Jennifer McKay

Professor Jennifer McKay is a Professor of Business Law at the University of South Australia’s Faculty of Justice and Society, specializing in environmental law, water governance, and sustainable development. She holds a PhD in environmental policy from the University of Melbourne and has held roles such as Assistant Dean at St Mark’s College (Adelaide), solicitor at Finlaysons, and Commissioner in the Environment, Resources and Development Court. Her research focuses on water law, climate policy, and legal education reform. Notably, she pioneered coeducation at St Mark’s in the 1980s and has authored over 180 publications. Awardees include the Premier’s Medal for Water Professional of the Year (2020) and the Senior Research Excellence Award (2009, 2011).

• Education:
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Geography/Psychology/English Literature (University of Melbourne, 1981)
  • PhD in Environmental Policy (University of Melbourne)
  • LLB (University of Adelaide)

Her research interests span water law governance, sustainable resource management, and legal pedagogy. Recent work includes studies on groundwater sustainability, climate activism sentencing, and community engagement in environmental decision-making. She has advised on federal environmental reforms, including submissions to the Nature Repair Bill.

Professor McKay’s awards reflect her contributions to water policy and environmental justice. She is a Fulbright Senior Fellow and has lectured internationally on water governance. Beyond academia, she advocates for sustainable practices, volunteers in community initiatives, and pursues jazz vocal training—a passion rooted in her early choral work at Trinity College, Melbourne.

Grants and Collaborations: Her work has been supported by the Goyder Institute for Water Research and the CSIRO. She co-authored influential texts like Natural Resources and Environmental Justice: Australian Perspectives (2017) and contributed to policy frameworks for transboundary aquifers.

Labs/Teams: Member of the Comparative Centre for Water Policies and Laws and the University of South Australia’s Justice and Society research group.