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Virginia Marshall
Dr Virginia Marshall
Qualifications
BA (Hons) BVocEd LLB GDLP GCertLaw(CrimPrac) LLM PhD (law) Macquarie University

Virginia is a Research Fellow with the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet). She is a practising lawyer and duty solicitor, a former associate & researcher with the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney and professional member of the NSW Law Society and Women Lawyers Association of NSW.
Former Senior Legal Officer of the Australian Law Reform Commission and inquiry into ‘Family Violence & Commonwealth Laws: Improving Legal Frameworks’ (ALRC 117), Executive Officer of the NSW Government’s ‘Aboriginal Water Trust’ and criminal defence lawyer with NSW Legal Aid.
Virginia is the winner of the WEH Stanner Award for the best thesis by an Indigenous author, titled, ‘A web of Aboriginal water rights: Examining the competing Aboriginal claim for water property rights and interests in Australia’. She is in demand as a Keynote Speaker on Indigenous water law and governance, Indigenous traditional knowledge systems and the intersectionality of western intellectual property regimes and the Indigenous commercialisation of native foods and medicines.
A lifetime member of the Golden Key International Honour Society and Magistrate for the NSW Law Society’s ‘Mock Trial Competition’. Virginia is Partner Investigator (PI) with an ARC Linkage Grant, ‘Garuwanga: Forming a Competent Authority to Protect Indigenous Knowledge’ ($244,000) to “govern and administer a legal framework in order to ensure consent of Indigenous communities is obtained for access to Aboriginal traditional knowledge and to establish a fair and equitable benefit-sharing mechanism for use of that knowledge”.
Dr Marshall is a Research Associate of the ANU Australian Studies Institute (AuSI) and a member of the AuSI Advisory Board.
Research Interests
Dr Marshall’s research interests include:
Indigenous water law, rights & interests
Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Information & Knowledge Systems
Indigneous commercialsiation of native foods, medicines & treatments
Indigenous business & management
Agriculture, land & farm management
Ecology & environmental sciences & biotechnology
Global Policy & Governance
Virginia is a practicing lawyer and legal scholar, her research doctoral thesis won a prestigious award and was published as a ground-breaking Aboriginal water rights book titled “Overturning aqua nullius: Securing Aboriginal water rights” and launched in Sydney by the Hon. Michael Kirby.
Honoured by the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria, Canada, Virginia received the award of ‘Distinguished Woman Scholar’. She is recognised by the Department of Primary Industries ‘Hidden Treasures Honour Roll’ of outstanding rural volunteers, contributing to the well-being and unity of regional communities.
Virginia’s Indigenous Postdoctoral research position with Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) and the Fenner School of Environment and Society will focus on leading law reform for Indigenous peoples in Australia, by critically analysing international Indigenous water use, to develop Indigenous culturally appropriate mechanisms for national water frameworks and ethical water use within domestic water regimes.

Job opportunity: Postdoctoral Fellow at RegNet
The School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) is recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow who is passionate about advancing the recognition of Indigenous bio-cultural resources within current Aus

Virginia Marshall appointed to the Climate Change Authority Board
We are pleased to announce that Dr Virginia Marshall, RegNet’s Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow has been appointed to the board of the Climate Change Authority.

Healing from the heart: Virginia Marshall on Policy Forum Pod
How can Australia place kindness and care at the centre of its policy-making? What do First Nations’ knowledge systems tell us about protecting the land, waterways, and environment?

Victoria’s First Nations treaty authority could be replicated across Australia, experts say
RegNet’s Dr Virginia Marshall has told The Guardian that statutory authorities like the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission – abolished in 2005 – had lacked true independence due to go

Virginia Marshall to lead ARC project in Aboriginal Indigenous traditional medicines
RegNet’s Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Virginia Marshall has been awarded the Australian Research Counci

Virginia Marshall on COP26
RegNet’s Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow Virginia Marshall attended COP26 as a delegate of the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation Australia and the

Virginia Marshall on COP26: we got this podcast
How are Indigenous Australian community being impacted by climate change, and how can we incorporate their traditional knowledge and practices into effective climate adaptation strategies?

Pacific nations can’t be left behind at COP26
Experts from The Australian National University (ANU) warn Pacific nations are at risk of being left behind in global climate negotiations if they aren’t a focus of the up

Indigenous delegates urge action on climate ahead of COP26
ANU RegNet’s Dr Virginia Marshall will be representing Australia’s First Nations community at COP26 Climate Summit at Glasgow between 31 October

Virginia Marshall on sacred sites and water rights issues
The Norther Territory’s largest groundwater extraction licence has traditional owners challenging the science behind the decision and the effectiveness of water laws.

The justice so deserved - Dr Virginia Marshall on Democracy Sausage
On this episode of Democracy Sausage, guest host and RegNet’s Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow Virginia Marshall has a yarn with Yawuru man Peter Yu, who reflects on his 40 years in Indigen

Belonging to Country - Dr Virginia Marshall on Democracy Sausage
Dr Virginia Marshall, RegNet’s Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow is the guest host on this episode of Democracy Sausage.

The meaning of Country- Dr Virginia Marshall on Policy Forum Pod
Dr Virginia Marshall, Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) and the Fenner School of Environment and

More than ‘Indigenous Wisdom’ in the rights-of-nature debate- Dr Virginia Mashall writes for Global Water Forum
Are the rights-of-nature concepts flawed for First Nations of Australia?

Fighting for Indigenous water justice
Dr Virginia Marshall has built a strong reputation as a champion for Indigenous water justice, but it was while working as criminal defence lawyer that she encountered the case that would set her o

RegNet scholar Dr Virginia Marshall named a finalist in ‘Academic of the Year’ category of the LawyersWeekly Australian Law Awards
Dr Virginia Marshall, Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with the Australian National University’s School of Regul

Australia, it’s time to talk about our water emergency
The last bushfire season showed Australians they can no longer pretend climate change will not affect them.

Policy Forum Pod: Caring for burning Country featuring Dr Virginia Marshall Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with RegNet and Fenner schools
On the ‘Caring for burning Country’ episode of Policy Forum Pod, Dr Virginia Marshall, Dr Annick Thomassin and PhD Scholar S
Pages

Author(s): Marshall, Virginia
Date of publications: 2021
Publication type: Book chapter

Author(s): Virginia Marshall
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Dr Virginia Marshall
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: Book

Author(s): Dr Virginia Marshall
Date of publications: 2017
Publication type: Book

Author(s): Dr Virginia Marshall
Date of publications: 2016
Publication type: Journal article

Author(s): Dr Virginia Marshall
Date of publications: 2016
Publication type: Book