Rate My Professor Paul Harpur

Professor Paul Harpur OAM is a Professor at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, and Director of the university-wide UQ Disability Collaboratory, which galvanizes research expertise in disability inclusion. He earned his Bachelor of Laws, Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Master of Laws (coursework), and Doctor of Philosophy from Queensland University of Technology. His career encompasses key international roles, including Associate with Harvard Law School's Project on Disability, International Distinguished Fellow at the Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University, and the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, as well as former Fulbright Future Scholar and Australian Research Council Future Fellow. Professor Harpur chairs the UQ Disability Inclusion Group since 2016 and serves on university-wide committees, the Higher Education Standards Panel, the U21 EDI Management Committee, and the Advisory Board for the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success. He contributed to the Ministerial Reference Group for the Universities Accord in 2023.

His research specializes in international and comparative disability law—covering ableism at work and hierarchies of impairments, international disability human rights in the developing world, universal design, and equality for disability assistance animals—as well as labour and work health and safety laws. Notable publications include the books Ableism at Work: Disablement and Hierarchies of Impairment (2019, Cambridge University Press) and Discrimination, Copyright and Equality: Opening the e-Book for the Print Disabled (2017, Cambridge University Press), alongside highly cited articles such as Embracing the New Disability Rights Paradigm: The Importance of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2012, Disability & Society) and From Disability to Ability: Changing the Phrasing of the Debate (2012, Disability & Society). Professor Harpur's contributions have earned him the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2024 for service to people with disability, numerous diversity and leadership awards, and recognition as a TEDx speaker on universities as disability champions of change. A former dual Paralympian, he drives global reforms in disability inclusion and higher education equity.