Professor Kieran Tranter
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Law
Biography
Kieran is the Chair of Law, Technology and Future in the School of Law. Kieran joined the School of Law, Queensland University of Technology in 2019 and is the founding General Editor of Law, Technology and Humans. He is also director of the Human Technology Law Centre.Kieran research is focused on law, technology and the future. Drawing upon the humanities, he explores how humans legislate, live with, and are changed by technology. In researching law, technology, and the future his research often engages with cultural narratives that connect humans, law and technology across time. The goal of Kieran's research is to shape humanity’s technological future to be better than its technological past.
In 2025 Kieran's research and research leadership was recognised by the Dean's Award for Research and Innovation Excellence, Faculty of Business and Law, Queensland University of Technology.
Prior to his current appointment Kieran was an Associate Professor at Griffith Law School, Griffith University. At Griffith Law School he served as HDR Convenor, Acting Centre Director and Deputy Head of School Research, Deputy Head of School Teaching and Managing Editor of the Griffith Law Review. He commenced at Griffith in 2003 having previously been a Lecturer and Social Justice coordinator at the College of Law, University of Notre Dame Australia in Fremantle from 1999 to 2002.
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Law
Keywords
Law and Technology, Law and Humanities, Socio-legal Studies, Automation, Digital Legality and Digital Decision Making, Cultural Studies, Pop Culture Studies, Games Studies, Science Fiction Studies, Automobilty, Car Culture, Road Safety and Transport Justice, Australian Public Law, Legal Theory
Research field
Law in context
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Griffith University)
Teaching
Kieran has taught extensively into the LLB curriculum at law schools in Queensland and Western Australia. His teaching areas have been Administrative Law, Civil Procedure and Legal Theory. He has taught electives in Law and Culture and Law Reform. At QUT he coordinates the Law Thesis Research Extension subject that provides a pathway into HDR programs. In 2018 Kieran was awarded a Group Learning and Teaching Citation by Griffith University for his leadership in the Law Reform elective that facilitated students developing experience in research impact through the drafting and submitting of reform submissions. He previously was awarded a Group Learning and Teaching Citation by Griffith University in 2011 for his leadership of the team that successfully redesigned and taught the legal theory courses to enhance student engagement and satisfaction.
Kieran is particularly proud of his achievements as a HDR supervisor and the successes of his HDR candidates. In recognition of his demonstrated quality supervision practices, he was awarded in 2017 a Group Research Supervision Award by Griffith University and HDR leadership awards from the School of Law, Queensland University of Technology 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Publications
- Anthony, T., Sherwood, J., Blagg, H. & Tranter, K. (2024). Unsettling Colonial Automobilities: Criminalisation and Contested Sovereignties. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/245061
- Green, A., Travis, M. & Tranter, K. (2025). Cultural Legal Studies of Science Fiction. Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/252834
- Green, A., Travis, M. & Tranter, K. (2025). Science Fiction As Legal Imaginary. Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/253822
- Tranter, K., (2025). Boldly gone: The estranged presence of law in Star Trek. In A. Green, M. Travis & K. Tranter (Eds.), Cultural Legal Studies of Science Fiction (pp. 252–268). Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/252837
- Tranter, K., (2025). The Magnitudes of Law and Science Fiction. In A. Green, M. Travis & K. Tranter (Eds.), Cultural Legal Studies of Science Fiction (pp. 17–41). Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/252836
- Brady, M., Tranter, K. & Bennett, B. (2025). Automated Vehicles, the 'Driver Dilemma', Stopping Powers, and Paradigms of Regulating Road Traffic. Computer Law and Security Review, 56, Article 106076. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/253824
- Tranter, K. & Peters, T. (2025). Benchmarks for Australian Law Researchers' H-Index and Citation Count Bibliometrics. Law, Technology and Humans, 7(1), 154–174. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/256388
- Robb, L. & Tranter, K. (2024). Hype and cultural imaginary in law and technology. In B. Brozek, P. Palka & O. Kanevskaia (Eds.), Research Handbook on Law and Technology (pp. 128–140). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/245646
- Tranter, K., (2024). Playing the World Picture: Sid Meier's Civilization and the Law of Abstraction. In D. Mitchell, A. Pearson & T. Peters (Eds.), Law, Video Games, Virtual Realities: Playing Law (pp. 172–189). Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/243807
- Horne, R., Humphries, F., Guilfoyle, D. & Tranter, K. (2024). Autonomous Vessels and the Australian Domestic Maritime Regulatory Framework. University of Tasmania Law Review, 43(1), 83–130. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/254767
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Kieran, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/k.tranter
Awards
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2025
- Details
- School of Law, QUT | Head of School’s Award, Excellence in HDR Supervision
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2024
- Details
- Faculty of Business and Law, QUT | Dean’s Award for Research and Innovation Excellence
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- School of Law, QUT | Head of School’s Award, Excellence in Research Contribution
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- School of Law, QUT | Head of School’s Award, Excellence in HDR Supervision
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Griffith University. Dean's Highly Commended Certificate Learning and Teaching, Arts, Education and Law Group, Griffith University
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Griffith University. Research Supervision Award, Arts, Education and Law Group, Griffith University
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2011
- Details
- Griffith University| Group Teaching and Learning Citation, Arts, Education and Law Group, Griffith University
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2010
- Details
- Griffith University| Academic Excellence Award for Doctorial Studies, Griffith University
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
- Cultural Legalities of Social Media and Mobile Digital Devices in the Global South
- First Nations transport justice
- Critical, historical, social or cultural examinations of law and technology
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- A case study using Integral Theory and Complexity Science to assess the fitness and effectiveness of South Australia's Coastal Protection regulatory framework, with the potential to reimagine the application of Environmental Law more broadly
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Felicity Deane, Professor Afshin Akhtar-Khavari - A Comparative Study on the Role of Consumer Protection Law in the Regulation of Automated Vehicles in Australia and China
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Michael Guihot, Dr Scott Kiel-Chisholm - A Living Jurisdiction? The common law jurisdiction of the High Court of Australia in the 21st Century
PhD, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Lucy Cradduck - Digitalising Pachamama: Towards a Carbon Mitigation Framework for Colombian Communities
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Felicity Deane, Dr Lachlan Robb, Adjunct Professor Melissa Bull - Law students' perceptions of the integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools for learning the practice of law
PhD, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Michael Guihot - Measuring and evaluating the adoption and practice of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) principles by judges in Australian mainstream courts
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Sam Boyle, Dr Nigel Stobbs - No Harm Done: An Evaluation of the Team Production Model's Viability as a Theoretical Framework in the Context of Australian Publicly Listed Corporations
PhD, Mentoring Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Anne Matthew - Power, ideology, and large language models
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Michael Guihot, Dr Lachlan Robb - Revealing mangrove place law: a critique of critical plant studies, non-human philosophy and non-human legal theory
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr Nigel Stobbs, Dr Catherine Carol, Professor Afshin Akhtar-Khavari - Superhero Comics, Queered Cultural Legal Studies and Visual Jurisprudence: How DC Comics Visualises Changing Law
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Mr Mark Thomas, Professor Matthew Ball
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Transforming Native Forest Governance: Strengthening the ITTA Framework Through Advanced Traceability Technologies (2026)
- Navigating to smoother regulatory waters for Australian commercial vessels capable of remote or autonomous operation (2024)
- Social Media Misconduct Dismissals in South Africa: Forms of Hate Speech in First-Instance Employment Decisions (2024)
- Unsuccessful Ageing: Marginalising Constructions of Dementia in Australian Public & Legal Aged Care Discourse (2024)
- Tracing the contextual factors that shape the use of workplace wearables (2023)
- Legal Adaptability to Disruptive Technology: A Case Study of Australian Law in Relation to Harm and Automated Vehicles (2021)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.