
Overview
Background
Kit Barker joined the TC Beirne School of Law in 2006. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with first class honours (in 1988) and subsequently completed the BCL (with distinction) in 1991. He was admitted to the Middle Temple Inn of Court as a Harmsworth Scholar and to the Bar of England and Wales in 1990. He is interested in private law as a whole, but specialises in the law of torts and unjust enrichment law and the law's doctrine, philosophical foundations and remedies. More recently, his work has explored the interface between private law and public law and public policy, with a focus on the tortious liability of government, misfeasance in public office and the use of private enforcement techniques in public law. He is a former Associate Dean (Research) at the TC Beirne School of Law and an assistant editor of the Torts Law Journal. He is co-author of three books - Unjust Enrichment (3rd ed, Sydney, Lexis Nexis, Butterworths, 2024, 1st ed, 2008), The Law of Torts in Australia (5th ed, 2011, OUP) and Remedies: Commentary and Materials (Thomson, 2015). He is also an editor and contributor to six essay collections: Life and Death in Private Law (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2024), Private Law: Key Encounters with Public Law (Cambridge University Press, 2013), The Law of Misstatements (Hart Publishing, 2015); Private Law and Power (Hart Publishing, 2017) ; Private Law in the Twenty-First Century (Hart Publishing, 2017); Apportionment in Private Law (Hart Publishing, 2018) and the Research Handbook on Unjust Enrichment and Restitution (Edward Elgar, 2020).
He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and current director of the Australian Centre of Private Law at the TC Beirne School of Law.
Availability
- Professor Kit Barker is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts, University of Oxford
- Masters (Coursework), University of Oxford
- Masters (Coursework) of Law, University of Oxford
Research interests
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State Liability in Tort
Civil liability of the state for for the tort of misfeasance in public office, false imprisonment and negligence in the execution of its public functions.
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Philosophical Foundations of the Common Law
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Defamation and Privacy
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Private Law Remedies
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Restitution and Unjust Enrichment
The law and philosophical underpinnings of civil remedies for unjust enrichment.
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Torts
Works
Search Professor Kit Barker’s works on UQ eSpace
2020
Book Chapter
The evolution of unjust enrichment law: theory and practice
Bant, Elise , Barker, Kit and Degeling, Simone (2020). The evolution of unjust enrichment law: theory and practice. Research handbook on unjust enrichment and restitution. (pp. 2-27) edited by Elise Bant, Kit Barker and Simone Degeling. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar. doi: 10.4337/9781788114264.00007
2020
Book
Remedies: commentary and materials
Normann Witzleb, Elise Bant, Simone Degeling and Kit Barker (2020). Remedies: commentary and materials. 7th ed. Sydney: Thomson Reuters.
2019
Conference Publication
Unjust Enrichment in Australia
Barker, Kit (2019). Unjust Enrichment in Australia. Current Legal Issues Seminar Series, Brisbane, Australia, 13 June 2019.
2019
Book Chapter
Apportionment in private law: nothing, all, or something in between?
Barker, Kit (2019). Apportionment in private law: nothing, all, or something in between?. Apportionment in Private Law. (pp. 3-34) edited by Kit Barker and Ross Grantham. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2019
Book Chapter
Form and substance: three observations on the state of debate
Barker, Kit (2019). Form and substance: three observations on the state of debate. Form and substance in the law of obligations. (pp. 433-443) edited by Andrew Robertson and James Goudkamp. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2019
Conference Publication
Unjust Enrichment - Implications for Legal Reasoning and Practice
Barker, Kit (2019). Unjust Enrichment - Implications for Legal Reasoning and Practice. King and Wood Mallesons Continuing Legal Education Programme, King and Wood Mallesons, Brisbane, 9 May 2019.
2018
Book
Apportionment in private law
Kit Barker and Ross Grantham eds. (2018). Apportionment in private law. London, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2018
Book Chapter
Apportionment in private law: nothing, all, or something in between?
Barker, Kit (2018). Apportionment in private law: nothing, all, or something in between?. Apportionment in Private Law. (pp. 1-34) edited by Kit Barker and Ross Grantham. London, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2018
Journal Article
Restitution Regional Digest – Australia 2017-18
Barker, Kit and Walpole, Samuel (2018). Restitution Regional Digest – Australia 2017-18. Restitution Law Review, 26, 85-121.
2018
Journal Article
Private Law, Analytical Philosophy and the Modern Value of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld: A Centennial Appraisal
Barker, Kit (2018). Private Law, Analytical Philosophy and the Modern Value of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld: A Centennial Appraisal. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 38 (3), 585-612. doi: 10.1093/OJLS/GQY021
2018
Journal Article
Modelling public and private enforcement: the rationality of hybridity
Barker, Kit (2018). Modelling public and private enforcement: the rationality of hybridity. University of Queensland Law Journal, 37 (1), 9-23.
2018
Book
Apportionment in Private Law
Kit Barker and Ross Grantham eds. (2018). Apportionment in Private Law. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2018
Conference Publication
The very modern value of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld: a centennial appraisal
Barker, Kit (2018). The very modern value of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld: a centennial appraisal. Singapore Symposium in Legal Theory 2018, Singapore, Singapore, 5 February 2018.
2017
Book Chapter
What Is a contractual defence (and does it matter)?
Barker, Kit (2017). What Is a contractual defence (and does it matter)?. Defences in Contract. (pp. 17-42) edited by Andrew Dyson, James Goudkamp and Frederick Wilmot-Smith. London, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2017
Book Chapter
Private law as a complex system: agendas for the twenty-first century
Barker, Kit (2017). Private law as a complex system: agendas for the twenty-first century. Private law in the 21st century. (pp. 1-28) edited by Kit Barker, Karen Fairweather and Ross Grantham. London, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2017
Book
Private law in the 21st century
Kit Barker, Karen Fairweather and Ross Grantham eds. (2017). Private law in the 21st century. London, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.
2017
Book Chapter
Public power, discretion and the duty of care
Barker, Kit (2017). Public power, discretion and the duty of care. Private law and power. (pp. 207-237) edited by Kit Barker, Simone Degeling, Karen Fairweather and Ross B. Grantham. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart.
2017
Book Chapter
Private law as a complex system: agendas for the twenty-first century
Barker, Kit (2017). Private law as a complex system: agendas for the twenty-first century. Private law in the 21st century. (pp. 3-28) edited by Kit Barker, Karen Fairweather and Ross Grantham. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509908615.ch-001
2017
Conference Publication
Causation and loss of chance: a commentary
Barker, Kit (2017). Causation and loss of chance: a commentary. Causation and Loss of Opportunity, Brisbane, Australia, 27 July 2017.
2017
Book Chapter
What Is a contractual defence (and does it matter)?
Barker, Kit (2017). What Is a contractual defence (and does it matter)?. Defences in contract. (pp. 17-41) edited by Andrew Dyson, James Goudkamp and Frederick Wilmot-Smith. Portland, USA: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509902156.ch-002
Funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Kit Barker is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
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The law and theory of unjust enrichment
Potential topics available include:
- Foundational theories of unjust enrichment
- Remedies for unjust enrichment
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au
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The modern law of torts
Potential topics available include:
- State Negligence
- Liabilities for Pure Economic Loss
- Misfeasance in Public Office and False Prosecution
- Private actions for the Invasion of Privacy
- Remedies for Defamation
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au.
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Private Law Enforcement
Potential topics available include:
- Theories of Public and Private Enforcement
- The role of the Bounty Hunter – past and present
For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au
Supervision history
Completed supervision
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Which of the Duties of Directors are Fiduciary?
Principal Advisor
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2020
Doctor Philosophy
Coherence in Australian Private Law: A Review of the High Court's Approach
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ross Grantham
Media
Enquiries
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