulating preventive justice: principle, policy and paradox

Tamara Tulich, Rebecca Ananian-Welsh, Simon Bronitt and Sarah Murray eds. (2017). Regulating preventive justice: principle, policy and paradox. New York: Routledge.

Regulating preventive justice: principle, policy and paradox

Featured

2016

Book

Judicial independence in Australia: contemporary challenges, future directions

Rebecca Ananian-Welsh and Jonathan Crowe eds. (2016). Judicial independence in Australia: contemporary challenges, future directions. Annandale, Australia: Federation Press.

Judicial independence in Australia: contemporary challenges, future directions

Featured

2015

Journal Article

Preventative detention orders and the separation of judicial power

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2015). Preventative detention orders and the separation of judicial power. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 38 (2), 756-791.

Preventative detention orders and the separation of judicial power

Featured

2015

Journal Article

Kuczborski v Queensland and the Scope of the Kable Doctrine

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2015). Kuczborski v Queensland and the Scope of the Kable Doctrine. University of Queensland Law Journal, 34 (1), 47-71.

Kuczborski v Queensland and the Scope of the Kable Doctrine

Featured

2014

Journal Article

The new terrorists: The normalisation and spread of anti-terror laws in Australia

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca and Williams, George (2014). The new terrorists: The normalisation and spread of anti-terror laws in Australia. Melbourne University Law Review, 38 (2), 362-408.

The new terrorists: The normalisation and spread of anti-terror laws in Australia

Featured

2012

Journal Article

A path to purposive formalism: interpreting Chapter III for judicial independence and impartiality

Welsh, Rebecca (2012). A path to purposive formalism: interpreting Chapter III for judicial independence and impartiality. Monash University Law Review, 39 (1), 66-105.

A path to purposive formalism: interpreting Chapter III for judicial independence and impartiality

2025

Other Outputs

Submission to Independent National Security Legislation Monitor: Defining Terrorism - Review of the definition of a ‘terrorist act’ in section 100.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995

Hardy, Keiran, Tulich, Tamara, Dalla-Pozza, Dominique and Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2025). Submission to Independent National Security Legislation Monitor: Defining Terrorism - Review of the definition of a ‘terrorist act’ in section 100.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995. Barton, ACT, Australia:

Submission to Independent National Security Legislation Monitor: Defining Terrorism - Review of the definition of a ‘terrorist act’ in section 100.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995

2025

Other Outputs

Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Review of Australia’s Espionage, Foreign Interference, Sabotage and Theft of Trade Secrets Offences

Kendall, Sarah, Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca, Dalla-Pozza, Dominique and Hardy, Keiran (2025). Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Review of Australia’s Espionage, Foreign Interference, Sabotage and Theft of Trade Secrets Offences. Brisbane, QLD, Australia:

Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Review of Australia’s Espionage, Foreign Interference, Sabotage and Theft of Trade Secrets Offences

2025

Other Outputs

Commonwealth Reviews considering the definition of a ‘Terrorist Act’ in s 100.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)

Dalla-Pozza, Dominique, Tulich, Tamara, Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca and Hardy, Keiran (2025). Commonwealth Reviews considering the definition of a ‘Terrorist Act’ in s 100.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). Online: Commonwealth Government, Office of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor.

Commonwealth Reviews considering the definition of a ‘Terrorist Act’ in s 100.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)

2025

Other Outputs

Australia's Legal Definition of Terrorism: United Nations and Five Eyes Comparison

Hardy, Keiran, Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca, Tulich, Tamara and Dalla-Pozza, Dominique (2025). Australia's Legal Definition of Terrorism: United Nations and Five Eyes Comparison. Online: Australian Government.

Australia's Legal Definition of Terrorism: United Nations and Five Eyes Comparison

2025

Journal Article

History and values in YBFZ v Minister For Immigration, Citizenship And Multicultural Affairs

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2025). History and values in YBFZ v Minister For Immigration, Citizenship And Multicultural Affairs. Public Law Review, 36 (1), 3-11.

History and values in YBFZ v Minister For Immigration, Citizenship And Multicultural Affairs

2025

Other Outputs

Life after D-notices: Australia can learn from Britain’s updated system

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2025, 04 02). Life after D-notices: Australia can learn from Britain’s updated system The Strategist

Life after D-notices: Australia can learn from Britain’s updated system

2025

Journal Article

A new era in administrative power over undeportable migrants

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2025, 01 17). A new era in administrative power over undeportable migrants Border Criminologies

A new era in administrative power over undeportable migrants

2024

Other Outputs

Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, 'Data Disruption, Network Activity and Account Takeover Powers – Review of Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (SLAID Act)'

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca, Tulich, Tamara, Hardy, Keiran, Greste, Peter, Bernot, Ausma and Ireland-Piper, Danielle (2024). Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, 'Data Disruption, Network Activity and Account Takeover Powers – Review of Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (SLAID Act)'. unknown:

Submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, 'Data Disruption, Network Activity and Account Takeover Powers – Review of Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 (SLAID Act)'

2024

Conference Publication

Federalismo e a Separação do Poder Judiciário Federal / Federalism and the Separation of Federal Judicial Power

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2024). Federalismo e a Separação do Poder Judiciário Federal / Federalism and the Separation of Federal Judicial Power. Federalismo Comparado: Austrália e Brasil / Comparative Federalism: Australia and Brazil, Online, 3 October 2024.

Federalismo e a Separação do Poder Judiciário Federal / Federalism and the Separation of Federal Judicial Power

2024

Conference Publication

Benbrika II, Jones and Punishment by Post- Conviction Citizenship Revocation

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2024). Benbrika II, Jones and Punishment by Post- Conviction Citizenship Revocation. Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law Constitutional Law Conference, Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers, Sydney, Australia, 9 February 2024.

Benbrika II, Jones and Punishment by Post- Conviction Citizenship Revocation

2024

Book

Blackshield and Williams Australian constitutional law and theory: commentary and materials

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca, Brennan, Sean, Lynch, Andrew, Stephenson, Peta and Williams, George (2024). Blackshield and Williams Australian constitutional law and theory: commentary and materials. 8th ed. Alexandria, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press.

Blackshield and Williams Australian constitutional law and theory: commentary and materials

2024

Book Chapter

The separation of judicial power and national security

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2024). The separation of judicial power and national security. National Security Law in Australia. (pp. 76-93) edited by Danielle Ireland-Piper. Sydney, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press.

The separation of judicial power and national security

2024

Conference Publication

Updates and trends in Australian national security law (Panel 2: legal updates on Indonesia's new criminal code: implications for legal frameworks and justice systems)

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2024). Updates and trends in Australian national security law (Panel 2: legal updates on Indonesia's new criminal code: implications for legal frameworks and justice systems). The Legal Updates Conference, Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 November 2024.

Updates and trends in Australian national security law (Panel 2: legal updates on Indonesia's new criminal code: implications for legal frameworks and justice systems)

2023

Other Outputs

David McBride is facing jailtime for helping reveal alleged war crimes. Will it end whistleblowing in Australia?

Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2023, 11 20). David McBride is facing jailtime for helping reveal alleged war crimes. Will it end whistleblowing in Australia? The Conversation

David McBride is facing jailtime for helping reveal alleged war crimes. Will it end whistleblowing in Australia?

Funding

Past funding

  • 2019 - 2024
    Journalistic Freedom in Australia
    Research Donation Generic
    Open grant
  • 2017
    A fair go: Achieving fair process in Australian courts
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh is:
Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.

Available projects

  • Constitutional Law

  • National security law

  • Press Freedom

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Immigration Detention & The Separation of Powers: A First Principles Approach to Improved Governance

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Peter Billings

  • Doctor Philosophy

    A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of Indonesian Military Forces in Domestic Counterterrorism Operations

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Greta Nabbs-Keller, Professor Rain Liivoja

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh directly for media enquiries about:

  • Constitutional Law
  • counter-terrorism
  • courts
  • human rights
  • judges
  • National Security Law
  • Press freedom
  • Public Law

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au