Helen Irving

Helen Irving (born April 8, 1954) is Professor Emerita at Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, Australia. Irving's research is in constitutional law, employing an historical perspective of the political and social context of Australian constitutional law and citizenship. Research interests include: Australian and comparative constitutional law, gender and constitutionalism, constitutional history and theory, constitutional citizenship.

In 2022 Irving completed an ARC Discovery Grant project on constitutional citizenship and allegiance.

Irving retired in 2020 from the University of Sydney Law School after 19 years of service. and Finalist for the NSW Premier's Centenary History Award.

Education Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne (Hons I, with the Dwight Prize in Political Science); Bachelor of Law (First Class Honours) and PhD, University of Sydney. In the interim, Irving completed a Masters of Philosophy at University of Cambridge, England.

Contributions outside academia By invitation of United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Irving co-authored a report (alongside Professor Vivien Hart) on gender equality and constitution-making for Iraq in 2003. She contributed by invitation to UN Women workshops on women and constitutional design in New York (2015) and Santiago (2016), the latter as a joint UN Women and Chilean government initiative on Chilean constitutional reform. She has also advised international organisations on constitutional design and gender equality, including on the development of a practical guide to constitution-making for women in countries embarking on constitutional reform.

Irving has written over 50 opinion pieces for newspapers and journals on constitutional history and citizenship, in particular during the years leading to the centenary of federation, the republic debate, and the debate on the proposed adoption of a national Human Rights Act, and on citizenship.

Awards

Source: Irving, H. (2022) 'Allegiance, Citizenship and the Law: The Enigma of Belonging" United Kingdom, Edward Elgar Publishing.

External sources Speech by Helen Irving- Launch of the Henry Parkes Foundation, NSW Parliament House, 4 June 1999 Speech by Federal Arts Minister, Peter Mcgaruan - Launch Irving's The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation, 1 November 1999 Helen Irving on Mary Wollstonecraft and the Enlightenment via YouTube