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Professor Graeme Orr
Professor

Graeme Orr

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 53014

Overview

Background

The law of politics, in particular electoral law, is Professor Graeme Orr's primary research expertise. He has authored The Law of Politics (1st edn 2010, 2nd edn 2019) and Ritual and Rhythm in Electoral Systems (2015), co-authored The Law of Deliberative Democracy (2016), co-edited Realising Democracy (2003), Electoral Democracy: Australian Prospects (2011) and The Cambridge Handbook of Deliberative Constitutionalism (2018) and edited 3 symposia on the law of politics. His doctoral thesis explored the nature and regulation of electoral bribery. In the field of the law of politics, he does consultancy and pro bono work, and regular media commentary. Graeme has published over 100 commentary pieces in both the traditional press and online outlets.

Graeme has also published extensively in labour law, the law of negligence and on issues of language and law. Currently he is the legal adviser on the NSW Electoral Commission’s iVote panel and was recently part of the Australian Republican Movement’s Constitutional Advisory Board that drafted a model for an elected Head of State.

An Associate to two judges in the Federal Court of Australia and solicitor of the Queensland Supreme Court, prior to joining UQ Graeme was also an Associate Professor at Griffith University, where he taught for 13 years. In recent times he has been international editor of the Election Law Journal and board member of the Australian Journal of Labour Law. He was formerly managing editor of the Griffith Law Review, columnist with the Alternative Law Journal on sport's links to law, and employment law columnist with the Australian Journal of Administrative Law. He currently authors the entry on Australia for The Annual Register, a 257 year old almanac of world affairs.

He has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (2014) and the Australian Academy of Social Sciences (2020).

Availability

Professor Graeme Orr is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Law, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework) of Law, University College London
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Griffith University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Griffith University

Research interests

  • Law of politics: parliamentary law and electoral law

  • Non-instrumental approaches to Law and Politics (ritual, symbols, language)

  • Labour and employment law

Works

Search Professor Graeme Orr’s works on UQ eSpace

226 works between 1995 and 2024

1 - 20 of 226 works

Featured

2019

Journal Article

Is My Foreign Yours? The Concept of Foreignness in the Regulation of Political Finance

Orr, Graeme (2019). Is My Foreign Yours? The Concept of Foreignness in the Regulation of Political Finance. Representation: Journal of Representative Democracy, 55 (2) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00344893.2019.1645038, 179-195. doi: 10.1080/00344893.2019.1645038

Is My Foreign Yours? The Concept of Foreignness in the Regulation of Political Finance

Featured

2019

Book

The law of politics: elections, parties and money in Australia

Orr, Graeme (2019). The law of politics: elections, parties and money in Australia. 2nd ed. Leichhardt, N.S.W., Australia: Federation Press.

The law of politics: elections, parties and money in Australia

Featured

2018

Book

The Cambridge handbook of deliberative constitutionalism

Ron Levy, Hoi Kong, Graeme Orr and Jeff King eds. (2018). The Cambridge handbook of deliberative constitutionalism. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108289474

The Cambridge handbook of deliberative constitutionalism

Featured

2016

Book

The law of deliberative democracy

Levy, Ron and Orr, Graeme (2016). The law of deliberative democracy. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315890159

The law of deliberative democracy

Featured

2015

Book

Ritual and rhythm in electoral systems: a comparative legal account

Orr, Graeme (2015). Ritual and rhythm in electoral systems: a comparative legal account. Farnham, Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate. doi: 10.4324/9781315606620

Ritual and rhythm in electoral systems: a comparative legal account

2024

Journal Article

An election-funding first, but at what cost?

Orr, Graeme (2024). An election-funding first, but at what cost?. Inside Story.

An election-funding first, but at what cost?

2024

Book Chapter

Australia

Orr, Graeme (2024). Australia. The annual register: world events 2023. (pp. 356-358) Ann Arbor, MI, United States: ProQuest.

Australia

2023

Book

Special Voting Arrangements: The International IDEA Handbook

Barrat, Jordi, Ellis, Andrew, Orr, Graeme, Vashchanka, Vasil and Wolf, Peter (2023). Special Voting Arrangements: The International IDEA Handbook. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). doi: 10.31752/idea.2023.84

Special Voting Arrangements: The International IDEA Handbook

2023

Journal Article

Hot country, frozen document: Would voluntary voting on referendum proposals help thaw the Constitution?

Orr, Graeme (2023). Hot country, frozen document: Would voluntary voting on referendum proposals help thaw the Constitution?. Inside Story.

Hot country, frozen document: Would voluntary voting on referendum proposals help thaw the Constitution?

2023

Journal Article

Referendum turnout: compulsory or voluntary?

Orr, Graeme (2023). Referendum turnout: compulsory or voluntary?. King's Law Journal, 34 (2), 1-19. doi: 10.1080/09615768.2023.2245120

Referendum turnout: compulsory or voluntary?

2023

Journal Article

The Voice is a simple and enduring idea with a past - and a promise

Fox, Laurel, Larkin, Dani and Orr, Graeme (2023, 08 04). The Voice is a simple and enduring idea with a past - and a promise The Conversation

The Voice is a simple and enduring idea with a past - and a promise

2023

Journal Article

The Voice as Politics

Fox, Laurel and Orr, Graeme (2023). The Voice as Politics. Public Law Review, 34 (2), 129-138.

The Voice as Politics

2023

Conference Publication

Cohesive or divided: federalism and the demos in the pandemic

Orr, Graeme (2023). Cohesive or divided: federalism and the demos in the pandemic. Islands and Oceans: Public Law in a Plural World (iCON-S 2023 International Conference), Wellington, New Zealand, 3-5 July 2023.

Cohesive or divided: federalism and the demos in the pandemic

2023

Conference Publication

Citizens or denizens: nationality, residency and the right to vote

Orr, Graeme (2023). Citizens or denizens: nationality, residency and the right to vote. Islands and Ocean: Public Law in a Plural World (2023 iCON-S International Conference), Wellington, New Zealand, 3-5 July 2023.

Citizens or denizens: nationality, residency and the right to vote

2023

Book Chapter

Elections as rituals

Orr, Graeme (2023). Elections as rituals. Routledge handbook of election law. (pp. 101-111) edited by David Schultz and Jurij Toplak. Oxford, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780429401800-9

Elections as rituals

2023

Other Outputs

Proposed spending and donations caps may at last bring genuine reform to national election rules

Orr, Graeme (2023, 06 20). Proposed spending and donations caps may at last bring genuine reform to national election rules The Conversation

Proposed spending and donations caps may at last bring genuine reform to national election rules

2023

Book Chapter

Australia

Orr, Graeme (2023). Australia. The Annual Register: World Events 2022. (pp. 359-361) edited by D.S. Lewis and Wendy Slater. Ann Arbor, MI, United States: ProQuest.

Australia

2023

Journal Article

'King Oath

Orr, Graeme (2023). 'King Oath. Inside Story.

'King Oath

2022

Conference Publication

Citizens or Denizens: Defining the Right to Vote

Orr, Graeme (2022). Citizens or Denizens: Defining the Right to Vote. 7th Biennial Electoral Regulation Research Network Workshop, Canberra, ACT Australia, 8-9 December 2022.

Citizens or Denizens: Defining the Right to Vote

2022

Journal Article

It’s my party: the enforceability of political party rules

Orr, Graeme (2022). It’s my party: the enforceability of political party rules. Alternative Law Journal, 47 (4), 248-252. doi: 10.1177/1037969x221132303

It’s my party: the enforceability of political party rules

Funding

Past funding

  • 2017
    Comprehensive free access to Australian industrial and workplace law (ARC LIEF project administered by University of Technology Sydney)
    University of Technology Sydney
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2015
    The Law of Deliberative Democracy: Theory and Reform
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2010 - 2012
    Dollars and Democracy: The dynamics of Australian political finance and its regulation (ARC Discovery Project Administered by The University of Melbourne)
    University of Melbourne
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Professor Graeme Orr is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Representative Democracy and Political Constitutionalism in Practice: Opposition to Indigenous Representative Bodies in Australia

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh, Dr Dylan Lino

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Proposed PhD - Disability within the judiciary: An analysis of the barriers for lawyers with visual disabilities to be appointed to the judicial branch of government in New Zealand and Australia.

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Paul Harpur

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

Contact Professor Graeme Orr directly for media enquiries about:

  • constitutional law
  • Employment and labour law
  • Language and law
  • Law of elections
  • Law of politics
  • Political Parties and Finance

Need help?

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

communications@uq.edu.au