Professor Emerita Helen Irving
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Professor Emerita Helen Irving

BA (Hons) (Melbourne) MPhil (Camb) LLB (Hons) PhD (Sydney) FASSA FAAL FRSN
Phone
+61 2 9351 0232
Fax
+61 2 9351 0200
Professor Emerita Helen Irving

Helen Irving was appointed Professor Emerita at Sydney Law School in 2021. Her research includes Australian and United States constitutional law and history; constitutional citizenship; comparative constitutional design and gender; the use of history in constitutional interpretation, and models of judicial review. She has just completed a three-year ARC Discovery Grant project on constitutional citizenship and allegiance, and in 2020 was awarded a three-year ARC Special Research Initiative grant, with Associate Professor Elisa Arcioni and Dr Rayner Thwaites, on Citizenship and Claims of Belonging in Australian Law and History.

Helen has served as the historical consultant for a number of documentaries and official projects, including for the National Archives of Australia website, Documenting a Democracy, and for Film Australia's three-part documentary, Federation. She is a former Director of the ‘1901 Centre’ at the University of Technology, Sydney, and former Director of the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney Law School. She has served as a member of the Advisory Council of the National Archives of Australia.

In 2005-2006, she held the Harvard Chair of Australian Studies as a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School. She has also held visiting positions at Hong Kong University, the London School of Economics, and in 2015, a Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowship at the European University Institute.

She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of Law, and the Royal Society of NSW.

  • Australian and comparative constitutional law
  • Gender and constitutionalism
  • Constitutional history and theory
  • Constitutional citizenship
  • Australian Federal Constitutional Law
  • United States Constitutional Law
  • ARC Discovery Grant 2017-2020: Citizenship and Allegiance in Australian Law and History
  • ARC Special Research Initiative for Australian Society, History and Culture: Citizenship and Claims of Belonging in Australian Law and History(with Rayner Thwaites and Elisa Arcioni)
  • Member, Australian Association of Constitutional Law
  • 2015 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
  • 2015 Fernand Braudel Visiting Fellow, the European University Institute
  • 2014 Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law
  • 2013 Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia
  • 2012 University of Sydney, Law School Award for Excellence in Teaching
  • 2008, Delegate, Prime Minister’s 2020 Summit
  • 2005-2006, Harvard Chair of Australian Studies
  • 2003, Centenary Medal
  • 1995, Australian Political Science Association, Women and Politics essay prize
  • 2001, Finalist, NSW Premier’s Centenary History Award, for Irving (ed), The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation (CUP 1999)
  • 1998, Honourable mention, Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Book Award, for To Constitute a Nation (CUP 1997)
  • 1996, Manning Clark essay prize, Evatt Foundation
  • 1995, Women and Politics essay prize, Australian Association of Political Science.

Publications

Books

  • Irving, H. (2022). Allegiance, Citizenship and the Law: The Enigma of Belonging. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2016). Citizenship, Alienage, and the Modern Constitutional State: A Gendered History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Ross, S., Irving, H., Klug, H. (2014). Comparative Constitutional Law: A Contextual Approach. United States: LexisNexis.

Edited Books

  • Rubio-Marin, R., Irving, H. (2019). Women as Constitution-Makers: Case Studies from the New Democratic Era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2017). Constitutions and Gender. TBC. [More Information]
  • Irving, H., Mowbray, J., Walton, K. (2010). Julius Stone: A Study in Influence. Sydney: The Federation Press.

Book Chapters

  • Rubio-Marin, R., Irving, H. (2019). Introduction - Women as Constitution Makers: The Promises and the Challenges of Participation. In Ruth Rubio-Marin, Helen Irving (Eds.), Women as Constitution-Makers: Case Studies from the New Democratic Era, (pp. 1-30). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2018). Through the lens of an encyclopedia. In James Stellios (Eds.), Encounters with Constitutional Interpretation and Legal Education, (pp. 146-151). Annandale: The Federation Press.
  • Irving, H. (2017). Citizenship and nationality. In Not known (Eds.), Constitutions and Gender, (pp. 387-409). TBC. [More Information]

Journals

  • Irving, H. (2021). More Than a Mere Piece of Paper: Citizenship, Character and Allegiance in Australian Law. Public Law Review, 32, 1-22.
  • Thwaites, R., Irving, H. (2020). Allegiance, Foreign Citizenship and the Constitutional Right to Stand for Parliament. Federal Law Review, 48(3), 299-323. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2019). The Concept of Allegiance in Citizenship Law and Revocation: an Australian Study. Citizenship Studies, 23(4), 372-387. [More Information]

Magazine / Newspaper Articles

  • Irving, H. (1998). A Conventional Convention. Arena Magazine, 34, Apr/May.
  • Irving, H. (1993). 'The Boy's Own Republic. Arena Magazine, 8 Dec/Jan.

Reference Works

  • Irving, H. (2001). Citizenship. The Oxford Companion to Australian History.Australia: Oxford University Press.

Other

  • Arcioni, E., Irving, H., Thwaites, R. (2019), Submission 151 to the Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy 2020. [More Information]
  • Arcioni, E., Irving, H. (2017), Dual citizenship and eligibility to serve as a member of Parliament - the evolving story in Australia - BlogPost.
  • Arcioni, E., Irving, H. (2017), Form over substance? Foreign citizenship and the Australian Parliament - BlogPost.

2022

  • Irving, H. (2022). Allegiance, Citizenship and the Law: The Enigma of Belonging. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. [More Information]

2021

  • Irving, H. (2021). More Than a Mere Piece of Paper: Citizenship, Character and Allegiance in Australian Law. Public Law Review, 32, 1-22.

2020

  • Thwaites, R., Irving, H. (2020). Allegiance, Foreign Citizenship and the Constitutional Right to Stand for Parliament. Federal Law Review, 48(3), 299-323. [More Information]

2019

  • Rubio-Marin, R., Irving, H. (2019). Introduction - Women as Constitution Makers: The Promises and the Challenges of Participation. In Ruth Rubio-Marin, Helen Irving (Eds.), Women as Constitution-Makers: Case Studies from the New Democratic Era, (pp. 1-30). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Arcioni, E., Irving, H., Thwaites, R. (2019), Submission 151 to the Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy 2020. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2019). The Concept of Allegiance in Citizenship Law and Revocation: an Australian Study. Citizenship Studies, 23(4), 372-387. [More Information]

2018

  • Irving, H. (2018). Through the lens of an encyclopedia. In James Stellios (Eds.), Encounters with Constitutional Interpretation and Legal Education, (pp. 146-151). Annandale: The Federation Press.

2017

  • Irving, H. (2017). Citizenship and nationality. In Not known (Eds.), Constitutions and Gender, (pp. 387-409). TBC. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2017). Constitutions and Gender. TBC. [More Information]
  • Arcioni, E., Irving, H. (2017), Dual citizenship and eligibility to serve as a member of Parliament - the evolving story in Australia - BlogPost.

2016

  • Irving, H. (2016). Citizenship, Alienage, and the Modern Constitutional State: A Gendered History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]

2015

  • Irving, H., Thwaites, R. (2015). Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015 (Cth). Public Law Review, 26(3), 143-149.
  • Irving, H., Thwaites, R. (2015), Banishment, Australian style. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2015). Outsourcing the Law: History and the Disciplinary Limits of Constitutional Reasoning. Fordham Law Review, 84(3), 957-967.

2014

  • Ross, S., Irving, H., Klug, H. (2014). Comparative Constitutional Law: A Contextual Approach. United States: LexisNexis.
  • Irving, H. (2014). State Jurisdictional Residue: What Remains to a State Court When its Chapter III Functions are Exhausted? Federal Law Review, 42(1), 121-142.
  • Irving, H. (2014). The Over-rated Mr Clark?: Putting Andrew Inglis Clark's Contribution to the Constitution into Perspective. Papers on Parliament, 61, 73-80. [More Information]

2013

  • Irving, H. (2013). Amending the Constitution: Achieving the Democratic Republic. In Benjamin T Jones and Mark McKenna (Eds.), Project Republic: Plans and Arguments for a New Australia, (pp. 155-165). Melbourne: Black Inc.
  • Irving, H. (2013). Autonomies of scale: Precarious self-government on Norfolk Island. In Yash Ghai, Sophia Woodman (Eds.), Practising Self-Government: A Comparative Study of Autonomous Regions, (pp. 200-227). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2013). Constitutional Interpretation, the High Court, and the Discipline of History. Federal Law Review, 41(1), 95-126.

2012

  • Irving, H. (2012). Where Have All The Women Gone? Gender And The Literature On Constitutional Design. Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice, 4(2), 89-115.

2011

  • Irving, H. (2011). Drafting, design and gender. In T Ginsburg and R Dixon (Eds.), Comparative Constitutional Law, (pp. 19-37). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. [More Information]

2010

  • Irving, H., Mowbray, J., Walton, K. (2010). Julius Stone: A Study in Influence. Sydney: The Federation Press.
  • Irving, H. (2010). The Dilemmas in Dialogue: A Constitutional Analysis of the NHRC's Proposed Human Rights Act. UNSW Law Journal, 33(1), 60-87.

2009

  • Irving, H. (2009). A Legal Perspective on Bills of Rights. In Julian Leeser and Ryan Haddrick (Eds.), Don't Leave Us With the Bill: The Case Against an Australian Bill of Rights, (pp. 169-182). Australia: Menzie Research Centre.
  • Irving, H. (2009). A nation built on words: the constitution and national identity in America and Australia. Journal of Australian Studies, 33(2), 211-225. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (2009). Australia. In Not known (Eds.), The Militant Democracy Principle in Modern Democracies, (pp. 15-36). TBC. [More Information]

2008

  • Irving, H. (2008). Gender and the Constitution: Equity and Agency in Comparative Constitutional Design. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Irving, H. (2008). Still Call Australia Home: The Constitution and the Citizen's Right of Abode. Sydney Law Review, 30(1), 133-153.

2007

  • Irving, H. (2007). Citizenship, Statehood and Allegiance. In Nicholas Brown and Linda Cardinal (Eds.), Managing Diversity: Practices of Citizenship, (pp. 37-67). Ottowa: Ottowa University Press.
  • Irving, H. (2007). Federalism is a Feminist Issue: What Australians Can Learn From the United States Commerce Clause. Adelaide Law Review, 28(1 and 2), 159-176.
  • Irving, H. (2007). The Constitution. In Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts (Eds.), The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, (pp. 128-131). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. [More Information]

2006

  • Irving, H. (2006). Rights and Citizenship in Law and Public Discourse. In Not known (Eds.), Protecting Rights Without a Bill of Rights: Institutional Performance and Reform in Australia, (pp. 161-174). TBC.
  • Irving, H. (2006). What If Federation had Failed in 1900? In S Macintyre & S Scalmer (Eds.), What If? Australian History as it Might Have Been, (pp. 44-66). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

2005

  • Irving, H. (2005). Changing law by parliament. Legaldate, 17(1), 1-3.

2004

  • Irving, H. (2004). A True Conservative? In R Manne (Eds.), The Howard Years. Melbourne: Black Inc. Publishing.
  • Irving, H. (2004). Advisory Opinions, The Rule Of Law And The Separation Of Powers. Macquarie Law Journal, 4, 105-134.
  • Irving, H. (2004). Citizenship And Subject-Hood In Twentieth-Century Australia. In Pierre Boyer, Linda Cardinal & David Headon (Eds.), From Subjects to Citizens: A Hundred Years of Citizenship in Australia and Canada, (pp. 9-18). Ottawa, Canada: University of Ottawa Press.

2003

  • Irving, H. (2003). An Australian Republic: This year, next year, sometime, never? Inroads: a journal of opinion, 12, 106-117.
  • Irving, H. (2003). Lessons from History: the High Court and the invalidation of the Communist Party Dissolution Act. In Jones, Mcmillan (Eds.), Public Law Intersections, (pp. 201-207). ACT: Centre for International and Public Law.

2002

  • Irving, H. (2002). An Historical Reflection on Refugees in Australia. Immigration Review, 3, 11-14.
  • Irving, H. (2002). How the nibble became a bite: What was the cause of federation? Tasmanian Historical Studies, 8(1), 18-24.
  • Irving, H. (2002). How Well Does the Compact Fit?: A Critique of the New Constitutional Grundnorm in the Light of History and Theory. Griffith Law Review, 11(2), 408-435.

2001

  • Irving, H. (2001). 'They will choose well, they will choose wisely': The idea of direct election of the Governor-General in Australia in the 1890s. In A.Murray (Eds.), Trusting the People, (pp. 35-54). Perth: Sage Publications.
  • Irving, H. (2001). A Nation in a Day. In Kevin T. Livingston, Richard Jordan, Gay Sweely (Eds.), Becoming Australians: The movement towards Federation in Ballarat and the Nation. Australia: Wakefield Press.
  • Irving, H. (2001). Australia's Constitutional Identity: A conundrum for the 21st Century. In Not known (Eds.), Unity and diversity : a national conversation : Barton lectures, (pp. 194-221). Australia: ABC Books.

2000

  • Irving, H. (2000). Citizenship before 1949. In Kim Rubenstein (Eds.), Individual Community Nation: Fifty Years of Australian Citizenship. Australia: Australian Scholarly Publishing.
  • Irving, H. (2000). George Reid. In Michelle Grattan (Eds.), Australian Prime Ministers. Australia: New Holland Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd.
  • Irving, H. (2000). The Most Eccentric of Them All: J W R Clarke. In David Headon, John Matthew Williams (Eds.), Makers of Miracles: The Cast of the Federation Story. Australia: Melbourne University Press.

1999

  • Irving, H., Williams, J. (1999). "The Best Fitted, with the Greatest Right": Sydney as the Federal Capital. The New Federalist: The Journal of Australian Federation History, 3, 14-21.
  • Irving, H. (1999). New South Wales. In Helen Irving (Eds.), The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation, (pp. 19-92). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  • Irving, H. (1999). The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

1998

  • Irving, H. (1998). A Conventional Convention. Arena Magazine, 34, Apr/May.
  • Irving, H. (1998). Citizenship. In B. Caine, M. Gatens, E. Grahame, J. Larbalestier, S. Watson, E. Webby (Eds.), Australian Feminism: A Companion. Australia: Oxford University Press.
  • Irving, H. (1998). Old Familiar Hacks, Just When They're Needed: The New South Wales Delegation. The New Federalist: The Journal of Australian Federation History, 1.

1997

  • Irving, H. (1997). Republicanism and Citizenship. In Brian Galligan, Ian McAllister, John Ravenhill (Eds.), New Developments in Australian Politics. Australia: Macmillan Education Australia.
  • Irving, H. (1997). The Making of the Australian Constitution. In Kathy Laster (Eds.), Law as Culture. Australia: Federation Press.
  • Irving, H. (1997). The People and their Conventions. In Michael Coper, George Williams (Eds.), Power, Parliament and the People. Australia: Federation Press.

1996

  • Irving, H. (1996). A Gendered Constitution? Women, Federation and Heads of Power. In Helen Irving (Eds.), ibid.
  • Irving, H., Headon, D. (1996). A Week in the Future: Homage to Catherine Helen Spence. In Helen Irving (Eds.), ibid.
  • Irving, H. (1996). A Woman's Constitution?: Gender and History in the Australian Commonwealth. Australia: Hale and Iremonger.

1994

  • Irving, H. (1994). A Gendered Constitution?: Women, Federation and Heads of Power. University of Western Australia Law Review, 24(2), 186-198.
  • Irving, H. (1994). Who were the Republicans? In David Headon, James Warden, Bill Gammage (Eds.), Crown Or Country. Australia: Allen and Unwin.

1993

  • Irving, H. (1993). 'The Boy's Own Republic. Arena Magazine, 8 Dec/Jan.

1992

  • Irving, H. (1992). History and the Insider. In S. Magarey (Eds.), Writing Lives. Australia: Australian Feminist Studies Publications.

1991

  • Irving, H. (1991). Little Elves and Mind Control: Advertising and its Critics. Continuum: A Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, 4(2), 98-111. [More Information]

1990

  • Irving, H. (1990). Guilds, corporations and socialist theory. Economy and Society, 15(1), 123-144. [More Information]
  • Irving, H. (1990). The Romance of Nature. Arena Journal, 84.

Selected Grants

2021

  • Citizenship and Claims of Belonging in Australian Law and History, Thwaites R, Arcioni E, Irving H, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Special Research Initiative: Australian Society, History and Culture

2017

  • Allegiance and Citizenship in Australian Law and History, Irving H, Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP)