37 Facts About Gillian Triggs

Gillian Doreen Triggs was born on 30 October 1945 and is an Australian and British public international lawyer, specialising in human rights and trade and commercial law.

Gillian Triggs became widely known in Australia after her appointment as president of the Australian Human Rights Commission for a five-year term in 2012.

Gillian Triggs was dean of the Sydney Law School, where she was the Challis Professor of International Law between 2007 and 2012.

Gillian Triggs is the recipient of many honours and awards, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2025 Australia Day Honours.

Gillian Doreen Triggs was born in London, England, on 30 October 1945 In north London, she attended a local convent school, and studied ballet.

Gillian Triggs's father was a major in the British Army, and her mother a WREN.

Gillian Triggs attended University High School and then the University of Melbourne, where she was crowned "Miss University" in 1966.

From 1972 to 1974 Gillian Triggs worked for the Dallas Police Department, serving as legal advisor to the chief of police on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Gillian Triggs undertook a Doctor of Philosophy in territorial sovereignty at the University of Melbourne, which was awarded in 1982.

Gillian Triggs then travelled to the Antarctic under the auspices of the Antarctic Science Advisory Council and spent two months there.

In 1987 or 1988, Gillian Triggs joined Mallesons Stephen Jaques, where she worked as a consultant on international law continuing to provide consultation until 2005, including in Singapore, Paris, and Melbourne.

In 1996 Gillian Triggs was appointed professorial fellow at Melbourne Law School, a position she held until 2007.

Gillian Triggs was the director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law from July 2005 to September 2007.

Gillian Triggs returned to Australia in 2007, to become the dean of the University of Sydney Law School and Challis Professor of International Law.

Gillian Triggs took up this role in October 2007, leaving in 2012.

Gillian Triggs was admitted to the Victorian Bar, and from 2009 to 2011, she was an honorary member at Sydney barristers' chambers Seven Wentworth Chambers.

On 27 July 2012, Gillian Triggs ended her term as dean of the Sydney Law School taking up her appointment as the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, for a period of five years commencing 30 July 2012.

On 3 February 2014, almost two years after her appointment as the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs launched the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014, to "investigate the ways in which life in immigration detention affects the health, well-being and development of children".

However, Gillian Triggs criticised both Labor and Coalition governments for ignoring their commitments and legal obligations to protect children under their care and protection.

Gillian Triggs received significant public support, and a censure motion was passed in the Senate against Attorney-General George Brandis over his attacks on her as the president of the HRC.

Gillian Triggs said in 2015 that her critics often make personal attacks, to divert attention from issues she is raising, and that she would welcome a discussion with the ministers on important issues; "they never attack me on the law".

In 2016, Gillian Triggs received criticism for her handling of an action involving three Queensland University of Technology students who were accused of racial vilification under Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

Gillian Triggs said she had urged the government to introduce a higher threshold before the commission was obliged to investigate hate speech complaints, but defended the commission's handling of the case, saying that the complaint had "a level of substance".

Tony Morris, the lawyer who represented the students, claimed that Gillian Triggs was to blame for the case making it to court after 14 months.

Gillian Triggs said that 11 months of the delay were due to a request by the complainant and QUT not to notify the students.

In November 2016, Gillian Triggs supported a proposal to change Section 18C.

In February 2017, Gillian Triggs told a Senate committee that the HRC did not see a case to change 18C but recommended reforms requiring that respondents be notified of complaints and allowing the president greater powers to reject complaints.

In October 2016, Liberal Senator Ian MacDonald alleged that Gillian Triggs had misled the Senate by stating that a journalist had misquoted comments made by her about several Australian politicians in a profile piece by The Saturday Paper.

Gillian Triggs later said that she accepted that the article was "an accurate excerpt from a longer interview".

In March 2017, Gillian Triggs defended her engagement to speak at a fundraising event for the Bob Brown Foundation, after Liberal Senator Eric Abetz criticised her appearance there, as the foundation conducts overtly political activist campaigns.

Gillian Triggs has published papers on various topics of public international law, including World Trade Organization disputes resolution, energy and resources law, law of the sea, territorial sovereignty, jurisdiction and immunity, international criminal law, international environmental law and human rights.

Gillian Triggs is author of two editions of International Law: Contemporary Principles and Practices, and has co-written, written, or edited a number of books and numerous book chapters and articles.

Gillian Triggs has been editor of the journals International and Comparative Law Quarterly and Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association Journal.

Gillian Triggs's memoir, Speaking Up, was published by Melbourne University Press in 2018.

Apart from the countries mentioned above, Gillian Triggs has worked in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Germany, and Iran.

Gillian Triggs first married Melbourne law professor Sandy Clark, with whom she had two daughters and a son in close succession.

Clark and Gillian Triggs took her home when she was six months old, but, with two toddlers at home, found it very difficult to care for all three properly, so, reluctantly, they found a family who would become her primary carers.