Terry Carney

Terry Carney AO (LLB (Hons), Dip Crim (Melbourne), PhD (Monash)) is Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Sydney Law School. He previously served as Director of Research and Head of Department there, and holds a Visiting Research Professorship at the University of Technology Sydney. For nearly 40 years, he was a part-time Senior Member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and its predecessor, the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL), Carney was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the law as an academic, to social policy and welfare law, and to professional associations, and received the University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research Supervision. He chaired key bodies including the National Advisory Council on Social Welfare, the Board of the Institute of Family Studies, and state inquiries into child welfare, adult guardianship, and health law. Carney also presided as President of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health (2005-2007) and delivered the Inaugural Carney Public Lecture in 2025 on Australian social services scandals.

Carney's research focuses on social security law and policy, mental health law, health law and ethics, adult guardianship and supported decision-making, involuntary treatment for anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders, disability rights under the UNCRPD, aged care and elder abuse, algorithmic governance and AI in welfare administration (including the robodebt scandal), and pandemic preparedness. He has published nearly a dozen books and over 200 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. Key works include Social Security Law and Policy (Federation Press, 2006), Managing Anorexia Nervosa: Clinical, Legal and Social Perspectives on Involuntary Treatment (Nova Science Publishers, 2006), Australian Mental Health Tribunals: Space for Fairness, Freedom, Protection and Treatment? (Themis Press, 2011, co-authored), and as editor, The Brave New World of Health (Federation Press, 2008). Recent publications address automation in social security (2024), the National Disability Insurance Scheme's algorithms (2024), and supported decision-making reforms. His work has shaped Australian policy debates, tribunal practices, and royal commission inquiries.

Professional Email: terry.carney@sydney.edu.au