
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. At present, she is pursuing research projects around: the nature and future of courts; the intersections between the press, government and security; and the meaning of 'terrorist act' - all while watching and waiting for the latest case on the separation of judicial power.
Rebecca has been a visiting scholar at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and is an Honorary Senior Fellow at Melbourne Law School. 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:
- Not available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
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
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National Security Law and Policy
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Courts and judges
The judicial branch, fair trial rights, open justice, and the interpretation and application of Chapter III of the Australian Constitution
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Press freedom
Particular focuses on the impact of counter-terrorism and national security law on press freedom, including: source protection, data privacy, the 'chilling effect', law enforcement and intelligence powers, and options for maximising both security and democracy.
Research impacts
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.
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.
Works
Search Professor Rebecca Ananian-Welsh’s works on UQ eSpace
2015
Journal Article
Judges in vice-regal roles
Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca and Williams, George (2015). Judges in vice-regal roles. Federal Law Review, 43 (1), 119-146. doi: 10.1177/0067205x1504300105
2015
Book Chapter
Secrecy, procedural fairness and state courts
Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2015). Secrecy, procedural fairness and state courts. Secrecy, law and society. (pp. 120-135) edited by Greg Martin, Rebecca Scott Bray and Miiko Kumar. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
2014
Journal Article
Judicial Independence from the Executive: A First-Principles Review of the Australian Cases
Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca and Williams, George (2014). Judicial Independence from the Executive: A First-Principles Review of the Australian Cases. Monash University Law Review, 40 (3), 593-638.
2014
Other Outputs
A Purposive Formalist Interpretation of Chapter III of the Australian Constitution
Ananian-Welsh, Rebecca (2014). A Purposive Formalist Interpretation of Chapter III of the Australian Constitution. PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales, University of New South Wales.
2013
Book Chapter
Anti-terror preventive detention and the independent judiciary
Welsh, Rebecca (2013). Anti-terror preventive detention and the independent judiciary. Preventive detention: asking the fundamental questions. (pp. 137-158) edited by Patrick Keyzer. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Intersentia.
2013
Book Chapter
Secrecy and control orders: the role and vulnerability of constitutional values in Australia and the United Kingdom
Lynch, Andrew, Tulich, Tamara and Welsh, Rebecca (2013). Secrecy and control orders: the role and vulnerability of constitutional values in Australia and the United Kingdom. Secrecy, national security, and the vindication of constitutional law. (pp. 154-172) edited by David Cole, Federico Fabbrini and Arianna Vedaschi. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar. doi: 10.4337/9781781953860.00018
2013
Journal Article
Understood but undefined: why do Argentina and Brazil resist criminalising terrorism?
Welsh, Rebecca (2013). Understood but undefined: why do Argentina and Brazil resist criminalising terrorism?. Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law, 7 (3), 327-348.
2011
Journal Article
"Incompatibility" rising? Some potential consequences of Wainohu v New South Wales
Welsh, Rebecca (2011). "Incompatibility" rising? Some potential consequences of Wainohu v New South Wales. Public Law Review, 22 (4), 259-265.
2011
Journal Article
A question of integrity: the role of judges in counter-terrorism questioning and detention by ASIO
Welsh, Rebecca (2011). A question of integrity: the role of judges in counter-terrorism questioning and detention by ASIO. Public Law Review, 22 (2), 138-152.
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh is:
- Not available for supervision
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Immigration Detention & The Separation of Powers: A First Principles Approach to Improved Governance
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Peter Billings
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Doctor Philosophy
A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of Indonesian Military Forces in Domestic Counterterrorism Operations
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Rain Liivoja
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Doctor Philosophy
Responsive Informality in Australian State and Territory Combined-Jurisdiction Tribunals
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Anthony Cassimatis, Professor Rick Bigwood
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Doctor Philosophy
Informality in State and Territory Combined Jurisdiction Tribunals
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Anthony Cassimatis, Professor Rick Bigwood
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Master Philosophy
Preventive Justice and Cyber-Surveillance
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Wallis
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Doctor Philosophy
A National Indigenous Representative Body in Australia: Reception and Rejection of an Enduring Institutional Concept
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Dylan Lino, Professor Graeme Orr
Completed supervision
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
An Examination and Reconsideration of Fair Collection under the Australian Privacy Act in the Context of Retail Analytics and Big Data
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alan Davidson
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
The Nature of Constitutions: A Theory of Genuine and Pseudo Constitutions
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nicholas Aroney
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
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