Paul Harpur

Paul David Harpur is an Australian twice-Paralympian as an athlete with a vision impairment, a lawyer, and university professor at the University of Queensland. He is known for his expertise in anti-discrimination laws, human rights law, labour laws, and work health and safety laws.

Early life and education Paul David Harpur attended Cavendish Road State High School from 1994 until 1997. He lost his sight at the age of 14 when hit by an electric train at Wynnum, Brisbane.

Harpur started his law degree in 1998, graduating in 2003, whilst engaged with sports.

He has occupied various academic positions at the University of Queensland (UQ) since 2011.

, Harpur is a professor at the TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland.

Harpur has numerous publications including Discrimination, copyright and equality: Opening the e-book for the print disabled (2017), and Ableism at work, disablement and hierarchies of impairment (2019).

Sports With totally or almost totally blind vision, as an athlete, Harpur is given as B1 Paralympic classification. He has completed in a number of world sporting events, athletics at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, in July 2002, in Manchester, England coming third in the semi-finals at 12.57 s; athletics at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, in September 2004, in Athens, Greece – Sprinting in the men's track in the T11 classification, 200 m and placing seventh in the 400 m at 26 years of age.

Part of his philosophy is "Impossible is only two letters from possible and you do not need sight to have vision".

He was a visiting fellow at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, Institute for Lifecourse and Society, National University of Ireland, in Galway.

In 2022, he was appointed to the Universities Accord Ministerial Reference Group to represent disability.

Honours In 2001, Harpur was awarded a Centenary Medal, for service to the community.

On 26 January 2024, Harpur was awarded an Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "for service to people with disability", in the 2024 Australia Day Honours.

Publications Harpur has authored or co-authored over 200 academic publications, and is the author of two books: Ableism at work: disablement and hierarchies of impairments, Cambridge University Press, 2019. Discrimination, Copyright and Equality: Opening the E-Book for the Print Disabled, Cambridge University Press, 2017.