Crawford School of Public Policy

Crawford School introduces our fantastic staff, so you can meet the people of Asia and the Pacific’s leading graduate policy school.

This time around, we talk to Associate Professor Danielle Ireland-Piper about living in Canberra, her research interests and why she wanted to work at Crawford.

What is your role at Crawford School and what do you enjoy most about it?

I’m an academic in the National Security College and it’s a genuine privilege to work in an interdisciplinary team and with other colleagues in our policy, communications, and executive development programs. I love listening to the plethora of interesting people that come through this place. So much to learn from so many interesting thinkers. Another highlight has been getting involved in the National Security Podcast.

What did you do before coming to Crawford?

I was based in a Law Faculty at Bond University, Queensland for the last 12 years, teaching and researching in human rights, national security law, international law, and constitutional law. Prior to that I worked in the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet (Health, Community Services, and Indigenous Affairs), and the QLD Crime and Corruption Commission, as well as in commercial law firms. Fun fact: I can also fire-dance barefoot.

Can you give an overview of your research area and why it’s important?

At its essence, my research considers the way power is exercised in various contexts and how law intersects with policy to influence that exercise. It’s important because we all live and govern in the context of power and this affects how we live as communities. I’m writing a book on national security law, which should be out by the end of the year. I also write on space law, human rights, constitutional law, and I am particularly interested in comparative studies. My last two books considered extraterritorial regulation of cross-border crime as between China, Japan, and South Korea, and between the US, India, and Australia. This matters because the hyper-interconnectedness of the world means we can’t solve cross-border issues in silos. That also applies to how we manage and regulate human activity in outer space, because it has very real consequences here on Earth, including for monitoring the climate, delivering aid, and the delivery of transport and education, for example.

What drove you to become a researcher?

I was working for the Australian Government on transnational crime legal frameworks and became interested in the exercise of extraterritorial power. So, I decided to go and write a PhD on extraterritoriality for a few years and tripped and fell to discover I love research and teaching and so am still doing it 12 years later.

What’s your favourite thing about living in Canberra?

Easy access to gorgeous outdoor adventures, beautiful local vineyards, and those darn pretty balloons in Enlighten Festival.

Where’s your favourite place in Canberra or somewhere you’d like to visit?

I love Smiths Alternative for gigs, brownies, and chai, Molly’s for live Jazz, and, of course, the lake is spectacularly beautiful in the morning light.

What is one thing you have brought with you?

My dog, Willow!