The Sydney Public Law Group (SPLG) is dedicated to advancing public law teaching and research, in conversation with the legal profession, judiciary, and wider community. It brings together nationally and internationally recognised experts with diverse interests and perspectives, to carry forward Sydney Law School's long tradition of intellectual leadership and open inquiry in public law.
Our scholars explore foundational questions of constitutional order and identity, accountability, and interpretation - analysing legal doctrine in its institutional and historical context and interrogating its normative foundations. The group is grounded in a commitment to scholarly rigour, intellectual curiosity, and service to the discipline of public law.
Our researchers analyse public law through legal doctrine, history, theoretical perspectives, comparative approaches, and international law. This informs research and public engagement in:
Professor Lisa Crawford, Co-Director
Dr Joel Harrison, Co-Director
Professor Elisa Arcioni
Professor Mary Crock
Professor Andrew Edgar
Professor Peter Gerangelos
Dr Grant Hooper
Professor Emerita Helen Irving
Dr Coel Kirkby
Professor Rosemary Lyster
Dr Lukas Opacic
Associate Professor Rayner Thwaites
Professor Emerita Anne Twomey
The Sydney Public Law Group hosts Visiting Fellows by invitation of the group's Directors.
The group also welcomes academics researching any aspect of public law to visit the University of Sydney Law School. Further details on how to apply can be accessed via Sydney Law School's self-funded visitors program and Visiting Fellowships scheme. Please contact the SPLG Directors to discuss a potential visit.
Judges & the Public Law Academy is a joint initiative of the Sydney Public Law Group, the Gilbert & Tobin Centre of Public Law (UNSW), and the New South Wales Court of Appeal. It brings together senior judges and public law academics to discuss developments in public law theory, doctrine, and practice, with a focus on recent academic articles and works in development.
The Brown Bag Seminar Series offers the opportunity for public law scholars to present works-in-progress for discussion at Sydney Law School in a supportive workshop environment. It is open to any public law scholar to present or attend. To express interest, please contact the Brown Bag Seminar Series Coordinator, Dr Lynsey Blayden.
The Greater Sydney Public Law Reading Group discusses the recent monographs of leading and emerging Australian and international public law scholars. It is hosted by the SPLG in conjunction with public law academics across Sydney. The Group provides a forum for authors to discuss their work and for Sydney-based academics to critically reflect on its importance. To express interest in the Greater Sydney Public Law Reading Group, please contact the coordinator, Professor Lisa Crawford.
SPLG regularly hosts conferences, workshops, and other events independently and in collaboration with other universities.
This includes:
The annual George Winterton Memorial Lecture is named in honour of Professor George Winterton and his legacy of constitutional law scholarship, public service, and teaching. Established in 2010, the Lecture advances constitutional law scholarship for the wider community through engagement with the judiciary, senior practitioners, and leading academics. It is co-hosted with the Law School of the University of Western Australia, who holds the Lecture every three years.
The Winterton Lecture is funded by the George Winterton Memorial Fund. If you would like to support the Lecture, or any other activities under the George Winterton Memorial Fund, please contact Dr Joel Harrison.
| 2025 | Hon Stephen Gageler AC The Evolving Electoral System as an Ongoing Constitutional Process |
| 2024 | Professor Rosalind Dixon A New Australian Constitutionalism? Purpose, Proportionality and Process-theory in the High Court of Australia (at UWA) |
| 2023 | Hon Susan Kiefel AC Judicial Review of Legislative and Executive Action: Acceptance and Resentment – Lessons from a Comparative Perspective |
| 2019 | Hon Thomas Bathurst AC The Mysteries of Judicial Power: Defining the Relationship Between Law and Power in the Modern State |
| 2018 | Hon Justice James Edelman AC Constitutional Interpretation |
| 2017 | Hon William Gummow AC Sir Owen Dixon Today |
| 2015 | Emeritus Professor Hoong Phun (HP) Lee Of Courts and Judges: Under the Spotlight, in the Limelight and Seeing the Light (at UWA) |
| 2014 | Professor Fiona Wheeler "Judges as Royal Commissioners" Reprised: The Involvement of Australian Judges in Extra-Judicial Work |
| 2013 | Professor Geoffrey Lindell Judicial Review and the Dismissal of an Elected Government in 1975: Then and Now? [watch on YouTube] |
| 2012 | Malcolm Turnbull AC Republican Virtues: Truth, Leadership and Responsibility (at UWA) |
| 2011 | Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE GBS QC Pathway to Republic |
| 2010 | Hon Robert French AC The Executive Power |
The Sydney Public Law Group welcomes applicants wishing to pursue further research in any aspect of public and constitutional law.
The University of Sydney offers generous stipends to select candidates through the George Winterton Postgraduate Award and the Sir Maurice Byers Scholarship for postgraduate research study in Constitutional Law.
Contact the centre Directors or a member of SPLG to learn more about higher degrees by research.
The initiatives of the Sydney Public Law Group are generously supported by donations from leading figures of Australian public law: the late Hon Alan Neaves, the late Sir Maurice Byers, and supporters of the George Winterton Memorial Fund, in honour of the late Professor George Winterton.
Contact the centre Directors to discuss opportunities to support research, teaching, and engagement at SPLG.
Professor George Winterton was Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney from 2004 to 2008, having previously taught at the University of New South Wales for many years.
He was born in Hong Kong on 15 December 1946 to parents who had fled the German invasion of Austria, and he arrived in Australia in 1948. He graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1969 with an LLB (Hons) and completed his LLM at Columbia Law School as a Fulbright Scholar.
Professor Winterton's scholarship helped to shape Australian constitutional law, especially on the executive power and its relationship to responsible government, federalism, and the separation of powers. He was intimately involved in public debate and public service, joining others in establishing the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australian in the 1970s, acting as a member of the Executive Government Advisory Committee for the Constitutional Commission (1986-1987), and serving on the Republic Advisory Committee and as a delegate to the 1998 Constitutional Convention.
Friends, relatives, and colleagues of Professor Winterton established the George Winterton Memorial Fund in honour of Professor Winterton and to support activities at Sydney Law School in Constitutional Law.
The Hon Alan Neaves was born in January 1925 in Glebe, Sydney. He graduated with first class honours in Law from the University of Sydney in 1948 after serving in the war. He was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1949.
He was a public servant, a barrister, and a judge. In 1975, he became the Commonwealth Crown Solicitor, having previously served as Deputy Crown Solicitor, and in 1979 he was appointed Secretary of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department.
Alan Neaves was a member of the Administrative Review Council, the Commonwealth Practitioners Board and the ACT Barristers and Solicitors Admission Board.
On 11 March 1983, he was sworn in as a judge of the Federal Court, serving until his retirement on 9 January 1995.
The Alan Neaves Bequest was made to Sydney Law School in 2024, reflecting his wish to promote learning, teaching, and scholarship in Australian constitutional law and comparative constitutional law.
Sir Maurice Byers CBE QC was born in November 1917 in Sydney and studied Law at the University of Sydney, graduating with first-class honours in 1944.
He was first an associate to Supreme Court Justice Sir Kenneth Street before being admitted to the bar and joining University Chambers followed by Wentworth Chambers. He went on to appear for Australia (with then-Attorney-General Lionel Murphy and the Solicitor-General) in the International Court of Justice challenging France's nuclear testing in the Pacific.
In 1973, he was appointed the Commonwealth Solicitor-General, holding the position until 1983. During this time, he was called upon to give advice during the 1975 Dismissal of Gough Whitlam by Governor-General John Kerr. He also appeared before the High Court in many cases of constitutional significance, including Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen and Commonwealth v Tasmania (Tasmanian Dam Case).
He continued in public service in later years, becoming Chairman of the Police Board of New South Wales (1983) and Chairman of the Australian Constitutional Commission (1985). Sir Maurice Byers received a CBE in 1978 and a knighthood in 1981.
The Sir Maurice Byers Scholarship was established in 2026 to be awarded to a deserving student to pursue postgraduate research in the field of constitutional law.
