Rate My Professor Dominique Allen

Dominique Allen is Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Business Law and Taxation at Monash Business School, Monash University. She earned her PhD from Melbourne Law School, an honours degree in law from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Commerce, LLB (Hons), and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. Before entering academia, she practiced as a solicitor in the Australian Capital Territory. From 2010 to 2016, she served as Senior Lecturer at Deakin Law School, teaching contract law and workplace law. At Monash, she directs the Labour, Equality and Human Rights research group. Her accolades include the 2022 Dean’s Award for Equity, Diversity and Social Inclusion Research Excellence and the 2023 Dean's Commendation for Excellence in Research Engagement and Impact, shared with Dr. Adriana Orifici. She held the position of Secretary of the Australian Labour Law Association from 2016 to 2023, serves on the Advisory Board of the Anti-Discrimination Law Review published by Wolters Kluwer, and is affiliated with the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law.

Allen's research focuses on anti-discrimination law, employment law, alternative dispute resolution, human rights law, and equality, utilizing doctrinal, comparative, and empirical methods. Key projects encompass an Australian Research Council grant for examining mechanisms to resolve human rights complaints across four jurisdictions (2023-2025, with Prof. Tamara Walsh), a study on Victorian women's experiences with sex discrimination laws (2022, with Dr. Adriana Orifici), evaluations of Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act 2010 mechanisms, and assessments of alternative dispute resolution for discrimination claims in Australia. She has secured funding from the Victorian Legal Services Board, Victorian Women's Benevolent Trust, and Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. Major publications include the co-authored textbook Australian Anti-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Law (3rd ed., The Federation Press, 2018, with Prof. Neil Rees AM and Prof. Simon Rice OAM), “A new approach to Australia’s sex discrimination and labour laws is designed to improve equality for women at work” (Industrial Law Journal, 2023), “Bearers of rights, not just babies: pondering pregnancy as an impairment to explore pathways to equality” (Alternative Law Journal, 2024, with B. Smith, R. Kayess, and A. Orifici), and “Twenty years of human rights protection in the Australian Capital Territory: what have we learned” (University of New South Wales Law Journal, 2024, with T. Walsh). Her work informs law reform inquiries, equality agencies, conferences, and media.