Anne Gallagher

Anne Therese Gallagher AO is an Australian born lawyer, practitioner and scholar. She is considered to be an international authority on human rights and gender issues and, according to the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report prepared by the United States Department of State, ‘the leading global expert on the international law on human trafficking’.

As an undergraduate Gallagher studied at Macquarie University, Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and International Relations) in 1984 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1987. She completed a Master of International Law at the Australian National University in 1991. In 2006 Gallagher obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands.

Gallagher was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1988 and as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of Australia in 1988 and of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory in 1990.

From 1990 to 1992 Gallagher was a lecturer in the Australian National University's Graduate International Law Program.

She is a former United Nations Official (1992–2003) and was Adviser to Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1998 to 2002. During her tenure as Adviser, Gallagher represented Mary Robinson at the negotiations for the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as well as its protocols on trafficking and migrant smuggling. In 2001–2002 she led the development of the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking and during that same period was the founding Chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Group on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling.

Since 2003, Gallagher has led a high profile and sensitive regional development initiative, funded by the Australian Government Aid Agency AusAID, aimed at strengthening legislative and criminal justice responses to trafficking in persons and related exploitation in all ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States. The US State Department cited Gallagher's contribution to this Project, which they note has been ‘widely acclaimed for its positive impact on laws, policies and practices within and outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region’. The ASEAN Secretary-General, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, also noted Gallagher's contribution, stating that: ‘Dr Gallagher's expertise in this field, particularly in the area of criminal justice responses to trafficking, is recognised and deeply appreciated throughout the ASEAN region. … It is not wrong to say that the achievements that ASEAN, as a region, is enjoying in the criminal justice response to the heinous crime of trafficking are in no small part due to Dr Gallagher’s persevering efforts and her compassion towards ASEAN.'

Gallagher is also an independent, self-funded scholar with a compelling research and publications record on areas related to human rights, criminal justice and the rule of law, and the international law on human trafficking. In addition to numerous articles in major journals, including the International Criminal Justice Review, Human Rights Quarterly, Virginia Journal of International Law and the Anti-Trafficking Review, Gallagher is the author of The International Law of Human Trafficking published by Cambridge University Press and awarded the 2011 American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit – Honorable Mention.

A frequent panellist, expert and rapporteur at international and national governmental and non-governmental consultations, meetings, workshops and other fora, Gallagher has also been invited to be a guest speaker and lecturer at universities around the world, and commented for, or cited by, media.

Gallagher continues to work for the United Nations as a consultant and adviser. Recent major outputs include the commentary to the United Nations Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking and the United Nations Office on drugs and Crime Issue Paper, Abuse of a position of vulnerability and other “means” within the definition of trafficking in persons.

Gallagher was recipient of the Anti-Slavery Australia Freedom Award in 2011. In June 2012 she was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), that country's second-highest civic honour. This appointment was made for her: ‘distinguished service to the law, and to human rights, as a practitioner, teacher and scholar, particularly in the areas of human trafficking responses and criminal justice.’ Also in June 2012, she was named a “2012 TIP Report Hero” by the United States Government for her work in the global fight against human trafficking.

Anne Gallagher is a 2013 Australian National University Alumni Award recipient - joint Alumnus of the Year.