Biography
Dr Wendy O’Brien works with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC, Vienna) on human rights-based criminal justice reform and equal access to justice. Wendy holds a concurrent appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor with Deakin University, Australia. She is also guest faculty at the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI, Turin) where she teaches in the LL.M on Transnational Crime and Justice.
Wendy's academic research focuses on children’s rights, gender justice, and human rights-led law reform. She also conducts research on the human rights implications of the increased use of technology in the administration of criminal justice and social policy. Her current research focuses on children’s rights and criminal justice in the digital age. As part of her broader work on non-discrimination and gender justice, Wendy also conducts research in the field of LGBTQI+ and SOGIESC rights.
Wendy’s research is published in leading international human rights and criminology journals. Her co-edited book, Violence Against Children in the Criminal Justice System, was published by Routledge in 2020.
Wendy previously worked as Senior Specialist with the Australian Crime Commission, in the delivery of research and policy advice on gender-based violence and the legal and therapeutic responses to child victims and children in conflict with the law. She has regularly been called on to provide expert testimony to national and state inquiries on child protection, and to serve on research advisory boards for projects on violence prevention and safe schools.
Read more on Wendy's profileResearch interests
Research Interests
• children’s rights
• gender justice
• human rights-led law reform
• technology and human rights
• SOGIESC rights
Awards
In 2014 Wendy was awarded a Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Innovation (Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education).
Publications
Discrimination, stigmatization, and surveillance: COVID-19 and social sorting
M Maras, W O'Brien
(2022), pp. 1-27, Information and Communications Technology Law, Abingdon, Eng., C1
Wendy O'Brien, Antonia Quadara, Olivia Ball, Will Douglas, Linna Vu
(2020), pp. 1-167, ANROWS Research Report, Sydney, N.S.W., A6
W O'Brien
(2019), pp. 15-37, Violence Against Children in the Criminal Justice System: Global Perspectives on Prevention, Abingdon, Eng., B1
A child's capacity to commit crime: examining the operation of Doli Incapax in Victoria (Australia)
Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Wendy O'Brien
(2019), Vol. 8, pp. 18-33, International journal For crime, justice and social democracy, Brisbane, Qld., C1
Violence against children in the criminal justice system global perspectives on prevention
W O'Brien, C Foussard
(2019), A7
Can human rights standards counter Australia's punitive youth justice practices?
W O'Brien, K Fitz-Gibbon
(2018), Vol. 26, International journal of children's rights, Leiden, The Netherlands, C1
K Fitz-Gibbon, W O'Brien
(2017), Vol. 57, pp. 1061-1079, The British journal of criminology: an international review of crime and society, Oxford, Eng., C1
W O'Brien, K Fitz-Gibbon
(2017), Vol. 17, pp. 134-152, Youth justice, London, Eng., C1
W O'Brien
(2016), pp. 121-140, Queering criminology, Basingstoke, Eng., B1
W O'Brien, K Fitz-Gibbon
(2016), Vol. 22, pp. 111-133, Australian journal of human rights, London, Eng., C1
J Edwards, J Parson, W O'Brien
(2016), Vol. 25, pp. 133-145, International journal of play therapy, Washington, D.C., C1
Can international human rights law accommodate bodily diversity?
W O'Brien
(2015), Vol. 15, pp. 1-20, Human rights law review, Oxford, Eng., C1
Introduction to The continuum companion to existentialism
F Joseph, J Reynolds, A Woodward
(2011), pp. 1-14, The continuum companion to existentialism, London, England, B1-1
Youth justice: challenges in responding to young people convicted of sexual offences
W O'Brien
(2011), Vol. 16, pp. 133-154, Deakin law review, Melbourne, Vic, C1-1
W O'Brien
(2010), Vol. 4, pp. 697-706, Child indicators research, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, C1-1
Australia's response to sexualised or sexually abusive behaviours in children and young people.
W O'Brien
(2010), Canberra, ACT, A6-1
Problem sexual behaviour in children: a review of the literature
W O'Brien
(2008), Canberra, ACT, A6-1
Feminine freakishness: Carnivalesque bodies in Angela Carter's nights at the circus
W O'Brien
(2006), pp. 1-20, Genders, Boulder, Colo., C1-1
Contesting identity politics in feminisms
W O'Brien
(2004), pp. 122-136, Third wave feminism : a critical exploration, Houndsmill, Eng., B1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
Good practice in delivering and evaluating interventions for young people with sexually abusive behaviours
Dr Antonia Quadara, Dr Wendy O'Brien
Australia¿s National Research Organisation for Women¿s Safety
- 2019: $26,137
- 2017: $52,274
Supervisions
Morgan Richard Burcher
Thesis entitled: Social Network Analysis as an Investigative Tool for Crime Intelligence
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Humanities and Social Sciences