McAdam named Australian Academy of Law Fellow

UNSW Scientia Professor and Kaldor Centre Director Jane McAdam has been invited to become a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Drawn from the judiciary, academia and the practising profession, Academy Fellows are ‘persons of exceptional distinction in the discipline of law’.

‘It is an honour to become a Fellow and a privilege to join this community of legal minds committed to justice,’ Professor McAdam said. ‘I am pleased to contribute to this forum for cooperation, collaboration and constructive debate.’

A world-leading international law scholar, Professor McAdam is at the forefront of global efforts to ensure protection for refugees and the human rights of people seeking asylum. As founding director, McAdam established UNSW’s Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in 2013 to produce research on displacement challenges in Australia, the Asia Pacific and globally, spearheading its nonpartisan, policy-relevant research and engagement.

She is particularly known for her ground-breaking work on climate change, displacement and international law. Developing ideas well ahead of their time, she shaped thinking on what is now a ‘hot topic’ of forced migration policy. Professor McAdam’s pioneering research conceptualising ‘climate change-related displacement’ in international law continues to inform global responses today – when, every second, someone is displaced by the impacts of a disaster.