Aileen Kennedy

Dr Aileen Kennedy is a Chancellor's Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Faculty of Law, affiliated with the Law Health Justice Research Centre. Her work focuses on intersex human rights law, legal regulation of embodiment, and feminist legal scholarship. She holds a PhD from UTS (2021), LLM from the University of Sydney (2006), and a combined BA/Law degree from Macquarie University (1989). Her research addresses legal reforms to protect intersex minors' bodily integrity and challenges binary gender classifications in law.

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts/Law (Honours), Macquarie University (1989)
• Master of Law, University of Sydney (2006)
• PhD, University of Technology Sydney (2021)

Her research interests include intersex rights, medical ethics, and the intersection of law with gender and health. Current projects explore legal frameworks for regulating medical interventions on intersex minors and criminal justice system impacts on transgender individuals. She contributed to Australia's landmark ACT legislation prohibiting non-consensual intersex medical procedures (2021).

Funded Research:

• Medical Research Future Fund Grant (2024–2029): Improving health outcomes for people with innate variations of sex characteristics
• UTS Chancellor's Research Fellowship (2023–2027): Promoting human rights through legal reforms

She actively contributes to policy development via roles with Intersex Human Rights Australia, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, and Pride in Law. Her advocacy shapes global debates on bodily autonomy and intersex rights.