Director
Professor Tim Lindsey

Professor Tim Lindsey joined the Centre in 1990 and was appointed to the Law School in 1994. His appointments include: Professor of Asian Law (until July 2006), ARC Federation Fellow (from August 2006), Director of the Asian Law Centre (since 2000), Associate Dean (International) in the Melbourne Law School (until July 2006) and Director of the Centre for Islamic Law and Society (from 2005).

A graduate of the University of Melbourne Law School, Tim completed his doctoral thesis in Indonesian studies. His research interests are in the areas of Islamic law, Indonesian law, constitutional law, comparative law, law reform in developing countries and 'rule of law'.  His Federation Fellowship 'Islam and Modernity: Syari'ah, Terrorism and Governance in South-East Asia' brings all these themes together. Tim researches and teaches in bahasa Indonesia and is a long-serving member of the Board of the Australia-Indonesia Institute and a member of the Foreign Affairs Council, both in the Department of Foreign Affairs.  He is an Associate Member of the Academie Internationale de Droit Comparé and of the International Council of the Asia Society  He worked previously at Mallesons Stephen Jaques and has been a practising member of the Victorian Bar since 1990, now specialising in Indonesian and East Timorese law.   He has near-native fluency in bahasa Indonesia.

Tim's publications include Indonesia: Law & Society (now in its second edition); Indonesia: Bankruptcy, Law Reform and the Commercial Court; Corruption in Asia: Rethinking the Governance Paradigm (with Howard Dick); Indonesia After Soeharto: Prospects for Reform; Law and Labour Market Regulation in East Asia (with Sean Cooney, Richard Mitchell and Ying Zhu); Chinese Indonesians: Remembering, Distorting, Forgetting (with Helen Pausacker), also in its second edition; and Law Reform in Developing and Transitional States.  Tim is a Founder and co-Editor of the Australian Journal of Asian Law and is currently writing a monograph on Islamic laws in Indonesia.   

Professor Abdullah Saeed

Professor Saeed is an active researcher, focusing on one of the most important issues in Islamic thought: the negotiation of text and context, ijtihad and interpretation. He is a strong advocate of reform of Islamic thought and is frequently asked to present at events both nationally and internationally. He also participates in training courses on Islamic issues to community leaders and government agencies in Australia and abroad. Of particular interest, given the current climate, is the promotion of inter-religious initiatives. He regularly engages with the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities at national and international symposia to enhance community understandings of Islam, Islamic thought and Muslim societies.

He has authored and edited numerous works. His recent publications include Islamic Thought: an introduction , Routledge, 2006; Interpreting the Qur'an: Towards a Contemporary Approach , Routledge, 2006; Approaches to the Qur'an in Contemporary Indonesia (editor), Oxford University Press, 2005; Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam (co-author) , Ashgate, 2004.; Islam in Australia , Allen & Unwin, 2003. In addition to his strong research focus, Professor Saeed continues to teach Islamic studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervise postgraduate students.

Professor Saeed is the Foundation Chair of the Sultan of Oman Endowed Chair in Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne . He is Director of the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne and Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (in conjunction with Griffith University and the University of Western Sydney ).

Further information is available at: www.abdullahsaeed.org

Ms Kathryn Taylor

Ms Kathryn Taylor joined the Centre for Islamic Law and Society when it was established in 2005.

Kathryn Taylor has been the Administrator of the Asian Law Centre since 1998 and was appointed the Manager of the Centre in 2004. Kathryn is also the Project Manager of Professor Tim Lindsey's ARC Federation Fellowship and Project Manager of Asian Law Online, the largest bibliographic database of English-language materials on Asian legal systems in the world.  She has been an editorial assistant to the Australian Journal of Asian Law since 2000.

Kathryn completed her Arts degree with Honours in Chinese from the University of Melbourne in 1999, after spending 16 months studying Mandarin at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan R.O.C. She completed a Master of Management (International Business) at Monash University in 2001. As part of this degree, Kathryn also completed a Winter Semester in Chinese Law at the East China University of Politics and Law.

Kathryn's research interests include the Chinese language and culture, Asian legal systems (particularly the legal systems of China and Taiwan), international business, the current state of China-Taiwan relations and Islam in China. She has near-native fluency in Mandarin and is currently editing a book with Stacey Steele, entitled Legal Education in Asia: Globalisation, Change and Contexts.

 

Ms Kelly McDermott

Ms Kelly McDermott joined the Centre in 2007. She is the Administrator for the Asian Law Centre, the Centre for Islamic Law and Society and Professor Tim Lindsey's ARC Federation Fellowship.  

 

Kelly completed her Bachelor of Arts (BA majoring in Religious Studies) at the University of Otago, New Zealand in 1999. After completing the Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) in 2002 she moved to the United Kingdom where she taught Religious Studies at a state school in the North East of England. 

 

After extensive travelling around the United Kingdom and Europe, Kelly has returned to Australia to work at the University. She will commence postgraduate studies in University Management in 2010.