Dr Virginia Marshall

Dr Marshall is a Senior Research Fellow based at the Australian National University's School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) in the College of Law, Governance & Policy. She is a practising lawyer and leading legal scholar with expertise in Aboriginal water rights, native title rights in Sea Country, Indigenous governance and the intersection of Traditional Knowledge systems and western intellectual property regimes, especially as it relates to Indigenous commercialisation of traditional medicines.

Virginia’s doctoral thesis 'A web of Aboriginal water rights: Examining the competing Aboriginal claim for water property rights and interests in Australia' won the 2015 WEH Stanner Award and was published by AIATSIS Aboriginal Studies Press as Overturning Aqua nullius, recognised as a seminal publication.

Virginia is a former criminal defence lawyer with NSW Legal Aid, former associate & researcher with the Federal Court of Australia, and former Senior Legal Officer with the Australian Law Reform Commission.  She is a professional member of the NSW Law Society and Women Lawyers Association of NSW.

Virginia holds various government appointments including serving on the Climate Change Authority Board; Past elected Chair of the Committee on Aboriginal Water Interests (CAWI); Australia's Economic Accelerator Noard Member; Great Artesian Basin Stakeholder Advisory Committee Member. 

Virginia is in high demand for conferences and seminars, in Australia and internationally in her area of research interests. She is the lead Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Grant titled "Barriers & Pathways to development of Indigenous traditional medicines" (IN220100031).