Megan Davis

Scientia Professor Megan Davis serves as Pro Vice-Chancellor Society (PVCS) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, where she holds the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law. She additionally holds the prestigious Whitlam Fraser Harvard Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University and serves as a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, while also holding the position of Penn Carey Law Bok Visiting International Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Professor Davis specializes in Indigenous peoples and the law, constitutional recognition of First Nations, and democracy. Her research spans constitutional law, human rights, international law, and Indigenous rights with particular focus on structural reform rather than symbolic recognition. She is renowned for designing the Referendum Council's deliberative process that led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and has been the leading Australian lawyer on constitutional recognition of First Nations peoples for two decades.

Her scholarly output demonstrates consistent focus on constitutional recognition frameworks, Indigenous sovereignty, truth-telling processes, and practical implementation of Indigenous representation models. The publication trends show increasing emphasis on the intersection of constitutional law with health outcomes, youth justice, and pandemic response in Indigenous communities.

• Sydney Peace Prize Laureate for the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart
• 2024 PeaceWomen Award by the Women's International League for Peace & Freedom
• TIME NEXT100 list of the Next Generation of Global leaders (2023)
• Marie Claire Powerhouse of the Year (2023)
• Overall Winner of the AFR Women of Influence (2018)
• ANU 2018 Indigenous Alumna of the Year

Professor Davis has secured significant research funding including ARC Discovery Indigenous grants totaling nearly $400,000 for 'Recognition after Uluru: what next for First Nations?' and ANROWS grants for improving family violence legal services for Indigenous women. She serves as Co-Chair of the Uluru Dialogue, the group of First Nations leaders behind the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and has held influential positions including Acting Commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court. Her leadership extends to international bodies as a former expert member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2011-2016) and appointment to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous peoples (2017-2022).