Dr Christopher Rudge
Dr Christopher Rudge is a lecturer at Sydney Law School and a member of Sydney Health Law. Rudge's research encompasses human health and welfare law. Rudge has particular interests in therapeutic goods regulation, health practitioner regulation, social security law, tort and negligence law, health information law, mental health law and criminal responsibility.
- LAWS1012 Torts
- LAWS6877 Mental Illness: Law and Policy
- LAWS6058 Information Rights in Health Care
Dr Rudge is available to supervise honours, masters and PhD projects in areas related to his research.
Current students
PhD candidates
- Ms Laura Sefaj, Do Conditions Work? Effectiveness of Supervision imposed on the Registration of Medical Practitioners in NSW (supervisor B; anticipated completion 2031)
Past students
Honours
- Reeve McClelland, 'Prescribing the Proscribed:The Rescheduling of Psychedelic Drugs in Australia' (2024) (A revised version of this Honour's thesis will be published in the Melbourne University Law Review in 2025).
Master's coursework research projects
- Lucy Lester, 'Ground not Meant to be Broken: Evaluating the Validity of Continuing Detention Orders made under High Risk Offender Legislation after Fardon, Benbrika and Garlett' (2023) (Nancy Gordon Smith Postgraduate Prize for candidate for highest aggregate LLM examination mark)
- The University of Sydney Nano Institute Kickstarter Grant, 'eEVs for AONs'. Investigators: R Davis, W Chrzanowski, C Rudge ($35,000 awarded 1 Jan 2025)
- Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), Stem Cell Therapies Mission (APP2007623): Improving decisions about access to stem cell interventions. Chief Investigators: Lipworth W, Stewart C, Munsie M, Kerridge I, Lysaght T, Hooker C, Petersen A, Tanner C, Gyngell C, Rudge C
- Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Genomics Health Futures Mission:Genome Editing: Formulating an Australian Community Response.
- Collaborating with researchers from the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School in a three-year initiative to examine the ethical, legal, and social implications of psychedelics research, commerce, and therapeutics.
- Member, Australian Association of Bioethics and Health Law
- Member, Society for Literature, Science and the Arts
- Member, Australian Neuroethics Network
- Member, Biopolitics of Science Research Network
- Associate editor, Current Issues in Criminal Justice (2024–present)
- Editorial Board member, Sydney Law Review (2025–present)
- Production editor, Australasian Journal of American Studies (2016–present)
- Project to Publication Fellowship, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions (2017)
- Dean's Citation for Excellence in Tutorials (2013), University of Sydney
- Australian Postgraduate Award (2010–2014), University of Sydney
- Managing editor, Philament: A Journal of Arts, Literature and Culture (2015–2021)
Project title | Research student |
---|---|
Do conditions work? Effectiveness of supervision imposed on the registration of medical practitioners in NSW | Laura SEFAJ |
Publications
Book Chapters
- Rudge, C., Nicol, D. (2023). Bioethical Decision-Making About Somatic Cell Genome Editing: Sickle-Cell Disease as a Case Study. In Erick Valdés, Juan Alberto Lecaros (Eds.), Handbook of Bioethical Decisions. Volume I: Decisions at the Bench, (pp. 49-77). Cham: Springer Nature. [More Information]
- Lipworth, W., Wiersma, M., Ghinea, N., Hendly, T., Kerridge, I., Lysaght, T., Munsie, M., Rudge, C., Stewart, C., Waldby, C. (2021). The Oversight of Clinical Innovation in a Medical Marketplace. In Graeme Laurie, Edward Dove, Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra, Catriona McMillan et al (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Health Research Regulation, (pp. 287-295). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Rudge, C. (2019). Novel Readings: Mind- and Emotion-Reading Devices in the Mid-Twentieth Century and in Philip K. Dick's The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. In Jarrad Cogle, N. Cyril Fischer, Lydia Saleh Rofail, Vanessa Smith (Eds.), Portable Prose: The Novel and the Everyday, (pp. 37-56). London: Lexington Books.
Journals
- Rudge, C. (2024). Challenging Pandemic Law: From Vaccine Mandates to Judicial Review of Vaccine Approvals. Journal of Law and Medicine, 31(2), 225-243.
- Rudge, C., Stewart, C. (2024). Injecting Tighter Regulation: Implications of the TGA's Clampdown on Cosmetic Injectables Advertising. Journal of Law and Medicine, 31(3), 464-482.
- O'Connor, M., Rudge, C., Stewart, C. (2024). Sexual Boundary Violations by Doctors - Context, Regulatory Consequences and Preventive Strategies. Journal of Law and Medicine, 31(1), 70-87.
Edited Journals
- Rudge, C., Worthy, B. (2017). New Waves: Twenty-first-century Feminisms. Philament, 23.
Magazine / Newspaper Articles
- Rudge, C. (2024). Choosing a new doctor? Their sexual misconduct may soon be on the record. The Conversation.
- Rudge, C., Foong, P. (2024). FDA approves first gene-editing therapy. BioEdge.
- Rudge, C. (2024). How old’s too old to be a doctor? Why GPs and surgeons over 70 may need a health check to practise. The Conversation. [More Information]
Report
- Nicol, D., Paxton, R., Niemeyer, S., Curato, N., Dryzek, J., Rudge, C., Pemberton, S., Veri, F. (2022). Genome Editing: Formulating an Australian Community Response: Report to Decision Makers, Stakeholders And Members of the Public.
- Rudge, C. (2018). Regulating Medical Practitioners in the Public Interest: A Qualitative Review of Public Interest-based Decisions of the Medical Council of NSW under s150 of the Health Practitioner Regulation (National Law) Act 2009 (NSW): Medical Council of NSW.
2024
- Rudge, C. (2024). Challenging Pandemic Law: From Vaccine Mandates to Judicial Review of Vaccine Approvals. Journal of Law and Medicine, 31(2), 225-243.
- Rudge, C. (2024). Choosing a new doctor? Their sexual misconduct may soon be on the record. The Conversation.
- Rudge, C., Foong, P. (2024). FDA approves first gene-editing therapy. BioEdge.
2023
- Rudge, C., Nicol, D. (2023). Bioethical Decision-Making About Somatic Cell Genome Editing: Sickle-Cell Disease as a Case Study. In Erick Valdés, Juan Alberto Lecaros (Eds.), Handbook of Bioethical Decisions. Volume I: Decisions at the Bench, (pp. 49-77). Cham: Springer Nature. [More Information]
- Rudge, C. (2023). Botox and fillers to come under greater scrutiny by the medical regulator. Will it be too little too late? The Conversation. [More Information]
- Wilson, K., Rudge, C. (2023). COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: A Coercive but Justified Public Health Necessity. UNSW Law Journal, 46(2), 381-425. [More Information]
2022
- Rudge, C. (2022). "Policing, Mental Illness and Media: The Framing of Mental Health Crisis Encounters and Police Use of Force" by Katrina Clifford, London, Routledge, 2021. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 34(3), 334-338. [More Information]
- Rudge, C., Attinger, S., Kerridge, I., Lipworth, W., Stewart, C. (2022). A New Priority Pathway for Biologicals in Australia: Contextualising and Evaluating the Proposed Reforms. Journal of Law and Medicine, 29, 677-699.
- Nicol, D., Paxton, R., Niemeyer, S., Curato, N., Dryzek, J., Rudge, C., Pemberton, S., Veri, F. (2022). Genome Editing: Formulating an Australian Community Response: Report to Decision Makers, Stakeholders And Members of the Public.
2021
- Rudge, C., Ghinea, N., Munsie, M., Stewart, C. (2021). Regulating autologous stem cell interventions in Australia: Updated review of the direct-to-consumer advertising restrictions. Australian Health Review, 45(4), 507-515. [More Information]
- Lipworth, W., Wiersma, M., Ghinea, N., Hendly, T., Kerridge, I., Lysaght, T., Munsie, M., Rudge, C., Stewart, C., Waldby, C. (2021). The Oversight of Clinical Innovation in a Medical Marketplace. In Graeme Laurie, Edward Dove, Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra, Catriona McMillan et al (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Health Research Regulation, (pp. 287-295). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Rudge, C. (2021). The Therapeutic Goods Administration has the power to stop misleading advertising. So why can't it stop Craig Kelly's texts? The Conversation.
2020
- Ghinea, N., Munsie, M., Rudge, C., Stewart, C. (2020). Australian regulation of autologous human cell and tissue products: implications for commercial stem cell clinics. Regenerative Medicine, 15(2), 1361-1369. [More Information]
- Rudge, C., Munsie, M. (2020). The promise of stem cell treatments: what are they and how are they regulated down under? Precedent, (156), 25-31.
- Stewart, C., Kerridge, I., Waldby, C., Lipworth, W., Munsie, M., Lysaght, T., Rudge, C., Ghinea, N., Eckstein, L., Neilsen, J., et al (2020). Unconventional Practice, "Innovative" Interventions and the National Law. Journal of Law and Medicine, 27(3), 574-589.
2019
- Rudge, C. (2019). Novel Readings: Mind- and Emotion-Reading Devices in the Mid-Twentieth Century and in Philip K. Dick's The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. In Jarrad Cogle, N. Cyril Fischer, Lydia Saleh Rofail, Vanessa Smith (Eds.), Portable Prose: The Novel and the Everyday, (pp. 37-56). London: Lexington Books.
- Rudge, C. (2019). The Brain at Attention, under Hypnosis, and on Mescaline: Aldous Huxley's Techniques for Actualizing Human Potential. In Dana Sawyer, Julian Piras, Uwe Rasch (Eds.), Aldous Huxley and Self-Realization: His Concept of Human Potentialities, His Techniques for Actualizing Them, and His Views of Their Social Consequences, (pp. 103-147). Zurich: LIT Verlag.
2018
- Rudge, C. (2018). Regulating Medical Practitioners in the Public Interest: A Qualitative Review of Public Interest-based Decisions of the Medical Council of NSW under s150 of the Health Practitioner Regulation (National Law) Act 2009 (NSW): Medical Council of NSW.
2017
- Rudge, C., Worthy, B. (2017). New Waves: Twenty-first-century Feminisms. Philament, 23.
- Rudge, C. (2017). The Goldwater rule prevents psychiatrists diagnosing Trump from afar but some say there's too much at stake. The Conversation.
2016
- Rudge, C. (2016). Facing Precarity. Philament, 22, 1-26.
2015
- Rudge, C. (2015). The Shock of Dysrecognition: Biopolitical Subjects and Drugs in Dick's Science Fiction. In Not known (Eds.), The World According to Philip K. Dick, (pp. 30-47). TBC. [More Information]
2013
- Rudge, C. (2013). Actants at any Depth: Bruno Latour and Henri Bergson at the Surface of Science. Philament, 19.
Selected Grants
2021
- Improving decisions about access to stem cell interventions, Kerridge I, Stewart C, Hooker L, Rudge C, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal)/MRFF - Stem Cell Therapies
- Improving decisions about access to stem cell interventions, Lipworth W, Stewart C, Munsie M, Kerridge I, Lysaght T, Hooker L, Rudge C, Tanner C, Gyngell C, Department of Health and Aged Care (Federal)/MRFF - Stem Cell Therapies
In the media
Television
- 3 December 2024, More men are getting Botox, as the industry booms, ABC News (The Business)
- 25 November 2024, Drugs like Ozempic have been dubbed 'wonder drugs' for helping people lose weight, but patients in the US are suing over alleged side effects, claiming drug manufacturers failed to warn them about the risks, The Project, Channel 10
- 14 May 2024, Pig kidney transplant patient dies two months after surgery in US, ABC News (The World) television interview
- 12 July 2023, Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct, ABC News Television (Australia)
- 13 January 2022, Australia forces people to report COVID-19 infections. Experts: It may make people afraid of testing, Phoenix TV South Pacific and Australia
Newspaper (etc) quotations, radio interviews and podcasts
- 24 February 2025, 'Sleepwalking Defence: "No Lawful Control"', WHO Magazine (Kylie Walters) 44--45.
- 11 February 2025, Criminal defences of sexsomnia and parasomnia, ABC Radio National, The Law Report (with Damien Carrick).
- 10 February 2025, Are you responsible for crimes you commit in your sleep? Parasomnia as a legal defence, Amy Hall for SBS News.
- 4 February 2025, Unexpected Charges Billed to Patients by GPs for Specialist Referrals: Are they Illegal?, ABC NewsRadio (with Laura Tchilinguirian).
- 19 December 2024, Rehabilitation or punishment? Mental Health in Australian Prisons, 2SER, The Wire
- 19 December 2024, US Grandmother Receives Genetically Modified Pig Kidney Xenotransplant, 720 ABC Radio Perth
- 3 December 2024, Botox and cosmetic injectables industry booming but safety feared to be the cost, ABC News
- 30 November 2024, Millions of Australians charged $4.3bn may be part of debt miscalculation controversy, The Guardian
- 13 June 2024, Health minister intervenes in chiropractors' decision to allow spinal manipulation of babies, The Age
- 29 April 2024, TGA rules on injectables, ABC Drive Canberra (Radio)
- 26 April 2024, The TGA is cracking down on cosmetic injectable ads. Will this protect vulnerable Australians or 'blanket' information?, ABC RN
- 26 April 2024, Proposed reforms may publicise health practitioners' past misconduct, Aesthetic Medical Practitioner
- 13 April 2024, Exclusive: Babies are being left off Medicare as department founders, The Saturday Paper
- 5 March 2024, Will a Crackdown end the Botox Boom?, ABC Listen
- 21 December 2023, Voluntary assisted dying now legal in NSW – all the laws explained, SIX News Australia
- 7 December 2023, Two people were jailed for welfare debts that Centrelink may have calculated unlawfully, The Guardian
- 3 December 2023, Thalidomide: 'Darkest chapter' in Australia's medical history, News.com.au
- 2 November 2023, Dozens of Centrelink fraud prosecutions dropped due to unlawful welfare debt calculations, The Guardian
- 30 September 2023, Influencers, complimentary cosmetic procedures and the slippery slope of social media, Mamamia
- 22 September 2023, Inquiry into the Pandemic Response, ABC News Radio Breakfast
- 12 September 2023, Cosmetic Crackdown: Will it be harder to get Injectables?, Mamamia (The Quicky podcast)
- 12 August 2023, Prosecutors pause dozens of criminal cases after Services Australia miscalculated debts, The Guardian
- 12 August 2023, Exclusive: DPP reviews prosecutions for false welfare debts, The Saturday Paper
- 7 July 2023, A Shameful Chapter: Robodebt Royal Commission to Hand Down its Findings, ABC News Radio
- 30 April 2023, Stopping irreversible medical procedures on intersex children, SIX News Australia
- 22 March 2023, New Endorsement Model For Cosmetic Surgeons In Australia, 2SER Radio (The Wire)
- 26 January 2023, Cosmetic surgeons, Eastside FM
- 21 February 2023, Learn me Right in Gene Therapy, Learn me Right in Health Law and Bioethics podcast
- 21 September 2022, Insurer revokes celebrity surgeon's medical cover, preventing further work, Sydney Morning Herald
- 21 September 2022, Celebrity surgeon's company used faulty amputee device against internal advice, Sydney Morning Herald
- 12 January 2022, RAT reporting rules 'very unenforceable', The West Australian
- 12 January 2022, RAT reporting rules 'very unenforceable', Newcastle Herald
- 12 January 2022, 'Massive surge': Spike in COVID cases as NSW records rapid tests, Sydney Morning Herald