
PhD (University of Wollongong)
LLM (University of Manitoba)
BA, LLB (UNSW)
Luke McNamara is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales. His research focuses on the deployment of criminalisation as a public policy tool. Current projects include studies of sexual offence trials and the history of criminal law-making directed at safety from violence. He is the author of the books Regulating Racism: Racial Vilification Laws in Australia (2002), and Human Rights Controversies: The Impact of Legal Form (2007); and a co-author of Criminal Laws: Materials and Commentary on Criminal Law and Process of New South Wales (7th ed, 2020).
Recent journal articles have appeared in Criminology & Criminal Justice, International Journal for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy, New Criminal Law Review, UNSW Law Journal, International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, Criminal Law Journal and Current Issues in Criminal Justice.
2014 Australian Political Studies Association Mayer Journal Article Prize for K Gelber and L McNamara, ‘Freedom of Speech and Racial Vilification in Australia: “The Bolt Case” in Public Discourse’ (2013) 48(4) Australian Journal of Political Science 470-484.
Professor McNamara is currently involved in collaborative projects on the history of the criminalisation of violence in Australia, and the nature and operation intoxication evidence in sexual assault trials - both funded by ARC Discovery Project grants.