Anita Mackay

Dr Anita Mackay is a Senior Lecturer at RMIT School of Law.

 

RESEARCH
Anita's research interests are varied, but the unifying theme is how law (particularly human rights law) may be used as a tool to protect vulnerable and marginalised members of the community. For example:

1) the protection afforded to people in prison by international human rights law (Anita's recent book 'A Children's Rights Assessment of Juvenile Detention in Australia' (Routledge, 2025) is about human rights compliance in Australian youth detention: https://bit.ly/4eveJgY) (she also published a book in 2020 about adult prisons) and 

2) the protection of vulnerable witnesses during criminal trials and Royal Commissions.

 

Anita has an interest in how law reform processes, such as Parliamentary Committees and Royal Commissions, provide avenues for public participation and exposure of wrongdoing. In conducting this research she draws on her experience working on inquiries, and extensive experience developing government responses to recommendations from within the public service.

 

Anita has published nationally and internationally on topics including what Australia may learn from the Nordic approach to imprisonment, smoking bans in prisons and forensic psychiatric institutions and same-sex marriage under international law. 

 

In 2023 Anita was accepted into the visiting scholar program at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). 

 

TEACHING - see Teaching & Supervision tab

 

AWARDS
Anita's research on Australian prisons has been recognised by the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) with the biennial Christine M. Alder award in 2021 for Towards Human Rights Compliance in Australian Prisons; awarded for “an outstanding book which has made a valuable and outstanding contribution to criminology”. Anita was the recipient of La Trobe Law School Research Excellence Awards in 2022 (mid-career researcher category) and 2017 (early career researcher category).

 

In 2023 Anita was awarded a La Trobe Law School Teaching Excellence award "for effective assessment practices that bring about improvements in student learning". This award recognises Anita's use of authentic/'real world' assessment tasks that help prepare students for work they may engage in after graduating. Anita was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Early Career Teaching Award in 2020 for "fostering the engagement, well-being and acquisition of foundational legal skills of first year law students through innovative curriculum and well-targeted resources and support".

 

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE, ENGAGEMENT AND IMPACT
In addition to experience in academia at RMIT School of Law, La Trobe Law School and Western Sydney University, Anita has worked on inquiries at both the Australian Law Reform Commission and a Victorian Parliamentary Committee.  Alongside her PhD at Monash University Anita worked on the Applying Human Rights in Closed Environments project. She has extensive experience as a Senior Legal Officer in the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department in a range of policy areas, including family law and access to justice. 

 

Anita actively contributes to policy development through engagement with law reform processes. This includes preparing submissions to inquiries (e.g. by the Australian Human Rights Commission and Royal Commissions), and appearing before a parliamentary committee as an expert witness.