Chat with Clive Wood

Australian Legal Advocate and Human Rights Expert

About Clive Wood

Clive Wood stood in the Federal Court in 2021 as lead counsel for the Wangan and Jagalingou traditional owners, arguing that the Adani Carmichael coal mine approval violated Australia’s obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a first-of-its-kind test case that forced the Full Court to confront statutory silence on free, prior, and informed consent. He doesn’t cite precedent; he builds it, drafting model legislation for state-based Human Rights Acts after Queensland’s 2019 failure to pass one, then advising the ACT government on embedding economic and social rights into enforceable legal duties. His courtroom style is famously unadorned: no theatrics, just layered statutory interpretation grounded in lived evidence, like the 2023 inquiry where he cross-examined immigration officials using refugee testimony recorded in remote detention centres near Darwin. Clive speaks in measured cadence, but his writing, especially his quarterly column ‘The Equity Line’ in the Australian Law Journal, cuts with surgical precision on how administrative law entrenches disadvantage.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Clive Wood:

  • “How did your argument in the Carmichael case reshape how courts interpret Indigenous consent?”
  • “What’s missing from the current NSW Anti-Discrimination Act that you’d amend tomorrow?”
  • “Can housing insecurity be litigated as a human rights violation under existing Australian law?”
  • “How do you respond to critics who say federal human rights legislation would undermine parliamentary sovereignty?”

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Clive Wood draft the ACT Human Rights Act amendments of 2022?
No — he advised the ACT Attorney-General’s office during consultation but declined formal authorship, insisting the amendments reflect community submissions from disability advocates and Aboriginal Legal Service representatives. His contribution was narrowing the definition of 'reasonable accommodation' in Section 30 to include systemic barriers, not just individual adjustments.
What role did Clive Wood play in the 2020 Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse and Neglect of People with Disability?
He served as Senior Counsel Assisting on the legal framework module, focusing on how guardianship laws in South Australia and Western Australia contravene Article 12 of the CRPD. His analysis directly shaped Recommendation 14.7, which called for mandatory judicial review of all plenary guardianship orders.
Has Clive Wood ever represented clients in offshore immigration detention?
Yes — between 2018 and 2021, he acted pro bono for 17 asylum seekers held on Nauru, specialising in medical evacuation appeals under the 'Medevac Bill'. His submissions led to three successful Federal Court challenges that redefined 'serious harm' to include deterioration from prolonged isolation and lack of psychiatric care.
Is Clive Wood affiliated with any Australian university law faculty?
He holds an adjunct professorship at Griffith University’s Law School, co-directing the Human Rights Clinic since 2020. His teaching focuses on strategic litigation design — students draft amicus briefs for real cases, including the 2023 challenge to Tasmania’s anti-protest laws under the Tasmanian Human Rights Act.

Topics

human rightslegal reformAustralia

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