Dr Erin O’Donnell wins 2025 Paul Bourke Prize

Dr Erin O’Donnell of Melbourne Law School has won an Academy of Social Sciences in Australia Paul Bourke Prize for Early Career Research in the field of law, history and philosophy.

Dr O’Donnell is a Senior Lecturer, ARC DECRA Fellow, and Deputy Director (rights of nature and water justice) of the Melbourne Centre for Law and the Environment at Melbourne Law School, whose research is shaping national and international conversations on the legal rights of rivers and Indigenous water justice.

Academy president Professor Kate Darian-Smith described the 2025 prize winners as ‘remarkable scholars’.

“Their innovative work is helping us better understand and solve real-world challenges, from improving Indigenous water justice to reducing youth vaping rates.”

The Paul Bourke Awards recognise four of the nation's most exceptional early-career researchers across the social sciences in Australia.

Dr O’Donnell said: “It is an immense honour to be recognised by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. I am extremely proud to be part of the 2025 cohort, which includes outstanding researchers from across Australia.”

As the lead author of the Cultural Water for Cultural Economies project, Dr O’Donnell partnered with Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) and twenty other Traditional Owner organisations to identify law and policy pathways to address the inherent water rights of Traditional Owners and First Nations in Victoria.

This innovative collaborative project delivered Victoria’s first return of water rights to Traditional Owners in 2020, and a State-Government policy roadmap in 2022.

“As rivers gain the legal status of living entities and legal persons, this can transform our relationship from one of exploitation to one of reciprocity and care,” she said.

In 2023, Dr O’Donnell commenced her ARC DECRA research project, focused on supporting Indigenous-led, cultural water knowledge exchanges.