Dr Ian Ellis-Jones

Senior Lecturer

BA, LLB (Syd), LLM, PhD (UTS),  MASA, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia.

Academic Profile

Ian Ellis-Jones has lectured in law at UTS on a full-time basis since 1994, specializing in administrative and local government law. He is also a visiting lecturer and external examiner at the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry.

As a practising lawyer of almost 30 years' experience, Ian has also acted for a large number of local councils, government departments, Ministers of the Crown, developers and various industry groups. The majority of this has related to local government law and environmental planning law and has encompassed advice work, litigation, dispute resolution and commercial problem solving.

An ethicist, Ian is a firm proponent of the view that ethical judgments can be objectively true, and is an ethics adviser to both governmental and non-governmental organisations. He has written widely on the subjects of ethics and ethical management.

As an author, Ian's books have been published in several countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and some of his writings have been translated into languages other than English. He is the author or co-author of numerous seminal publications on local government law, environmental planning law, administrative law and other subjects including philosophy, psychology and theology.

Ian was the Director of the UTS Community Law Centre from 1996 to 2002. In 1999 the Centre, under his directorship, was awarded the inaugural UTS Equity & Diversity Award. He has also been Vice President and President of the Humanist Society of NSW, President of the Council of Australian Humanist Societies (Australian Humanists), President of Unity Centre of Positive Living, Sydney, and Vice President of the Sydney Unitarian Church. A minister of the Unitarian Church in New South Wales, Ian is currently Theologian-in-Residence at, and a Minister of, the Sydney Unitarian Church. In addition, he has provided services to the NSW Drug Awareness Council to assist in the promotion of a drug-free lifestyle.

Ian has been listed in Who's Who in the World, the Dictionary of International Biography, and 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century.

Current Research Activities

Ian is currently undertaking some post-doctoral research into religion and the law.

Recent Publications

(a) Law

Essential Administrative Law, 3rd ed. Sydney & London: Cavendish, 2003.

[Contributor] Accredited Person's Handbook. Parramatta, NSW: New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry, 2003.

"'Reasonable Apprehension' of Bias Test Must be Applied Realistically as Regards Ministers of the Crown" (2004) 1 Australian Student Law Reporter 3.

"United States Supreme Court Dismisses 'Pledge' Case", Humanist Viewpoints, July/August/September 2004.

"The Hickman Principle and Plaintiff S157/2000" (2005) 2 Australian Student Law Reporter 2.

[Book Review] Law in Perspective: Ethics, Society and Critical Thinking (by M Head & S Mann: UNSW Press, Sydney, 2005), in (2005) 7 UTS Law Review 202 / 4 Santa Clara Journal of International Law 202 (2006).

"The Approach of the Courts to the Construction and Application of Time Limit Privative Clauses" (2006) 11 LGLJ 153.

"The Anisminic Doctrine of Extended Jurisdictional Error in New South Wales Superior Courts" (2006) 12 LGLJ 1.

"The 'Jurisdictional Fact Doctrine' in New South Wales Local Government and Environmental Planning Law" (2006) 12 LGLJ 16.

[with Danny Arraj] "Development Control Plans May Be Important After All!", Chamber News, Newsletter of the Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, Spring 2006.

"The Ever Elusive Fact/Law Distinction" (2007) 13 LGLJ 66.

(b) Religion

"Humanism - Religion or Life Stance? A Critical and Provocative Analysis of the Official Declarations", Australian Humanist, Spring 2004.

"Did Jesus Ever Exist?", Humanist Viewpoints, July/August/September 2005.

"The Religious Beliefs of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America", Esprit, August 2005, Humanist Viewpoints, October/November/December 2005.

"Progressive Christianity from Liberal Catholic and Unitarian Perspectives", Communion, Michaelmas 2006.

"Spiritual Refreshment", Communion, Annunciation/Easter 2007.

"The Resurrected Christ of Faith", Communion, St Alban/June 2007.