Anne Frances Twomey (pronounced too-me) is an Australian academic and lawyer specialising in

Australian constitutional law Australian constitutional law is the area of the law of Australia relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Australia. Legal cases regarding Australian constitutional law are often handled by the High Court of Austr ...

. She is currently the Professor of Constitutional Law and Director of the Constitutional Reform Unit at

Sydney Law School Sydney Law School (informally Sydney Law or SLS) is the law school at the University of Sydney, Australia, Australia's oldest university. Sydney Law School began a full program of legal instruction in 1890 following the appointment of its first d ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. She is a regular commentator on legal and constitutional issues for the Australian media.

Education and academic career

Twomey holds degrees in Arts and Law from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, a Master of Laws from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. Twomey has worked for the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

as a Senior Research Officer, for the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

as a researcher in the Law and Government Group, and The Cabinet Office of New South Wales as Policy Manager of the Legal Branch. She has acted as a consultant to a number of government bodies. Twomey is regarded as an expert on the

Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

. In 2019, Twomey was appointed to a New South Wales Government panel to examine the financial relationship between the state and federal governments.

Honours and personal life

Twomey was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, for "distinguished service to the law, to legal education, and to public education on constitutional matters". Twomey is married to Justice

Mark Leeming Mark James Leeming is a judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the highest court in the State of New South Wales, Australia, which forms part of the Australian court hierarchy. He is one of the current authors of ...

, a judge on the

New South Wales Court of Appeal The New South Wales Court of Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for civil matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian state of New South Wales. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeal operates pursu ...

. In 2022, Twomey started the ''Constitutional Clarion'' YouTube channel, where she publishes her work for a more general audience. Twomey supported the 'yes' case for the

Indigenous Voice to Parliament The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, also known as the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, the First Nations Voice or simply the Voice, was a proposed Australian federal advisory body to comprise Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal a ...

referendum.

Books

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Reviews

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twomey, Anne 21st-century Australian lawyers Australian women lawyers Australian legal scholars Australian National University alumni Living people Officers of the Order of Australia University of Melbourne alumni University of New South Wales alumni Academic staff of the University of Sydney Year of birth unknown Scholars of constitutional law Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women legal scholars