![Professor Graeme Orr](/sites/default/files/profiles/1781.jpeg)
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
Fields of research
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
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Law of politics: parliamentary law and electoral law
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Non-instrumental approaches to Law and Politics (ritual, symbols, language)
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Labour and employment law
Works
Search Professor Graeme Orr’s works on UQ eSpace
2022
Journal Article
Referendums, Misinformation and the Law
Orr, Graeme (2022). Referendums, Misinformation and the Law. Public Law Review, 33 (1), 13-18.
2022
Journal Article
Contempt Convictions and Membership of Parliament
Orr, Graeme (2022). Contempt Convictions and Membership of Parliament. The Australian Law Journal, 96 (5), 303-307.
2022
Other Outputs
Why party preselections are still a mess, and the courts haven’t helped
Orr, Graeme (2022, 04 13). Why party preselections are still a mess, and the courts haven’t helped The Conversation
2022
Book Chapter
Australia
Orr, Graeme (2022). Australia. The Annual Register: World Events 2021. (pp. 348-350) Ann Arbor, MI, United States: ProQuest.
2022
Conference Publication
Conventions in determining parliamentary qualifications
Orr, Graeme (2022). Conventions in determining parliamentary qualifications. Constitutional Conventions Workshop, Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, 21-22 February 2022.
2022
Other Outputs
Stronger Laws on ‘Foreign’ Election Influence were Rushed through this Week – Limiting Speech but Ignoring our Billionaire Problem
Orr, Graeme (2022, 02 18). Stronger Laws on ‘Foreign’ Election Influence were Rushed through this Week – Limiting Speech but Ignoring our Billionaire Problem The Conversation
2022
Book Chapter
Qualifications to be an elected representative
Orr, Graeme (2022). Qualifications to be an elected representative. Comparative election law. (pp. 305-321) edited by James A. Gardner. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing . doi: 10.4337/9781788119023.00028
2021
Other Outputs
Federal voter ID laws
Orr, Graeme, Dixon, Rosalind, Larkin, Dani, Brent, Peter and Green, Antony (2021). Federal voter ID laws. ERRN and Democratic Audit of Australia Working Paper Series. Number 76. Electoral Regulation Research Network, The University of Melbourne.
2021
Other Outputs
Voter ID is a bad idea: here's why
Orr, Graeme (2021, 11 04). Voter ID is a bad idea: here's why The Conversation
2021
Other Outputs
Who’s Liberal? What’s Labor? New bill to give established parties control of their names is full of holes
Orr, Graeme (2021, 08 16). Who’s Liberal? What’s Labor? New bill to give established parties control of their names is full of holes The Conversation
2021
Book Chapter
Australia
Orr, Graeme (2021). Australia. The Annual Register: World Events. (pp. 344-346) edited by DS Lewis and Wendy Slater. Cambridge, United Kingdom: ProQuest.
2021
Journal Article
Islands in the storm? Responses to foreign electoral interference in Australia and New Zealand
Orr, Graeme and Geddis, Andrew (2021). Islands in the storm? Responses to foreign electoral interference in Australia and New Zealand. Election Law Journal, 20 (1) , 82-97. doi: 10.1089/elj.2020.0656
2021
Book Chapter
‘Choice of the manner in which thou wilt die’: the Australian courts on compulsory voting
Orr, Graeme (2021). ‘Choice of the manner in which thou wilt die’: the Australian courts on compulsory voting. A century of compulsory voting in Australia. (pp. 141-164) edited by Matteo Bonotti and Paul Strangio. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-33-4025-1_8
2020
Other Outputs
Why this Queensland election is different - states are back at the forefront of political attention
Orr, Graeme (2020, 10 28). Why this Queensland election is different - states are back at the forefront of political attention The Conversation - .
2020
Other Outputs
Clive Palmer’s ‘death tax’ scare campaign isn’t new. But it’s still outrageous
Orr, Graeme (2020, 10 28). Clive Palmer’s ‘death tax’ scare campaign isn’t new. But it’s still outrageous Guardian Australia - .
2020
Other Outputs
Funding Questions have Interrupted the Queensland LNP’s Election Campaign: What Does the Law Say?
Orr, Graeme (2020, 10 14). Funding Questions have Interrupted the Queensland LNP’s Election Campaign: What Does the Law Say? The Conversation
2020
Other Outputs
Swallowing a huge spider to catch foreign relations flies
Orr, Graeme (2020, September 08). Swallowing a huge spider to catch foreign relations flies. Pearls and Irritations, .
2020
Other Outputs
Speaking freely in special clothing: what happens when sport moves from the back pages to the front?
Orr, Graeme (2020, 06 25). Speaking freely in special clothing: what happens when sport moves from the back pages to the front? Inside Story 1-1.
2020
Journal Article
Polling in a pandemic: electoral dynamics, administration and law
Orr, Graeme (2020). Polling in a pandemic: electoral dynamics, administration and law. Australasian Parliamentary Review, 34 (2), 54-71.
2020
Journal Article
Voting in a pandemic: lessons from international experience
Orr, Graeme (2020). Voting in a pandemic: lessons from international experience. GlobalCit (Global Citizenship Observatory)
Funding
Past funding
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
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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
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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
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2023
Master Philosophy
Forward with fairness: conceptualising just transition for Australian labour law and the coal-fired power generation industry
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Justine Bell-James
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2016
Doctor Philosophy
Securing Freedom of Information in Vietnamese Government and Law
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Peter Billings
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Constitutional Transformations: Failure and Opportunity in Post-Independence South Sudan
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Caitlin Goss
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Locating the Public in Australian Public Enterprise: Reinforcing the Public Objectives and Public Accountability of Australian Government-Owned Businesses
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ross Grantham
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2017
Doctor Philosophy
A Government for a Sovereign People: The Expectations and Intentions of the Framers of the Australian Constitution regarding Responsible Government
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Nicholas Aroney
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
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