Edward Santow

Headshot

Responsible Technology, University of Technology Sydney

Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner; Industry Professor

Edward Santow has been Human Rights Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission since August 2016.



Ed leads the Commission’s work on detention and implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT); refugees and migration; human rights issues affecting LGBTI people; counter-terrorism and national security; technology and human rights; freedom of expression; and freedom of religion.

 

Ed’s areas of expertise include human rights, public law and discrimination law. He is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and serves on a number of boards and committees.

 

In 2009, Ed was presented with an Australian Leadership Award, and in 2017, he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

 

From 2010-2016, Ed was chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, a leading non-profit organisation that promotes human rights through strategic litigation, policy development and education.

 

Ed was previously a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law School, a research director at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and a solicitor in private practice.

 

 

Contributions by Edward Santow

  • AI is The Technology for 2023: A discussion of future regulation and current actions for organizations
    Speaker at Virtual Sydney KnowledgeNet: 3 August 2023
  • Regulating AI — How Will the Future Be Governed?
    Speaker at IAPP ANZ Summit 2022
  • AI — What’s the Drama? Applying Accountability to New Tech
    Speaker at IAPP ANZ Summit 2019