Deirdre Howard-Wagner

Room 157 A26 - R.C Mills Building +612 9351 6679

Current Position
Sesqui Lecturer Socio-Legal Studies

Research Interests
Dr Howard-Wagner’s area of research expertise is socio-legal studies, including identities rights and the law, Indigenous people, issues and the law, terrorism, refugees, environmental, and tort law reform. Dr Howard-Wagner has applied qualitative and quantitative socio-legal research experience, particularly in relation to Indigenous law and personal injury and compensation law. She has been writing a number of papers on the 'national emergency response' declared in the Northern Territory in 2007.

Other research includes a study of changes to the motor vehicle accidents compensation scheme and a study of changes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services. She has taught a number of socio-legal courses, including socio-legal research theory and practice and Indigenous people, issues and the law. She has also presented papers at a number of international socio-legal conferences, for example, considering the public liability crisis as a moral panic, applying whiteness theory to an analysis of native title judgements, and examining the relationship between neo-liberalism and the repositioning of Indigenous rights. Dr Howard-Wagner joined the Department in 2006, and was formerly the Deputy Director of the Justice Policy Research Centre within the School of Law at the University of Newcastle. Prior to that she was worked for the Commonwealth Public Service for eight years, which included working for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Department of the Environment on Indigenous and environmental issues.

External Grants / Commissions
$560,000 – Evaluation of user group perceptions of the Medical Assessment Scheme and Claims Advisory and Resolution Service established under the Motor Accident Compensation Act 1999 (NSW). Chief Investigators: Professor T Wright and Dr D Howard-Wagner (January 2004 - July 2006)

Internal Grants
$15,000 - Study of Indigenous Land Use Agreement Scheme (ILUAs) effectiveness as a long-term measure for dealing with native title - University of Sydney Research and Development Grant awarded November 2006. Chief Investigator: Dr D Howard-Wagner

$8,000 – Study of changes to Aboriginal legal services – University of Newcastle Early Career Researcher Grant awarded June 2005. Chief Investigator: Dr D Howard-Wagner

$2,400 – Travel Grant – Law’s Empire Conference, 2005

$1,500 - Travel Grant - Law and Society Conference United States, 2006

Papers in Refereed Collections
Howard-Wagner, D. (2008) 'Legislating Away Indigenous Rights', Law Text Culture, Vol. 12 (accepted & forthcoming December 2008).

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘Restoring social order through tackling “passive welfare”: the statutory intent of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth) and Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Welfare Payment Reform) Act 2007 (Cth)’ Current Issues in Criminal Justice Journal, Vol 19. No. 2, November 2007

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘The Denial of Separate Rights: Political Rationalities and Technologies Governing Indigenous Affairs as Practices of Whiteness’, in TASA and SAANZ Joint Conference Refereed Conference Proceedings – Public Sociologies: Lessons and Trans-Tasman Comparisons, 4-7 December 2007, Auckland, New Zealand. PDF: Denial of Privilege

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘Colonialism and the Science of Race Difference’,
in TASA and SAANZ Joint Conference Refereed Conference Proceedings – Public
Sociologies: Lessons and Trans-Tasman Comparisons, 4-7 December 2007,
Auckland, New Zealand. PDF: Colonialism and the Science of Race Difference

Howard-Wagner, D. (2006) ‘Practices of Inclusiveness’ in Newcastle: protocols of whiteness, Indigenous protocols and power relations’, The Australian Sociological Association Refereed Conference Proceedings, December 2006. PDF: Practices of Inclusiveness

Howard-Wagner, D. (2006) ‘Who are the real ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’: the print media’s role in constructing the ‘public liability crisis’ as a ‘moral panic drama’, in The Newcastle Law Review, Volume 9, November 2006.

Monographs and reports
Howard, D., Hazel, G., & Wright, T. (2004) Study One: MAS assessors’ perceptions of the MAS – Preliminary Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. Tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in March 2005.

Howard, D. & Hazel, G. (2004) Study Two: CARS assessors’ perceptions of the CARS – Preliminary Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. The report was tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in March 2005.

Howard, D (2004) Study Three: CTP Insurers’ perceptions of the MAS and the CARS – Preliminary Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. Tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in March 2005.

Howard, D., Kellehear, S., & Dixon, E. (2005) Study Four: Solicitors’ perceptions of the MAS and the CARS – Preliminary Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. The report was tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in June 2006.

Kellehear, S., Howard, D. & Dixon, E. (2005) Study Five: MAS claimants’ perceptions of the MAS – Preliminary Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. The report was tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in June 2006.

Howard-Wagner D & Dixon, E. (2006) Study Six: CARS claimants’ perceptions of the CARS – Preliminary Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. The report was tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in June 2006.

Howard-Wagner D (2006) Consolidated Report - User Group perceptions of the MAS and the CARS - Final Findings, Justice Policy Research Centre. The report will be tabled in the NSW Legislative Council Law and Justice Committee in October 2006.

Conference Papers / Addresses
Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘Guilt, torture, terror and the loss of liberty’,
in Marking Sites of Analysis, Discipline, Interrogation, in Law and Society
Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference Presentations, December
2007, Melbourne, Australia.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘State in Denial to National Emergency (Part II) –
Law’s Violence, in Marking Sites of Analysis, Discipline, Interrogation, in
Law and Society Association of Australia and New Zealand Conference
Presentations, December 2007, Melbourne, Australia.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘The Denial of Separate Rights: Political
Rationalities and Technologies Governing Indigenous Affairs as Practices of
Whiteness’, in TASA and SAANZ Joint Conference Refereed Conference
Proceedings – Public Sociologies: Lessons and Trans-Tasman Comparisons, 4-7
December 2007, Auckland, New Zealand.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘Colonialism and the Science of Race Difference’,
in TASA and SAANZ Joint Conference Refereed Conference Proceedings – Public
Sociologies: Lessons and Trans-Tasman Comparisons, 4-7 December 2007,
Auckland, New Zealand.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘State in Denial to National Emergency (Part I) –
Governing the Indigenous population through responses to violence and child
sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, in Violence and the Post Colonial
Welfare State in France and Australia Workshop, October 18 2007, University
of Sydney.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘Beyond Citizenship: securing state borders and
diminishing human rights’, in Securitising Migration: State Security or
Human Security Workshop, 19 October 2007, University of Sydney.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2007) ‘The market is the only thing that is universal’:
the containing and remapping of Indigenous rights’, Paper presented at
International Conference Law and Society in the 21st Century, Joint Annual
Meeting of the Law and Society Association (LSA) and the Research Committee
on Sociology of Law (RCSL), Humboldt University Berlin, July 25-28, 2007.

Howard-Wagner, D. (2006) ‘Practices of Inclusiveness’ in Newcastle: protocols of whiteness, Indigenous protocols and power relations, Australian Sociological Association Conference, December 2006.

Howard-Wagner, D (2006) ‘Legislating away Indigenous rights: an examination of Federal Indigenous law reform since 1996’, the Australian and New Zealand Law and Society Conference, December 2006.

Howard-Wagner, D (2006) Neo-liberal rationalities and the end of Indigenous rights in Australia, Paper presented at the Law and Society Association Annual Meeting 2006
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Howard, D. (2005) ‘Moral panics, the media and the Law – the public liability crisis’, Symposium Moral panics, the media and the Law, Newcastle University, 28-30 September 2005.

Howard, D & Williams, K (2005) ‘How white is Australian Law – the High Court and Native Title’ Law’s Empire Conference, Canadian Law and Society Conference, British Columbia, June 2005.

Howard, D. (2004) ‘Recognition or Incorporation: have the Australia courts and legislatures really moved any closer toward recognising Indigenous customary law alongside Australia’s legal system, in recent years?”, Crossing Boundaries – Australian Law Teachers Association Conference 2004, 8-11 July, Darwin, Australia.

Howard, D. (2004) Who are the real ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’: the print media’s role in constructing the ‘public liability crisis’ as a ‘moral panic drama’, Socio-legal Studies Association Annual Conference 2004, 6-8 April 2004, at the School of Law, Glasgow, Scotland. Invited to submit the paper to the British Journal of Law and Society, Blackwell Publishing.

Melville, A., Howard, D. & Wright, T (2003) ‘Manufacturing the News’ 21st Annual Australian Law and Society Conference, University of Newcastle, December 2003.

Howard, D. (2003) ‘The pendulum has swung too far’ – Howard’s argument that separate legislation unfairly ‘privileges’ Aborigines - 21st Annual Australian Law and Society Conference, December 2003.

Howard, D. (2002) ‘The disjunction between a carefully crafted image of pro-Indigenous rights and the reality of ongoing marginalisation for Aboriginal people’ – Race and Whiteness Conference, April 2002

Howard, D (2001) ‘Contemporary racism at the local level’ Double Edge Conference, University of Newcastle, Australia, December 2001.