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

Dr Marshall is a Research Fellow based at the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet). She is a practising lawyer and leading legal scholar with expertise in Aboriginal water rights, native title rights in Sea Country, Indigenous governance and the intersection of Traditional Knowledge systems and western intellectual property regimes, especially as it relates to Indigenous commercialisation of traditional medicines.
Virginia’s doctoral thesis ‘A web of Aboriginal water rights: Examining the competing Aboriginal claim for water property rights and interests in Australia’ won the 2015 WEH Stanner Award and was published by AIATSIS Aboriginal Studies Press as Overturning Aqua nullius, recognised as a seminal publication.
Virginia is a former criminal defence lawyer with NSW Legal Aid, former associate & researcher with the Federal Court of Australia, and former Senior Legal Officer with the Australian Law Reform Commission. She is a professional member of the NSW Law Society and a Magistrate for the NSW Law Society’s ‘Mock Trial Competition’. Dr Marshall was ANU’s Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2022).
Virginia holds various government appointments including serving on the Climate Change Authority Board, Deputy Co-Chair of the Committee on Aboriginal Water Interests and the Drafting Group for the National Water Initiative Mark 2 and regularly invited on expert roundtables relating to water policy reform. Virginia serves on the ANU Human Ethics Research Committee, the inaugural Māori Research and Ethics Council and Chair of the ANU Indigenous Research Advisory Group. Virginia is a Co-Chair of the ANU Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions Indigenous peoples, cultures and knowledges research cluster and is a Research Associate and Board member of ANU’s Australian Studies Institute.
Virginia is in high demand for conferences and seminars, in Australia and internationally, including Indigenous water rights, Indigenous peoples’ and climate change, Indigenous governance, Indigenous protected area management and traditional knowledge protection and commercialisation. Her current research focus is as the lead Chief Investigator on a 3-year ARC-funded Aboriginal medicines project in collaboration with Deakin and Griffith Universities and Kimberley traditional knowledge holders.
Research interests
- Indigenous water law, rights & interests
- Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Information & Knowledge Systems
- Indigenous environmental sciences & protected area management
- Commercialisation of native foods, medicines & treatments
- Indigenous business development livelihoods and climate change
- Global Policy & Governance with Indigenous peoples
- Domestic implementation of UNDRIP and the Nagoya Protocol
For a full profile and a list of publications, please click here

Virginia Marshall featured in the list of '52 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people changing the world'
To mark national NAIDOC Week, which celebrates and recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the quarterly Austral

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

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
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