Dr Erin O'Donnell

Senior Fellow, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne

See research profile
person canoeing on a calm river

Environment

Ten things you should know about legally recognising the rights of Nature

As Nature around the world gains increasing rights as a ‘person’ or ‘living entity’, we need to understand what this means on the ground (or in the water)

Australia’s media isn’t accurately reporting all sides of the Murray-Darling Basin debate thumbnail image

Environment

Australia’s media isn’t accurately reporting all sides of the Murray-Darling Basin debate

A lack of balance in media reporting may have harmed public perception of environmental water allocations in the Murray-Darling – and Indigenous custodians barely get a look in

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Politics & Society

The legacy of aqua nullius is causing a sustainability disaster

Australia’s rivers and freshwater ecosystems are in trouble – a result of the false claim that water belonged to no one when the British invaded Australia

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Environment

Australia’s rivers are ancestral beings

Rivers around the world are now recognised by law as legal persons and living entities. Here in Australia, our rivers can be understood as ‘ancestral beings’ under Indigenous laws

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Politics & Society

Returning water rights to Aboriginal people

Water justice is a critical issue for Indigenous Peoples, but there are legal and policy opportunities to hand back water rights to all First Nations and Traditional Owners

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Environment

Melbourne’s real-world impact on climate change

A new initiative bringing together multi-disciplinary climate change experts is focused on finding effective global solutions in Australia and beyond

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Environment

The global problem of thirsty cities

Globally, around 500 million people experience water shortages and that figure is only going up; but good governance and smart water management could lead to collaboration rather than competition

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Environment

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Podcast

The legal rights of rivers

In the past couple of years, legal rights have been awarded to a number of rivers around the world. Why?

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Environment

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Podcast

Rivers as persons

What it means to give legal rights to nature

Will giving the Himalayas the same rights as people protect their future? thumbnail image

Politics & Society

Will giving the Himalayas the same rights as people protect their future?

In an intersection between the sacred and the legal, a court in India recognised the Himalayas as a legal person, but what does it mean for their preservation?

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