Professor
Jenni Millbank

BA, LLB (Hons) (SYD), LLM (University of British Columbia), Barrister of the Supreme Court of NSW

Academic Profile

Professor Jenni Millbank joined the faculty in April 2007, having previously been Associate Professor of Law at the University of Sydney. Jenni's areas of expertise are the legal regulation of diverse family forms, refugee law and consumer law. Jenni is Australia's leading expert on same-sex relationship recognition and she has been extensively involved in research and scholarship, law reform, litigation, community consultation and activism in this area for over a decade.

Current Research Activities

Refugee law

• A three year ARC funded comparative international project on refugee law examining the development and interpretation of the 'particular social group' category.

Family Law

• On-going work examining the role of 'functional family' arguments in recognising the role of non-biological parents, both those in heterosexual families formed through assisted conception and in same-sex families.
• Examining the inter-play of state and federal laws on parental status and parental responsibility for children born through reproductive technologies, in particular surrogacy.

Law and Literature

• Exploring the unlikely and fascinating resonances between feminist and catholic mythologies of miraculous conception.

Recent Publications

Book Chapters

"Same-Sex Couples and their Families", with Miranda Stewart, The Law Handbook 10th ed, Redfern Legal Centre Publishing, Sydney, 2007.

"From Butch to Butcher's Knife" in Leslie Moran (ed) Sexuality and Identity, Ashgate, 2006.

"It's About This: Lesbians, Prison, Desire" in Michael Freeman (ed) Law and Popular Culture, OUP, Oxford, 2005.

Refereed Articles

'From Discretion to Disbelief: Recent Trends in Refugee Determinations on the Basis of Sexual Orientation in Australia and the United Kingdom' (2009) forthcoming 13 (2/3) International Journal of Human Rights.

'Unlikely Fissures and Uneasy Resonances: Lesbian Co-mothers, Surrogate Parenthood and Fathers' Rights' forthcoming (2008) 16(2) Feminist Legal Studies.

'The Limits of Functional Family: Lesbian Mother Litigation in the Era of the Eternal Biological Family' (2008) 22 International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 149-177.

'The Role of Functional Family in Same-Sex Family Recognition Trends' (2008) 20 Child and Family Law Quarterly 155-182.

'From Functional Family to Spinster Sisters: Australia's Distinctive Path to Relationship Recognition' with Reg Graycar (2007) 24 Washington University Journal of Law and Policy 121-164.

'The Changing Meaning of 'De Facto' Relationships' (2006) 12 Current Family Law 82-93.

'The Recognition of Lesbian and Gay Families in Australian Law: Part 1 Couples' (2006) 34 Federal Law Review 1-44.

'The Recognition of Lesbian and Gay Families in Australian Law: Part 2 Children' (2006) 34 Federal Law Review 205-260.

'A Preoccupation with Perversion: the British Response to Refugee Claims on the Basis of Sexual Orientation 1989-2003' (2005) 14 Social and Legal Studies 115-138.

'The Role of Rights in Asylum Claims on the Basis of Sexual Orientation' (2004) 4 Human Rights Law Review 193-228.

'It's About This: Lesbians, Prison, Desire' (2004) 13 Social and Legal Studies 155-190.
A slightly different version appears in Michael Freeman (ed) Law and Popular Culture, OUP.

'Relationship Debt and Guarantees: Best Practice v Real Practice' co-authored with Jenny Lovric (2004) 15 Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice 89-115.

'Gender, Sex and Visibility in Refugee Decisions on Sexual Orientation' (2003) 18 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 71-110.

'Burdened by Proof: How the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal has failed lesbian and gay asylum seekers' co-authored with Catherine Dauvergne (2003) 31 Federal Law Review 299-342.

'Cruisingforsex.com: An Empirical Critique of the Evidentiary Practices of the Australian Refugee Review Tribunal'  co-authored with Catherine Dauvergne (2003) 28 Alternative Law Journal 176-181.

'Darling, Please Sign This Form: Relationship debt and guarantees' co-authored with Jenny Lovric (2003) 28 Alternative Law Journal 283-288.

'Gender, Visibility and Public Space in Refugee Decisions' (2003) 1 Seattle Journal for Social Justice 725-742.

'From Here to Maternity: A Review of the Research on Lesbian and Gay Families' (2003) 38 Australian Journal of Social Issues 541-600.

'Before the High Court: Applicants S396/2002 and S395/2002, a gay refugee couple from Bangladesh' co-authored with Catherine Dauvergne (2003) 25 Sydney Law Review 97-124.

'Imagining Otherness: Refugee Claims on the Basis of Sexuality in Canada and Australia' (2002) 26 Melbourne University Law Review 144-177.

'The Bride Wore Pink….to the Property (Relationships) Amendment Act' co-authored with Reg Graycar (2000) 17 Canadian Journal of Family Law 227-282.

'A Bride In Her Every-Day Clothes: Same Sex Relationship Recognition in NSW' co-authored with Kathy Sant (2000) 22 Sydney Law Review 181-219.

Reports and Research Monographs

Areas of Federal Law that Exclude Same Sex Couples and Families, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Research Report (2006)
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/samesex/docs
/Same_Sex_ResearchPaper200609.pdf

Same-Sex Families, Hot Topics 53, LIAC 2005.

Darling, Please Sign This Form: A Report on the Practice of Third Party Guarantees in New South Wales, co-authored with Jenny Lovric, NSWLRC Research Report 11(2003).

And then the Brides Changed Nappies: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers and the Legal Recognition of Our Relationships with the Children We Raise, A Community Law Reform Document, GLRL, Final Report May 2003 http://www.glrl.org.au/pdf/major_reports/NappiesApril2003.pdf

And then the Brides Changed Nappies: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers and the Legal Recognition of Our Relationships with the Children We Raise, A Community Law Reform Document, GLRL, Discussion Paper, 1st ed, October 2002.

Meet the Parents: A Review of the Research on Lesbian and Gay Families, GLRL, January 2002 online at http://www.glrl.org.au/pdf/major_reports/meet_the_parents.pdf

Edited Collections

'Gender, Sexuality and Reproduction', a special feminist issue of the Sydney Law Review (2006).

"The Consumer", International Symposium on Consumer Law, in honour of David Harland, published as a special issue of the Sydney Law Review (2006).

Other Articles

"The Status of Known Sperm Donors under the Family Law Act" (2006) 18 (4) Australian Family Lawyer 30-38.

"The Rights of Co-Mothers in Lesbian Families" (2006) 19 (1) Australian Family Lawyer 6-11.

"Same-Sex Couple Property Disputes" (2005) 43 (10) Law Society Journal 56-60.

"Marlee as a teacher" (2004) 14 Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 212-215.

"It is not reasonable for homosexuals to 'be discreet' in fear for their lives" Invited Opinion Piece (18 December 2003) Online Opinion, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/section.asp?name=law

SSRN

Some of my research is available from SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=449651