ProfessorKate Seear

Kate Seear is Professor of Law and an Australian Research Council Industry Fellow in the Deakin Law School. She was previously an Australian Research Council Future Fellow (2021-2025), as well as an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow (2016-2019). Kate is also a qualified solicitor, with experience working in family and sexual violence, personal injury law and community law. She is the Deputy Chair of Victoria's landmark Inquiry into Women's Pain, and an invited member of the Victorian Women's Health Advisory Council. She is also the co-editor of the journal Contemporary Drug Problems (with Professor kylie valentine of UNSW) and co-convenes the journal's international conference, held every two years.

Kate has a multidisciplinary background, in law and sociology, and has particular expertise in qualitative methods and legal analyses. Her research focuses on alcohol and other drugs, health, gender and the body. She has written on issues including: harm reduction and the law; drug policy and human rights; drug-related stigma and the law; overdose and the law; and hepatitis C and the law. She has also written on family and sexual violence; victims of crime; feminist lawmaking methods; legal ethics; and women's health (endometriosis). She draws on a range of theoretical approaches in her work, including: Science and Technology Studies; feminist theory; posthumanism; and new materialisms. She is currently working on a new book that examines the intersections between drug law and multispecies justice. 

Kate has previously held roles in the Faculty of Law at Monash University, and was the inaugural Academic Director of one of Australia's oldest and largest community legal centres, the South-East Monash Legal Service (formerly Springvale Monash Legal Service); and the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society at La Trobe University, where she was Deputy Director. She has also held visiting fellowships at Sussex University and Hong Kong University.

SUCCESSFUL GRANTS

Kate has been funded and commissioned to produce research by various organisations, including the Australian Research Council and government departments, and has received over $8 million in research funding. Recent examples include:

* Reducing drug-related harms in Australia through a new Reform Collaboratory - Australian Research Council Mid-Career Industry Fellowship ($1,181,367 - plus industry contributions) (Commencing 2026) (Ref: IM250100211)

* A world-first ‘post-human rights’ framework for drug policy: Improving social, economic and health outcomes - Australian Research Council Future Fellowship ($1,034,020) (2021-2024) (Ref: FT200100099)

* BBV and STI stigma reduction toolkit for the Victorian health sector: An implementation project (with Dr Adrian Farrugia, Dr Jeanne Ellard et al.) – Department of Health (Victoria) ($121,479) (2023-2024).

* Trial of a universal precautions approach to stigma reduction in the BBV/STI field (with Prof Carla Treloar, Prof Mark Stoové et al.) – Department of Health (Commonwealth) ($3,639,319) (2022-2026).

* Addressing hepatitis C-related discrimination in a post-cure world (with Prof Suzanne Fraser, Prof kylie valentine, Dr Adrian Farrugia) –Australian Research Council Discovery Project ($560,000) (2020–2022) (Ref: DP200100941)

* Addiction in the Australian legal system: A sociological analysis - Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship ($323,000) (2016-2018) (Ref: DE160100134)

* Understanding performance and image enhancing drug injecting in Australia (with Prof Suzanne Fraser and Prof David Moore) - Australian Research Council Discovery Project ($472,500) (2017-2019) (Ref: DP170100302)

* Reducing stigma and discrimination for people experiencing problematic alcohol and other drug use (with Prof Alison Ritter and Dr Kari Lancaster) - Queensland Mental Health Commission ($150,000) (2016-2017)

RESEARCH PROFILE

Kate is the author of six books –

• Judging Drugs: Key issues in law and society (edited collection, co-edited with Simon Flacks)
• The Feminist Legislation Project (edited collection, co-edited with Becky Batagol, Heli Askola and Jamie Walvisch); 
• Law, drugs and the making of addiction: Just habits, which was the winner of the prestigious UK Socio-Legal Studies Association’s 2020 Theory and History book prize;
• Critical perspectives on coercive interventions: Law, medicine and society (edited collection, co-edited with Claire Spivakovsky and Adrian Carter);
• Making Disease, Making Citizens: The politics of hepatitis C (with Suzanne Fraser); and
• The making of a modern epidemic: Endometriosis, gender and politics, which was based upon Kate’s PhD research. 

AWARDS AND PRIZES

Kate is the recipient of several awards and prizes. As noted earlier, her book Law, drugs and the making of addiction: Just habits was the winner of the prestigious UK Socio-Legal Studies Association’s 2020 History and Theory book prize. She is also a three-time winner (2019, 2018 and 2016) of the Monash University Faculty of Law's Dean's Award for Research Impact (Economic and Social). On each occasion, she was recognised for her role in directly shaping reform of Australian drug laws. In 2019, Kate won the Monash University Vice Chancellor's (university-wide) award for Research Impact (Economic and Social). This is the university's highest prize for research impact, and was awarded in recognition of work undertaken by Kate and colleagues on family violence, victims of crime and drug use, and its role in influencing law reform in Victoria. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Monash University Faculty of Law's Early Career Researcher of the year award, and was shortlisted for the Vice Chancellor's (university-wide) award for Early Career Researcher of the year. She is the recipient of several other awards and prizes, including teaching awards and commendations.

IN THE MEDIA

Kate is a regular media commentator. In her spare time, she is a member of the multi award-winning The Outer Sanctum Podcast, a pioneering all-female podcast that explores the social, cultural, legal and political aspects of sport. In 2018, the podcast won the Australian Football Media Association award for "best coverage of the AFLW". In 2019, they won the Sport Australia award for "best depiction of inclusive sport". Sport Australia is Australia's primary national sports administration and advisory agency of the Australian government. It plays a central leadership role in the development and operation of the Australian sports system.