Kim Rubenstein
Australian legal scholar, legal practitioner, professor, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, ANU
Profile
Professor Rubenstein’s impact on public policy, society and the advancement of social sciences in Australia has been over multiple mediums throughout her academic career.
Her ground-breaking scholarship on citizenship law domestically (including two editions of Australian Citizenship Law) and internationally (including her academic lead in a successful Amicus Brief of Scholars on Statelessness in the US Supreme Court and her Lady Davis Professorship at Hebrew University teaching Comparative Citizenship Law and her visiting Professor position at Tel Aviv Law School) has been significant.
In addition she has contributed to the jurisprudence in Australia, with her involvement in Australian litigation in four High Court citizenship matters (oral argument in Ame v Cth, 2005), and through her expert consulting to the Australian government (drafting of the 2007 Australian Citizenship Act) She has also made direct public policy contributions through her position on the independent Committee reviewing the Australian Citizenship Test, 2008, and her contributions to Parliament through her public submissions in writing and in person (cited regularly in Parliamentary reports) and finally with her media contributions educating the broader public throughout her entire academic career in TV, Radio and Opinion pieces, (and, through a stellar appearance on Q&A and multiple network outlets). These have all had a profound impact on the Australian community’s understanding of citizenship in legal and normative terms.
Professor Rubenstein’s work on gender and public law through her scholarship on the Constitution, her Australian Research Council funded research on Trailblazing Women and the Law with her role as the Inaugural Convener of the ANU Gender Institute and continuing role on its management Committee led to her recognition nationally through the Edna Ryan award on leading feminist change in the public sphere. In addition, her continuing impact nationally as an outstanding collegiate academic role model cultivating the next generation of important scholars seen through her co-edited six part Cambridge University Press series, Connecting International and Public law; a contribution of immense scholarship in its own right makes her an important leader in academia.
Her scholarship has also extended to research around the links between law and archives (with her Co-Cis Genovese and Luker) writing on The Court as Archive) as an ARC funded Discovery Project
This outstanding contribution, both individually and collectively has led to Rubenstein’s membership as Fellow of the ASSA.
