Michelle Maloney

Associate
Australia

Dr. Michelle Maloney is a lawyer and advocate for Earth-centred law and governance. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science and History) and Laws (Honours) from the Australian National University and a Ph.D. in Law from Griffith University.  

Maloney is co-founder and National Convenor of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance (AELA), and in this role she works to promote the understanding and practical implementation of Earth-centred governance in Australia – with a focus on law, economics, ethics, education, Indigenous partnerships. and the arts. She has edited two books and written dozens of articles and chapters about Earth laws and the Rights of Nature. You can access her articles and interviews on her AELA profile page.

She has thirty years of experience designing and managing climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice projects in Australia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and the U.S., including ten years working with Indigenous colleagues in Central Queensland on a range of community development, sustainability, and cultural heritage projects.  

Maloney chairs the Australian Peoples’ Tribunal for Community and Nature’s Rights (the APT), manages the Australian Centre for the Rights of Nature, is on the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) and the Steering Group for the Ecological Law and Governance Association (ELGA). She also co-chairs the Pacific Ocean Rights Network.