Elizabeth Curran

Dr Elizabeth Curran serves as Associate Professor at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, where she focuses on clinical legal education, access to justice, and Health Justice Partnerships. Previously, she was Associate Professor at the Australian National University School of Legal Practice (2011-2020) and continues as an Honorary Associate Professor there. Her career spans academia, community legal practice, and policy advisory roles across Australia, the UK, Canada, and Denmark, with extensive experience in justice system evaluation and reform.

Curran's research centers on access to justice, impact evaluation, clinical legal education, and multidisciplinary practice, particularly Health Justice Partnerships. She pioneered research in this field when Australia had only one HJP, and her work has contributed to the growth to 109 partnerships by 2021. Her research focuses on evidence-based innovations to improve justice outcomes, especially for marginalized communities, with emphasis on ethical practice, community development, and effective legal service delivery. She has developed frameworks for measuring legal services quality and outcomes, and her work routinely shapes justice policy and funding decisions across multiple countries.

Curran's scholarly output demonstrates consistent focus on practical solutions to justice gaps, with recent publications examining Health Justice Partnerships, legal empowerment, and evidence-based policy. Her work bridges academic research and practical implementation, with publications spanning peer-reviewed journals, policy reports, book chapters, and conference presentations. Her 2021 book 'Better Law for a Better World' synthesizes her approach to innovative legal practice and education.

• 2021 Nominated Evaluation Journal of Australasia, Excellence in Evaluation
• 2006 National Carrick Australian Award for University Teaching
• 2004 Australian Centenary Medal for legal services to community & lecturing
• 1999 Tim McCoy Social Justice Award

Curran has secured numerous research contracts including the Consumer Panel of the Legal Services Board (2024), Hume Riverina Community Legal Service and Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Services (2022-2025), and multiple evaluations for community legal centers. She serves as an Evaluation Adviser for Advice Now UK and has advised governments and statutory bodies across multiple jurisdictions. Her work regularly appears in policy documents, with citations in Parliamentary Reports, Productivity Commission reviews, and Royal Commission submissions.

She leads innovative Health Justice Partnership research, including the Bagaraybang bagaraybang mayinygalang (BBM) Empowering & Alleviating project with Aboriginal communities in Australia, and contributes to policy clinics through Nottingham Law School's Centre for Rights and Justice. Her work emphasizes community-centered approaches that integrate legal services with health and social care to address systemic barriers to justice.