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Professor Daniel Ghezelbash

Professor Daniel Ghezelbash

Professor

PhD (University of Sydney)

LLB (Hons I) (University of Sydney)

BA (Hons I) (University of Sydney)

Graduate Dip Legal Practice (ANU)

Law & Justice
School of Global & Public Law

Daniel is a Professor and the Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at ʹڲƱ Sydney, and an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow.

He is an internationally recognised scholar of international and comparative refugee and migration law. His ARC DECRA Fellowship examines comparative practices to develop recommendations for improving the fairness and efficiency of Australia's asylum procedures.He has also published widely on the way restrictive asylum policies have spread around the world. This is the topic of his book,Refuge Lost: Asylum Law in an Interdependent World(Cambridge University Press, 2018). He has spent time as a Visiting Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, Brooklyn Law School and New York Law School.

Daniel is passionate about using technology to increase access to justice and to counter systemic discrimination and bias in the legal system. He is the founder of the Kaldor Centre Data Lab, through which he has pioneered computational and data-driven approaches to studying administrative and judicial decision-making in refugee cases.He is one of Australia's leading experts on legal technology and generative AI. He has been involved in establishing numerous initiatives using technology to increase access to justice including Wallumatta Legal, a not-for-profit law firm which provides low-cost legal advice to family law litigants that would otherwise be unrepresented, and the Hear Me Out Complaints Platform, which aims to harness the power of complaint making to combat systemic discrimination in Australia.

Daniel was formerly the Deputy Director of the Kaldor Centre, and the co-lead of the Access to Justice and Technology Stream at the ʹڲƱ Allens Hub for Law, Technology and Innovation. In his previous role, he founded and directed the award winning Macquarie University Social Justice Clinic and led the Law and AI stream at the Macquarie AI-enabled Processes Research Centre.

Daniel is a practicing refugee lawyer. He is Special Counsel at the National Justice Project, and sits on the boards of a number of not-for-profit legal centres, including the Refugee Advice and Casework Service and Wallumatta Legal. He is also a founder and board member of the Access to Justice and Technology Network, which promotes and supports the uptake of legal technology in Australia's not-for-profit legal sector.

Daniel regularly features and published in domestic and international media outlets on refugee, migration, access to justice and legal technology issues. In 2021, he was selected for the ABC Top 5 Humanities Media Residency.

Location
Room 147 The Law Building University of New South Wales ʹڲƱ Kensington Campus Sydney NSW 2052 Australia (Access via Gate 2 off High Street)
  • Books | 2020
    Crock M; Bones K; Ghezelbash D; Hollands J; Kenny MA, 2020, Children and Young People in Asylum and Refugee Processes Towards Best Practice
    Books | 2018
    Ghezelbash D, 2018, Refuge lost: Asylum law in an interdependent world,
  • Book Chapters | 2024
    Ghezelbash D; Shachar A, 2024, 'How and Why “Ideas Travel” in Migration Law and Policy', in Cope K; Burch Elias S; Goldenziel J (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Comparative Immigration Law, Oxford University Press, Oxford
    Book Chapters | 2024
    Ghezelbash D, 2024, 'Refugee Status Determination', in Chetail V (ed.), Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Migration and Asylum Law
    Book Chapters | 2022
    Crock M; Ghezelbash D; Reich S; Stevens R, 2022, 'Selective Generosity: Migration Law and Policy in Australia', in Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, Springer International Publishing, pp. 99 - 139,
    Book Chapters | 2022
    Ghezelbash D, 2022, 'Australia’s boat push-back policy: Hyper-legalism and obfuscation in action', in Refugee Externalisation Policies Responsibility Legitimacy and Accountability, pp. 69 - 83,
    Book Chapters | 2021
    Ghezelbash D, 2021, 'Fast-track, accelerated, and expedited asylum procedures as a tool of exclusion', in Research Handbook on the Law and Politics of Migration, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 248 - 261,
    Book Chapters | 2018
    Ghezelbash D, 2018, 'The rise and rise of mandatory immigration detention', in Protecting Migrant Children in Search of Best Practice, pp. 420 - 436
    Book Chapters | 2016
    Crock M; Ghezelbash D, 2016, 'Secret immigration business: Policy transfers and the tyranny of deterrence theory', in Ashgate Research Companion to Migration Law Theory and Policy, pp. 617 - 638,
    Book Chapters | 2016
    Pickering S; Segrave M; Tazreiter C; Weber L, 2016, 'Migration control and human security', in The Ashgate Research Companion to Migration Law, Theory and Policy, pp. 535 - 562,
    Book Chapters | 2015
    Ghezelbash D; Crock M, 2015, 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind?: The Myths and Realities of Mandatory Immigration Detention', in Global Migration Old Assumptions New Dynamics Volume 1 3, pp. 23 - 45
    Book Chapters | 2015
    Ghezelbash D, 2015, 'Lessons in Exclusion: Interdiction and Extraterritorial Processing of Asylum Seekers in the United States and Australia', in International Refugee Law Series, pp. 90 - 117,
    Book Chapters | 2015
    Ghezelbash D, 2015, 'Lessons in exclusion: Interdiction and extraterritorial processing of asylum seekers in the United States and Australia', in Exploring the Boundaries of Refugee Law Current Protection Challenges, pp. 90 - 117,
    Book Chapters | 2013
    Crock M; Ghezelbash D, 2013, 'Secret immigration business: Policy transfers and the tyranny of deterrence theory', in Ashgate Research Companion to Migration Law Theory and Policy, pp. 617 - 637
  • Journal articles | 2025
    Ghezelbash D; Bridle M, 2025, 'Fairness and Efficiency in the Review of Asylum Decisions: Data-Driven Insights and Lessons From Australia’s Failed Fast Track Process', Refugee Survey Quarterly, 44, pp. 252 - 273,
    Journal articles | 2025
    Ghezelbash D; Burridge A; Kashyap T, 2025, 'Accelerated Asylum Procedures: Comparing International Practice', ASYL,
    Journal articles | 2024
    Gammeltoft-Hansen T; Ghezelbash D, 2024, 'What role for law in refugee studies? Towards a transdisciplinary agenda', Journal of Refugee Studies, 37, pp. 837 - 850,
    Journal articles | 2024
    Ghezelbash D; Bridle M; Dorostkar K; Kwan T-KJ, 2024, 'Decoding Justice: A Data-driven Approach to Evaluating and Improving the Administrative Review of Refugee Cases in Australia', AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, 31
    Journal articles | 2024
    Ghezelbash D; Dorostkar K, 2024, 'Understanding the politics of refugee law and policy making: Interdisciplinary and empirical approaches', Journal of Refugee Studies, 37, pp. 898 - 914,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Carole V; Ghezelbash D; Hinterberger KF; Heckendorn Urscherler L, 2023, 'Editorial - Special Issue on Comparative Migration Law: Methods, Debates and New Frontiers', International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 7, pp. 107 - 113,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Ghezelbash D, 2023, 'Legal transfers of migration law: the case for an interdisciplinary approach', International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 7, pp. 182 - 182,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Ghezelbash D, 2023, 'Legal transfers of migration law: the case for an interdisciplinary approach', International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 7, pp. 182 - 196,
    Journal articles | 2023
    Viennet C; Ghezelbash D; Hinterberger KF; Urscheler LH, 2023, 'Editorial', International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 7, pp. 107 - 107,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Ghezelbash D; Dorostkar K; Walsh S, 2022, 'A DATA DRIVEN APPROACH TO EVALUATING AND IMPROVING JUDICIAL DECISION-MAKING: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE JUDICIAL REVIEW OF REFUGEE CASES IN AUSTRALIA', University of New South Wales Law Journal, 45, pp. 1085 - 1123
    Journal articles | 2022
    Ghezelbash D; Dorostkar K; Walsh S, 2022, 'A Data Driven Approach to Evaluating and Improving Judicial Decision-Making: Statistical Analysis of the Judicial Review of Refugee Cases in Australia', University of New South Wales Law Journal, 45,
    Journal articles | 2022
    Ghezelbash D, 2022, 'Technology and countersurveillance: holding governments accountable for refugee externalization policies', Globalizations,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Dastyari A; Ghezelbash D, 2021, 'Asylum at sea: The legality of shipboard refugee status determination procedures', International Journal of Refugee Law, 32, pp. 1 - 27,
    Journal articles | 2021
    Jefferies R; Ghezelbash D; Hirsch A, 2021, 'ASSESSING REFUGEE PROTECTION CLAIMS AT AUSTRALIAN AIRPORTS: THE GAP BETWEEN LAW, POLICY, AND PRACTICE', Melbourne University Law Review, 44, pp. 162 - 211
    Journal articles | 2020
    Ghezelbash D; Feith Tan N, 2020, 'The End of the Right to Seek Asylum? COVID-19 and the Future of Refugee Protection', International Journal of Refugee Law, 32, pp. 668 - 679,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Ghezelbash D, 2020, 'Hyper-Legalism and Obfuscation: How States Evade Their International Obligations towards Refugees', American Journal of Comparative Law, 68, pp. 479 - 516,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Jefferies R; Ghezelbash D; Hirsch A, 2020, 'Assessing Refugee Protection Claims at Australian Airports: The Gap Between Law, Policy, and Practice', SSRN Electronic Journal, 44, pp. 162 - 211,
    Journal articles | 2020
    Newhouse G; Ghezelbash D; Whittaker A, 2020, 'The Experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Participants in Australia’s Coronial Inquest System: Reflections from the Front Line', International Journal for Crime Justice and Social Democracy, 9, pp. 76 - 89,
    Journal articles | 2019
    Moreno-Lax V; Ghezelbash D; Klein N, 2019, 'Between life, security and rights: Framing the interdiction of 'boat migrants' in the central mediterranean and Australia', Leiden Journal of International Law, 32, pp. 715 - 740,
    Journal articles | 2018
    Ghezelbash D; Moreno-Lax V; Klein N; Opeskin B, 2018, 'Securitization of