Rate My Professor Cathy Sherry

Cathy Sherry is a Professor in Macquarie Law School at Macquarie University. She earned a BA in English literature and an LLB with honours from the University of Sydney (1987-1994), and a PhD in Law from UNSW Sydney in 2014, with her doctoral thesis focused on Strata Title Property Rights. Prior to her current position, Sherry was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at UNSW. She holds executive membership in the Smart Green Cities research centre and the Centre for Environmental Law, and is affiliated with the Macquarie University Housing and Urban Research Centre. Additionally, she operates as a strata consultant and has served in leadership roles such as acting Dean of Macquarie Law School.

Sherry is a leading international expert in land law, particularly strata title property rights and the private governance of multi-owned properties, including high-rise apartments and master-planned communities. Her research examines how property law frameworks shape social relations, community governance, and urban living in dense environments, with additional interests in urban agriculture and sustainable city greening. She authored the influential book Strata Title Property Rights: Private Governance of Multi-Owned Properties (Routledge, 2017). Key publications also encompass 'The regulation of families with children in apartments' (2024), 'Adverse possession - alive and well in Sydney' (2020), 'Conflict between private and public restrictions' (2018), 'Under-supply of schooling in the gentrified and regenerated inner city' (2016, with Hazel Easthope), 'Lessons in Personal Freedom and Functional Land Markets: What Strata and Community Title Can Learn from Traditional Doctrines of Property' (2013), and 'Building management statements and strata management statements: Unholy mixing of contract and property' (2013). Her scholarship has been cited by the Privy Council, other courts, governments, and extensively in academia. Sherry advises Australian and overseas governments on high-density development legislation and contributes to public discourse on housing policy. She was a finalist for the 2022 AASHE Sustainability Award.