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Dr Sarah Kendall
Dr

Sarah Kendall

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Overview

Background

Dr Sarah Kendall is a comparative, interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in criminal law and procedure and evidence law. Her work focuses on law reform and legislative and policy development in the context of emerging and re-emerging national security threats, and domestic, family and sexual violence. Sarah uses a range of methods to conduct her research, including empirical (qualitative and quantitative) methods.

Currently, Sarah is researching the criminal law response to espionage, foreign interference and sabotage in Australia and other Five Eyes nations (the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States), examining the nature, effectiveness and appropriateness of this response. She is also continuing her research into the domestic violence offence of non-fatal strangulation as well as trauma-informed approaches to the criminal law and criminal trial. Sarah's research on espionage law has been recognised by a UQ BEL Faculty award for research excellence.

In addition to her research, Sarah has taught Foundations of Law and Evidence Law at UQ. She frequently gives guest lectures on espionage and foreign interference offences.

Availability

Dr Sarah Kendall is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Qualifications

  • Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Queensland University of Technology
  • Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Law, The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy of Law, The University of Queensland

Research interests

  • National security crimes

    The nature, effectiveness and appropriateness of the criminal law response to national security threats, including emerging and re-emerging national security threats (such as espionage, foreign interference and sabotage).

  • Preventive criminal laws

    The nature and evolution of criminal laws that have a largely preventive focus, such as standalone preparatory crimes.

  • Trauma-informed approaches to criminal justice

    How criminal law, evidence law and the criminal justice system can become more trauma-informed, particularly for victim-survivors, witnesses and defendants.

Research impacts

Sarah is recognised nationally and internationally as an expert on Australian espionage and foreign interference offences. Her research has been featured in leading national and international peer reviewed journals, such as the Cambridge Law Journal, Sydney Law Review and Melbourne University Law Review. She also regularly writes for The Conversation about national security crimes and makes submissions to government inquiries in Australia and overseas.

In recognition of her expertise, Sarah has been invited to engage with the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor on its reviews of Commonwealth secrecy, espionage, foreign interference and sabotage offences, to contribute to edited collections and special issues, and to be interviewed for local, national and international media (including The New York Times, The Australian and The Guardian).

Sarah currently works at the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC), leading the review of Queensland's non-fatal strangulation offence. Before joining the QLRC, she worked at the Department of Justice and Attorney-General Queensland in Strategic Policy and Legislation where she progressed the Criminal Justice Legislation (Sexual Violence and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024 (Qld). She has also previously worked at the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) on a number of inquiries, including the Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws inquiry and Justice Responses to Sexual Violence inquiry. Sarah's doctoral research on the non-fatal strangulation offence and trauma-informed criminal trials has informed the work and practices of the QLRC and ALRC.

Works

Search Professor Sarah Kendall’s works on UQ eSpace

25 works between 2018 and 2024

21 - 25 of 25 works

2021

Other Outputs

You could break espionage laws on social media without realising it

Kendall, Sarah (2021, 01 13). You could break espionage laws on social media without realising it The Conversation

You could break espionage laws on social media without realising it

2021

Journal Article

Reconceptualising Reforms to Cross-Examination: Extending the Reliability Revolution Beyond the Forensic Sciences

Kendall, Sarah (2021). Reconceptualising Reforms to Cross-Examination: Extending the Reliability Revolution Beyond the Forensic Sciences. Canberra Law Review, 18 (1), 36-59.

Reconceptualising Reforms to Cross-Examination: Extending the Reliability Revolution Beyond the Forensic Sciences

2020

Other Outputs

Espionage and press freedom in Australia

Kendall, Sarah (2020). Espionage and press freedom in Australia. UQ Press Freedom Policy Papers St Lucia, QLD, Australia: The University of Queensland.

Espionage and press freedom in Australia

2019

Journal Article

Australia's new espionage laws: another case of hyper-legislation and over-criminalisation

Kendall, Sarah (2019). Australia's new espionage laws: another case of hyper-legislation and over-criminalisation. University of Queensland Law Journal, 38 (1), 125-161.

Australia's new espionage laws: another case of hyper-legislation and over-criminalisation

2018

Conference Publication

Australia's new espionage laws: a necessary evil

Kendall, Sarah (2018). Australia's new espionage laws: a necessary evil. Australian and New Zealand Law Honours Student Conference, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 24 November 2018.

Australia's new espionage laws: a necessary evil

Funding

Past funding

  • 2022 - 2023
    Evaluation of the VREC Pilot
    Queensland Police Service
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Sarah Kendall is:
Available for supervision

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

Media

Enquiries

Contact Dr Sarah Kendall directly for media enquiries about:

  • espionage
  • foreign interference
  • national security crimes
  • sabotage

Need help?

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

communications@uq.edu.au