Dr Holly Doel-Mackaway has been working in the children’s rights field for over 25 years as a lawyer, social worker and academic. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on international children’s rights law, children’s participation and protection rights, juvenile justice, girls’ rights and Indigenous children’s rights. She is currently working on several major grant projects spanning five continents. She is the co-Editor-In-Chief of the Australian Journal of Human Rights and co-leads the Children’s Rights, Participation and Protection Research Stream in the Faculty of Arts and is an elected member of the Academic Senate. Holly collaborates with a range of human rights NGOs and regularly comments on child law matters in the media. She also plays an active role with the legal profession across the Asia-Pacific region in her role as the Expert Counsellor for Children, Indigenous People and Gender for the LAWASIA Human Rights Committee.

Holly teaches Constitutional Law, Child and Elder Law and Legal Research Methodologies and in 2021 was recognised as an educator of impact winning the student-nominated Vice-Chancellor's Learning and Teaching Award for her teaching excellence. 

Her 2022 book Indigenous Children's Right to Participate in Law and Policy Development (Routledge) presents a model for reforming and developing Indigenous related legislation and policy in Australia and internationally. The model provides guidance about how to seek, listen to and respond to the voices of Indigenous children and young people. She received the Macquarie University Executive Dean's Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research for the field research with Aboriginal children and young people that underpins the book.  

Before becoming an academic Holly worked as a lawyer across more than 20 countries for the United Nations and various international non-government organisations providing specialised advice on international children’s rights law. She held senior legal and managerial positions with a range of child focussed agencies including UNICEF, Save the Children and the NSW Department of Community Services. Holly has also operated a child rights consulting practice for over 10 years providing children’s rights research, training, legislative and policy advice nationally and internationally on matters relating to child protection, girls’ rights, the commercial sexual exploitation of children, children engaged in armed conflict and child rights-based approaches to research and development.

She holds a PhD in Law (Macquarie University), a Bachelor of Laws (1^st class honours from UTS), an honours degree in Social Work (Sydney University) and was admitted as a solicitor to the NSW Supreme Court in 2004. Prior to becoming a lawyer Holly worked as a social worker with women and children who had experienced domestic violence and sexual abuse.

• Children's Rights and Children and the Law
• Juvenile Justice
• Children and Young People's Participation
• Rights of the Girl Child
• Constitutional Law
• International Human Rights Law
• Indigenous Studies
• Gender and Feminist Studies
• International Development and Research Ethics

Current Supervisions

• Joanna Mitchell (MRes) - 'The Participation of Children in Australian Administrative Tribunals' (Principal Supervisor)
• Emily Kwok (PhD) - 'Child Participation in Cross-Border Child Protection Issues in Australia, MENA Region and the United States of America' (Principal Supervisor)

Prospective PhD Students

Holly is available to supervise PhD and Masters research in the following areas and welcomes inquiries from prospective students:  

• Children's Rights
• Children's Law
• Juvenile Justice
• Children and Young People's Participation
• Rights of the Girl Child
• Constitutional Law
• International Human Rights Law
• Indigenous Studies
• Gender and Feminist Studies
• International Development and Research Ethics

LAWS807 Constitutional Law (convenor)

LAWS505 Child and Elder Law (convenor) 

Past teaching: 

LAWS808 Administrative Law (convenor)

LAWS812 Independent Research Project in Law, Governance and Policy (convenor)