Luke McNamara is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales, and a member of the Centre for Criminology, Law and Justice.  He is a socio-legal researcher who examines why laws change and with what effects, with a focus on the deployment of criminalisation as a public policy tool. Past projects have examined hate speech laws, and public order laws and policing - including impacts on people experiencing homelessness, and peaceful assembly and protest. Current projects include Australian Research Council funded collaborative studies of the impact of statutory reform on sexual offence trials; and the history of criminal law-making directed at safety from violence. He is the author of the books Regulating Racism: Racial Vilification Laws in Australia (2002), and Human Rights Controversies: The Impact of Legal Form (2007); and a co-author of Criminal Laws: Materials and Commentary on Criminal Law and Process of New South Wales (8th ed, 2025), and Reforming Rape Trials: The Impact of Law Reform On Criminal Laws in Australia (forthcoming from Oxford University Press). His work has been published in Australian and international journals, including Criminology & Criminal Justice, International Journal for Crime, Justice & Social Democracy, New Criminal Law Review, UNSW Law Journal, Law and Society Review, Australian Journal of Human Rights, International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, Criminal Law Journal and Current Issues in Criminal Justice. He has partnered with community legal centres and the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT to co-author reports on Children and COVID-19 Fines in NSW: Impacts and Lessons for the Future Use of Penalty Notices (2024), COVID-19 Criminalisation in NSW: A ‘Law and Order’ Response to a Public Health Crisis? (2022) and Replacing the Youth Justice System for Children Aged 10-13 Years in NSW: A ‘Best Interests’ Response (2021).