Ms Virginia Newell

Virginia is originally from Newcastle and undertook her undergraduate degree in Arts at the University of Newcastle majoring in History and English.  Virginia left Newcastle in 1991.  In the following twelve years Virginia worked as a policy officer for the Central Land Council in Tennant Creek; worked as a policy officer for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra; worked in legal practise for Dunhill Madden Butler (which merged with Deacons) in Canberra and Melbourne; and worked for the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva.  During that time, Virginia also obtained her law degree with honours from the Australian National University.

Immediately prior to commencing with the Newcastle Law School, Virginia was the Leasing Coordinator (senior lawyer) with the Central Land Council advising indigenous landowners in the southern half of the Northern Territory on issues pertaining to the Commonwealth government’s Northern Territory Intervention policy and in particular its land reform initiatives.  In this context Virginia had extensive exposure to leasing, public housing, government service delivery programs and infrastructure delivery projects.

Virginia’s professional experience is linked through her passion for land tenure, property law, legal reform, organisational governance and administrative justice. 

Having come late to academia, Virginia is hoping that her professional experience will inform her future research and publishing.

Research Expertise
Virginia's research expertise pertains to both administrative law and the particular legal issues that are faced by indigenous Australians. Virginia's research expertise in administrative law stems from her experience in legal practise and she is particularly interest. Her particular interests pertain to the regulation of non-government administrative bodies and the non-government service providers. In 2010 Virginia completed a Masters of Philosophy titled, 'Benchmarking Commonwealth Outsourcing: Maintaining the Values of the New Administrative Law Reforms'. Virginia has twice worked for the Central Land Council, which is one of the largest, oldest and most respected indigenous organisations in Australia. This professional experience informs Virginia's current research into the recent Northern Territory Intervention and other issues pertaining to land rights and land reform.

Teaching Expertise
Virginia is currently teaching Property Law, Administrative Law and Indigenous Peoples, Issues and the Law. She has previously taught both Principles of Constitutional Law and Constitutional Law.

Administrative Expertise
As a late comer to academia, Virginia bring with her extensive administration experience from outside of the higher education sector - in corporate governance, government administration and international organisations.