Associate Professor Carolyn McKay
Associate Professor Carolyn McKay is recognised for her research into technologies in criminal justice. She is currently completing an Australian Research Council DECRA: 'The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject', and drafting a related manuscript: 'Digital Vulnerability in Criminal Justice: Vulnerable people and communication technologies' (Palgrave Pivot, forthcoming 2025). Her earlier monograph, ‘The Pixelated Prisoner: Prison video links, court ‘appearance’ and the justice matrix’ (Routledge, 2018) was based on her PhD thesis.
- Crime and criminal justice
- Technologies in justice / digital criminology / digital vulnerability
- Criminal Law
- Civil & Criminal Procedure
- Digital Criminology
- The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject (DECRA 2021-2024)
- Awarded November 2020: https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/1b0c8b2e-7bb0-4f2d-8f52-ad207cfbb41d/219
- https://www.sydney.edu.au/law/news-and-events/news/2020/11/06/sydney-law-school-early-career-researchers-awarded-870k.html
- https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/11/04/up-and-coming-researchers-awarded--10m.html
- https://virtualcriminaljustice.com/
- https://www.digitalcriminaljustice.com/
- Bar Association of New South Wales (academic member)
- Law Society of New South Wales (associate member)
- Member, Sydney Institute of Criminology
- Member, Sydney Environment Institute
- Member, Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology
- Member, International Corrections & Prisons Association
- Member, Australasian Law Teachers Association
- Member, Women's Justice Network
- Member, British Society of Criminology
Awards:
- Australian Legal Research Awards – Council of Law Deans' award for non-traditional research output for the Crime Scene Motel Project.
- Curator for 2018 justiceINjustice collaborative project withThe Lock-Up - Museums & Galleries of NSW IMAGinE award
- 2013 First Prize for Outstanding Presentation – Sydney Law School Postgraduate Conference
- 2009 selected for '2039: The Dean's List' (SCA) -Verge Gallery, University of Sydney
Scholarships:
- 2011-14 John O’Brien Memorial Research Scholarship in Criminal Law & Criminology
- 2014 Cooke, Cooke, Coghlan, Godfrey & Littlejohn top-up scholarship
Selected publications
Publications
Books
- McKay, C. (2018). The Pixelated Prisoner: Prison Video Links, Court 'Appearance' and the Justice Matrix. Oxon: Routledge. [More Information]
- Mason, G., Maher, J., McCulloch, J., Pickering, S., Wickes, R., McKay, C. (2017). Policing Hate Crime: Understanding Communities and Prejudice. Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
Book Chapters
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2023). Digital Criminal Courts: The Place or Space of (Post-)pandemic Justice. In Russell G. Smith, Rick Sarre, Lennon Yao-Chung Chang, Laurie Yiu-Chung Lau (Eds.), Cybercrime in the Pandemic Digital Age and Beyond. Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity, (pp. 193-208). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2022). Digital Justice and Video Links: Connecting and Conflating Courtroom and Carceral Space. In Kirsty Duncanson and Emma Henderson (Eds.), Courthouse Architecture, Design and Social Justice, (pp. 191-121). Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2022). The aesthetic archive: appropriating legal documents in visual art. In Katherine Biber, Trish Luker and Priya Vaughan (Eds.), Law's documents: authority, materiality, aesthetics, (pp. 278-302). London: Routledge. [More Information]
Journals
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2024). Digital Vulnerability: People-in-Prison, Videoconferencing and the Digital Criminal Justice System. Journal of Criminology, 57(3), 313-333. [More Information]
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2024). Remote Criminal Justice and Vulnerable Individuals: Blunting Emotion and Empathy? Tilburg Law Review: journal of international and comparative law, 29(2), 125-143. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2024). Virtual criminal courts and remote advocacy. Bar News: The Journal of the NSW Bar Association, 2024 Autumn(Special Issue on Technologies), 50-51. [More Information]
Conferences
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2022). Digital criminal courts: The space or place of (post-)pandemic justice. Cybercrime in the Pandemic Digital Age and Beyond, Adelaide: Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre.
- McKay, C. (2022). Making: Aesthetic methods - invited guest speaker. Innovative & Creative Methods Workshop, Melbourne, Vic: The University of Melbourne.
- McKay, C. (2022). No one cares about defendants: People in prisons, vulnerability and justice innovation. Justice Innovation Symposium, Newcastle, NSW: Centre for Law and Social Justice, The University of Newcastle.
Visual Art
- McKay, C. (2022). Crime Scene Motel. Scratch Art Space, Sydney, Australia.
- McKay, C., Creecy, N. (2022). Crime Scene Motel: 1. Tobacciana Motel Installation, 2. Meth Lab Motor Lodge, 3. Hinterland Hideaway, 4. Robbers Roost, 5. Lure-in Motor Inn, 6. Crime Scene Motel. In: Crime Scene Motel. Scratch Art Space, Sydney, Australia.
Live Performance - Interarts
- McKay, C., Denley, J., Caen, R., Emery, J. (2021). The Dream Test. Bottled Up: Hearing the Unheard. East Sydney Community and Arts Centre, Sydney, NSW, Australia: Sydney Environment Institute and The City of Sydney.
- McKay, C., Joyce, B., Lee, M., McGovern, A., Halsey, M., Mallett, X. (2019). True TRUE CRIME crime: An interdisciplinary, performative presentation examining the ethics of true crime. 32nd Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference. 32nd Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, Perth, WA, Australia: Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology.
Exhibitions / Events
- McKay, C. (2018). justiceINjustice. Newcastle, Australia: The Lock-Up.
Magazine / Newspaper Articles
- McKay, C. (2020). 'Freshly cut grass - or bile-infused Exorcist vomit?': how crime books embraced lurid green. The Conversation. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2020). ARC DECRA Fellow: Carolyn McKay - The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject. PacifiCrim: Newsletter of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, 17:2, 6. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2018). justiceINjustice Collaboration: The Lock-Up (Newcastle) 24 March - 20 May 2018. PacifiCrim: Newsletter of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, 15:2, 4-5.
Other
- McKay, C. (2019), Artificial Intelligence: Australia's Ethics Framework: Submission to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
- Loughnan, A., McKay, C., Mitchell, T., Shackel, R. (2018), Joint submission to the NSW Law Reform Commission on behalf of the Institute of Criminology: Review of s 61HA of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
- McKay, C. (2018), Submission to the New South Wales Inquiry into Parklea Correctional Centre and Other Operational Issues.
Research Reports
- Lulham, R., Bradley, K., Wan, K., McKay, C. (2021). Research and Evaluation Strategy for the Transformation of Prisoner Rehabilitation through Digital Technology, (pp. 1 - 84). Sydney, Australia: Corrective Services NSW. [More Information]
- Kashyap, K., Lulham, R., Klippan, L., Munro, T., Bradley, K., Fahy, J., Tomkin, D., Rowden, E., McKay, C. (2018). Court-Custody Audio Visual Links: Designing for equitable justice experience in the use of court custody video conferencing, (pp. 1 - 64). Sydney, NSW, Australia: University of Technology Sydney. [More Information]
2024
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2024). Digital Vulnerability: People-in-Prison, Videoconferencing and the Digital Criminal Justice System. Journal of Criminology, 57(3), 313-333. [More Information]
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2024). Remote Criminal Justice and Vulnerable Individuals: Blunting Emotion and Empathy? Tilburg Law Review: journal of international and comparative law, 29(2), 125-143. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2024). Virtual criminal courts and remote advocacy. Bar News: The Journal of the NSW Bar Association, 2024 Autumn(Special Issue on Technologies), 50-51. [More Information]
2023
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2023). Accessing Digitalised Criminal Justice from Prison (Forthcoming). Newcastle Law Review. [More Information]
- McKay, C., Macintosh, K. (2023). Digital Criminal Courts: The Place or Space of (Post-)pandemic Justice. In Russell G. Smith, Rick Sarre, Lennon Yao-Chung Chang, Laurie Yiu-Chung Lau (Eds.), Cybercrime in the Pandemic Digital Age and Beyond. Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity, (pp. 193-208). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
2022
- McKay, C. (2022). Crime Scene Motel. Scratch Art Space, Sydney, Australia.
- McKay, C., Creecy, N. (2022). Crime Scene Motel: 1. Tobacciana Motel Installation, 2. Meth Lab Motor Lodge, 3. Hinterland Hideaway, 4. Robbers Roost, 5. Lure-in Motor Inn, 6. Crime Scene Motel. In: Crime Scene Motel. Scratch Art Space, Sydney, Australia.
- McKay, C., Blake, R. (2022). Cross-examination and remote access technologies: a changing calculus? Bar News: The Journal of the NSW Bar Association, Autumn, 9-10.
2021
- McKay, C. (2021). -. The Aesthetics of Violence, Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney, NSW: Panellist.
- McKay, C. (2021). ARC DECRA 2021 Research Project - The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject. British Society of Criminology Vulnerability Research Network - 'Flash Talks', London, UK: Speaker.
- McKay, C. (2021). Criminal Justice: Access, Architecture, and Aspirations in a Post Covid-19 Future. Cambridge Centre for Criminal Justice - webinar, Cambridge, UK: Panellist. [More Information]
2020
- McKay, C. (2020). 'Freshly cut grass - or bile-infused Exorcist vomit?': how crime books embraced lurid green. The Conversation. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2020). ARC DECRA Fellow: Carolyn McKay - The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject. PacifiCrim: Newsletter of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, 17:2, 6. [More Information]
- McKay, C., Lee, M. (2020). Body-worn images: Point-of-view and the new aesthetics of policing. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 16(3), 431-450. [More Information]
2019
- McKay, C. (2019), Artificial Intelligence: Australia's Ethics Framework: Submission to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.
- McKay, C. (2019). Artificial Intelligence: Deterministic risk assessments in criminal procedure. The Harvard-Renmin-Geneva-Sydney Law Schools Quadrilateral Conference, Geneva, Switzerland: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2019). Book Review: In crime's archive: The cultural afterlife of evidence, by Katherine Biber, Routledge, 2018. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 31(2), 302-304. [More Information]
2018
- McKay, C. (2018). Accessing justice from prison: Videoconferencing, digital devices and legal support for the incarcerated. UCL 2nd International Conference on Access to Justice and Legal Services, London, UK: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2018). Appropriating the document: legal artefacts as visual art. What is a Document? A workshop on documentation, records and evidence, UTS Faculty of Law, Sydney, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C., Lee, M. (2018). Body Worn Images: The New Aesthetics of Policing. 2018 Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, University of Melbourne, Vic: Presentation.
2017
- McKay, C. (2017). "Model Prison" 2015: HD video with audio installation; MDF and acrylic paint installation, 07:25 minutes, looped. The Annual Review of Interdisciplinary Justice Research, 6, 230-235.
- McKay, C. (2017). Contesting the law through art. Conference of the Law, Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia 2017: Dissents and Dispositions, Australia: Law, Literature and Humanities Association of Australasia.
- McKay, C. (2017). Face-to-interface Communication: Accessing Justice by Video Link from Prison. In Asher Flynn and Jackie Hodgson (Eds.), Access to Justice and Legal Aid: Comparative Perspectives on Unmet Legal Need, (pp. 103-121). Oxford: Hart Publishing. [More Information]
2016
- McKay, C. (2016). Audio Visual Links from Prison: Prisoners' experiences of video technologies for accessing justice. Legal Aid NSW Criminal Law Managers' Conference 2016, Sydney, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2016). Pixels, screens and prison video links: changing how lawyers deal with clients. Law Society Journal, December, 24-25. [More Information]
- McKay, C. (2016). Sentencing at a Distance: Video Links from Prison. 29th Annual Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) Conference 2016: Horizons Criminology, Hobart, Tas: Presentation.
2015
- McKay, C. (2015). Exhibit A. The Lock-Up Art Gallery, Newcastle, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2015). Human Rights in Closed Environments by Bronwyn Naylor, Julie Debeljak and Anita Mackay (eds) (2014) Federation Press, 304 pp, ISBN 9781862879652. Sydney Law Review, 37(4), 617-634.
2014
- McKay, C. (2014). Framing the Prisoner: Facing Court by Video Link. 8th Annual Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference 2014 - Critical Criminology: Research Praxis and Social Transformation in a Global Era?, Melbourne, Vic: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2014). The Pixelated Prisoner. Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Basque Country, Spain: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2014). The Pixelated Prisoner: Inmates' experience of screen space. Law and the Visual: Transitions and Transformations 2014 - Australian National University, Canberra, ACT: Presentation.
2013
- McKay, C. (2013). Art, Criminology & Research. In Denise Thwaites (Eds.), Critical Animalia: a decade between disciplines, (pp. 93-96). Newcastle: Critical Animals.
- McKay, C. (2013). Bodies and Hostile Space: gathering evidence in a place of incarceration. Evidence of Bodies | Bodies of Evidence Symposium 2013 - University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2013). Covert: The artist as voyeur. Surveillance and Society, 11(3/4), 334-353. [More Information]
2012
- McKay, C. (2012). Bodies in Distress. 2012 This is Not Art Festival: The Lock-Up Art Gallery, Newcastle, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2012). Hyper/reality and Political Dissolution. 2012 This is Not Art Festival: The Lock-Up Art Gallery, Newcastle, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2012). Pushing the boundaries in communication and research: the internet and social media. Sydney Law School Postgraduate Conference: Crossing Boundaries 2012, Sydney, NSW: Presentation.
2011
- McKay, C. (2011). Researching criminology through the visual arts. Sydney Law School Postgraduate Conference 2011, Sydney, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2011). Text Inscriptions, Oral Testimony and Sonic Murmurs. The Lock-Up Art Gallery 2011, Newcastle, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2011). The Posthuman Courtroom. 5th Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (ANZSOC) Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher Conference 2011, Geelong, Vic: Presentation.
2010
- McKay, C. (2010). Murder Ob/Scene: The Seen, Unseen and Ob/scene in Murder Trials. Law Text Culture, 14, 79-93.
- McKay, C. (2010). Word of Mouth. Open Fields Conference 2010 - University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW: Presentation.
- McKay, C. (2010). Word of Mouth: Eyewitness Testimony. Yemaya, 2010, 72-73.
2009
- McKay, C. (2009), Word of Mouth: Eyewitness Testimony - Masters Thesis.
In the media
Yang, W. (2024) Deepfake Sexual Materila Bill introduced. Law Society Journal online. 21 June 2024.https://lsj.com.au/articles/deepfake-sexual-material-bill-introduced/
Giles, D. (2024) Government responds to mass Jewish doxxing. The Wire. 2ser.13 February 2024.https://www.thewire.org.au/story/government-responds-to-mass-jewish-doxxing/
Visentin, L. (2024) Doxxers on notice they will face jail time under new laws. Sydney Morning Herald. 18 February 2024.Australia’s doxxing laws put activists on notice (smh.com.au)
Butler, G. (2024) Anthony Albanese wants stronger doxing laws. Experts aren't so sure. SBS News. 13 February 2024.https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/anthony-albanese-wants-harsher-doxing-laws-experts-arent-so-sure/zxwdcyb3u
McKay, C. and Pivaty, A. (2023) Frontiers In Conflict Resolution Conversation Series, Radboud University, Netherlands. https://www.ru.nl/en/research/research-news/frontiers-in-conflict-resolution-conversation-series-episode-3-carolyn-mckay
McKay, C. and Blake, R. (2022). Cross-examination and remote access technologies: a changing calculus? The Journal of the NSW Bar Association BarNews[Autumn] pp.9-10. https://barnews.nswbar.asn.au/autumn-2022-mag/docs/BN_Autumn22.pdf?refresh=1652066094841
McKay, C. (2021). The Digital Criminal Justice Project: Vulnerability and the Digital Subject. British Society of Criminology Vulnerability Network Flash Talks, 13 July 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ULL9XbjS9I
Croll, V. (2021). 'It's a fetish': Why Australians are obsessed by what happens in prison. News.com.au.16 August. https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/its-a-fetish-why-australians-are-obsessed-by-what-happens-in-prison/news-story/1e8ef19354212c3c3ceb0b91ff9575a9
ABC News, (2021).How the case of Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick has captivated the public and baffled police by Bellinda Kontominas, Kevin Nguyen and Gavin Cootehttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-02/why-the-melissa-caddick-case-has-captivated-nsw/132037642 March 2021
Gair, K. (2021, Feb 22). Amateur sleuth livestreams Melissa Caddick hearing. The Australian (Online)
Radio New Zealand, Lately Book Club with Karyn Hay, Crime books and the colour green,https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/lately/audio/2018737849/lately-book-club-crime-books-and-the-colour-greenMarch 2020
ABC Radio National, RN Drive, Interview with Jonathan Green, How does electronic monitoring work?https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/how-does-electronic-monitoring-work/111830785 June 2019
The Wire / 2SER Interview with Max Tillman, NSW Prisons Bursting at the Seams,http://thewire.org.au/story/nsw-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams/, 28 May 2019
ABC Radio National, The Law Report with Damien Carrick, ‘Pixelated Prisoners: Having your day in court via audio visual link’, 6 November 2018
ABC Radio National, The People vs with Josh Szeps,The People vs Prisons , 16 September 2018
The Wire / 2SERInterview with Daniel Sleiman,Is Orange the New Black?,5 February 2018
John Stewart, 3 August 2017
ABC Radio, interviewed by Melanie Pearce regarding changes to NSW prison cell size, 11 October 2016.
Video links in court creating distance between prisoners and lawyers > 20 September 2016 ABC (702 Sydney, Broken Hill, Mid North Coast, Central West NSW, South East NSW) Staff Member: Carolyn McKay
ABC (702 Sydney, Broken Hill, Mid North Coast, Central West NSW, South East NSW) interviewed PhD candidate Carolyn McKay from Sydney Law School about her research that found the increased reliance on video links in NSW courts has put prisoners at a distance from their lawyers.
Sydney Morning Herald, ‘'You’re just a face on a screen really’: The huge technology changes in NSW courts’, Rachel Olding, 19 September 2016.
ABC, ‘Court video links feared to reduce prisoners to ‘just a face on the screen’’, Sydney University study finds, Gavin Coote, 19 September 2016.
Business Insider, ‘A love of courtroom video links is creating fairness issues in NSW’, Chris Pash, 19 September 2016.
University of Sydney, ‘Rising use of prison video links limit lawyer-client access’, Luke O’Neill, 19 September 2016.
Sydney Morning Herald, 2SER FM, WA Today, regarding ‘Doing Time’ visual art exhibition hosted by the Sydney Institute of Criminology and Sydney University Union at Verge Gallery, 27 July 2015.
Newcastle Herald, ‘Bodies make their mark’, Mike Scanlon, 18 October 2014 regarding tattoo designs of Hunter Valley convicts.
The Conversation, 'Higher quality court videolinks will improve justice outcomes: study', 3 July 2013. http://theconversation.com/higher-quality-court-videolinks-will-improve-justice-outcomes-study-15453.