Therese MacDermott

Therese MacDermott is a Professor of Law at Macquarie Law School, affiliated with the Lifespan Health and Wellbeing Research Centre and the Ethics and Agency Research Centre at Macquarie University. With over 30 years of experience in equality law, she has held roles in academia, legal practice, tribunal adjudication, and consultancy across regional and local contexts. Her research bridges theoretical and practical dimensions of workplace rights, focusing on employment law, anti-discrimination frameworks, and dispute resolution mechanisms. She critiques the intersection of equality discourse with legal regulation, emphasizing access to justice in discrimination cases.

Her research interests include age discrimination, workplace complaints, affirmative action, procedural fairness in tribunals, and the evolving role of alternative dispute resolution. Notable projects include analyzing organizational practices in Asia-Pacific workplace equality and exploring relational theories of procedural justice. She has contributed to policy debates on sexual harassment reporting, collective litigation strategies, and labor mobility in the Pacific region.

MacDermott has led or collaborated on six projects, including a current initiative (2024–2026) on implementing workplace equality across the Asia-Pacific. Her work spans legal reform, organizational processes, and interdisciplinary approaches to justice. Grants and awards include sustained research funding through Macquarie University’s CAVE Research Centre, though no specific prizes are listed in the provided texts.

Her research outputs total 47, with recent focus on anti-discrimination law reforms, procedural fairness in tribunals, and age-related workplace disparities. She has also advised on legal frameworks for Pacific seasonal labor and gender equity in land rights in Vanuatu. MacDermott’s contributions highlight the interplay between law, social policy, and individual rights in diverse global contexts.