Professor Elizabeth Handsley

Adjunct Professor,
School of Law

Professor,
School of Law

Biography
Contact
Publications
Projects
Supervision
Teaching

Biography

Elizabeth Handsley joined WSU in February 2020, prior to which she had worked as a legal academic over some 30 years at universities in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. In the course of her career she has published widely on torts, feminist legal theory, judicial power and independence, the appointment and training of judges, contempt and defamation. For the last 20 years her research has concentrated mainly on children's media law, including advertising regulation (especially food advertising) and classification of films and games.

She has held research grants from state, national and international agencies.

Elizabeth is the President of the Australian Council on Children and the Media, a national NGO providing information and advocacy on children's needs and rights as media users, and a frequent media commentator on related issues. She is the co-host, with Dr Kim Le, of Outside the Screen, a podcast about screens in the lives of children and families.

She was awarded a Carrick Citation for Excellence in Teaching in 2007, for her work introducing collaborative skills training into constitutional law; and in 2014 she was a finalist in the National Children's Law Awards. She was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1989, and inducted into the Australian Academy of Law in 2015.

Fluent in French, Elizabeth has been a visiting researcher at the Universities of Bordeaux, Poitiers, Gothenburg, Montreal and Ghent. As well as her continuing academic work in the capacity of Adjunct Professor, Elizabeth makes and presents music programs for a community radio station, and serves on its Board.

This information has been contributed by Professor Handsley.

Qualifications

LLM Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
LLB University of New South Wales
BA University of New South Wales

Professional Memberships

Australian Academy of Law (2015 - 2023)

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

School of Law
School of Law

Contact

Email:	E.Handsley@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone:
Mobile:
Location:

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Teaching

Previous Teaching Areas

200700 Law Honours Dissertation, 2020
200755 Advanced Constitutional Law, 2021
200904 International Governance Dissertation, 2020
200984 Government and Public Law, 2020

Publications

Books

Handsley, E., MacDougall, C. and Rich, M. (2015), 'Children's Wellbeing in the Media Age: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from the Harvard-Australia Symposium', : Federation Press 9781760020286.

Chapters in Books

Tobin, J. and Handsley, E. (2019), 'The mass media and children : diversity of sources, quality of content, and protection against harm', The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: A Commentary, Oxford University Press 9780198262657.
Handsley, E. (2018), 'Constitution', 101 Mots pour Comprendre l'Australie, Centre de Documentation Pe'dagogique de Nouvelle-Cale'donie 9782350361703.
Handsley, E. (2018), 'Politiques educatives : universites', 101 Mots pour Comprendre l'Australie, Centre de Documentation Pe'dagogique de Nouvelle-Cale'donie 9782350361703.
Handsley, E. (2015), 'Introduction', Children's Wellbeing in the Media Age: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from the Harvard-Australia Symposium, Federation Press 9781760020286.
Handsley, E. (2015), '(Media) law', Children's Wellbeing in the Media Age: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from the Harvard-Australia Symposium, Federation Press 9781760020286.
Handsley, E. (2012), 'There oughta be a law : the (potential) role of law and regulation in slowing down and calming down', Growing Up Fast and Furious: Reviewing the Impacts of Violent and Sexualised Media on Children, Federation Press 9781862878235.

Journal Articles

Gregory-Wilson, R., Gregory-Wilson, R., Spencer, L., Handsley, E. and Raeburn, T. (2022), 'Infant removal from birth parents : how does health information impact court decisions? : a scoping review', Collegian, vol 29, no 3 , pp 379 - 389.
Handsley, E. and Warburton, W. (2022), ''Material likely to harm or disturb them' : testing the alignment between film and game classification decisions and psychological research evidence', Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, vol 29, no 1 , pp 68 - 92.
Bandiera, R., Handsley, E. and Lim, D. (2022), 'Born with a plastic spoon in their mouth? : substitution, interchangeability, and marketing of biosimilars', Journal of Law and Medicine, vol 29, no 1 , pp 208 - 223.
Anaf, J., Fisher, M., Handsley, E., Baum, F. and Friel, S. (2021), ''Sweet talk' : framing the merits of a sugar tax in Australia', Health Promotion International, vol 36, no 5 , pp 1334 - 1345.
Lim, D., Bandiera, R. and Handsley, E. (2021), 'Switching Australian patients with moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease from originator to biosimilar infliximab', Medical Journal of Australia, vol 215, no 9 , pp 435 - 435.
Handsley, E. and Duke, A. (2019), 'Protecting the child consumer from misleading advertising : a comparison of media regulation and consumer protection approaches', Competition and Consumer Law Journal, vol 26, no 3 , pp 238 - 262.
Handsley, E. and Biggins, B. (2019), 'The role of research in developing policy and practice for children's digital engagement', Australian Educational Leader, vol 41, no 2 , pp 29 - 31.
Milani, G. and Handsley, E. (2019), 'Finding the foothold : freedom of political association in the Australian Constitution', Federal Law Review, vol 47, no 2 , pp 306 - 330.
Handsley, E. and Reeve, B. (2018), 'Holding food companies responsible for unhealthy food marketing to children : can international human rights instruments provide a new approach?', University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol 41, no 2 , pp 449 - 489.
Gorman, E. and Handsley, E. (2017), 'International human rights law and the prevention of childhood obesity', Australian Journal of Human Rights, vol 23, no 3 , pp 390 - 409.
Lau, J., Handsley, E. and Reynolds, C. (2017), 'Obesity prevention laws and the Australian Constitution', Journal of Law and Medicine, vol 25, no 1 , pp 248 - 266.
Sisnowski, J., Handsley, E. and Street, J. (2015), 'Regulatory approaches to obesity prevention : a systematic overview of current laws addressing diet-related risk factors in the European Union and the United States', Health Policy, vol 119, no 6 , pp 720 - 731.
Handsley, E. and Lynch, A. (2015), 'Facing up to diversity? : transparency and the reform of Commonwealth judicial appointments 2008-13', Sydney Law Review, vol 37, no 2 , pp 187 - 215.
Mehta, K., Coveney, J., Ward, P. and Handsley, E. (2014), 'Parents' and children's perceptions of the ethics of marketing energy-dense nutrient-poor foods on the Internet : implications for policy to restrict children's exposure', Public Health Ethics, vol 7, no 1 , pp 21 - 34.
Handsley, E., Nehmy, C., Mehta, K. and Coveney, J. (2014), 'A children's rights perspective on food advertising to children', The International Journal of Children's Rights, vol 22, no 1 , pp 93 - 134.
Mehta, K., Phillips, C., Ward, P., Coveney, J., Handsley, E. and Carter, P. (2012), 'Marketing foods to children through product packaging : prolific, unhealthy and misleading', Public Health Nutrition, vol 15, no 9 , pp 1763 - 1770.
Handsley, E. (2011), 'Voluntary codes no real protection for kids', Viewpoint, vol 7 , pp 32 - 37.
Handsley, E. and Warburton, W. (2010), 'The R18+ games debate : a critical analysis of the arguments', Viewpoint, vol 4 , pp 44 - 49.
Handsley, E., Mehta, K., Coveney, J. and Nehmy, C. (2009), 'Regulatory axes on food advertising to children on television', Australia and New Zealand Health Policy, vol 6, no 1 .
Handsley, E., Nehmy, C., Mehta, K. and Coveney, J. (2007), 'Media, public health and law : a lawyer's primer on the food advertising debate', Media and Arts Law Review, vol 12 , pp 87 - 106.

Elizabeth's research is mainly in the field of children's media law, including advertising regulation and the classification of movies and games. She also maintains an interest in the study of judicial power, and especially the appointment, training and removal of judges.

In addition to the above topics Elizabeth has published in, and is able to supervise postgraduate work on, areas of media law such as broadcasting regulation, contempt and defamation.