Academy Fellow

Lyria is an international leader in developing a critical understanding of the impact of technological change on law. Her work seeks to understand the operation of law at the technological frontier, drawing conclusions about the relationship between law and socio-technical change on a general level, across different doctrinal, technological and historical contexts. It draws connections among legal dilemmas that arise as technology changes across contexts, articulates how legal institutions can best meet the challenges posed by technological change, and critiques oft-quoted concepts such as “legal lag”, “technology neutrality” and “technology regulation.” Through this work she has developed a better approach at the micro (drafting) and macro (institutional) level to managing the need for ongoing adaptation of legal and regulatory frameworks in a context of socio-technical change. This work contributed to the recognition of a new subdiscipline with its own FOR code, 480408, and new journals. 

Drawing on this conceptual work and understanding of socio-technical change and its interaction with legal frameworks and institutions, Lyria has articulated better approaches a variety of important practical and policy questions:

• analysis of legal challenges and policy issues related to cyber security, artificial intelligence, automated vehicles, e-voting, nanotechnology, assisted reproductive technologies, online content regulation;

• clear explanations of the pitfalls of a technology-specific approach to law reform, most recently in the area of artificial intelligence;

• implications of and accountability for the use of AI systems in legal institutions, law enforcement agencies, and government administration; 

• legal and policy implications of changing intelligence practices and in particular the increasing use of data and analytics in defence, national security and law enforcement agencies; and

• the appropriate scope of property law in the context of new and newly valuable objects (data, human tissue, virtual objects).

Lyria has a strong focus on impacting government policy and the legal profession. Her research is cited in parliamentary committee, law reform and government policy reports with substantive impact, ensuring the challenges identified for legal frameworks in the context of socio-technical change are addressed in a way that recognises the need for ongoing adaptability. She participates actively in the Standards Australia’s IT-043 committee on AI standards and has been involved in a range of ACOLA activities. 

Lyria’s research leadership within cooperative research centres (as project lead in the Data to Decisions Cooperative Research Centre and as theme co-lead in the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre) have been directly relevant to policy relating to the use of data analytics in security and designing legal and regulatory frameworks for cyber security, respectively. Through this work she has set goals for law reform to better regulate information sharing among law enforcement agencies, articulated a high-level framework for appropriate uses of data and analytics in security contexts, and outlined a broad vision for understanding law’s contribution to cyber security.

She engages extensively with media to increase public understanding of the complexities of law as it operates in new contexts as well as policy on how to ensure more responsible technology practices. 

Head of School, School of Law, Society and Criminology (2024-2029)

Co-lead, Law and Policy Theme, Cyber Security CRC (2021-2024) (current)

Associate Dean (Research) 2021-2024 (concluded)

Founding Director, UNSW Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation (2017-2024) (concluded)

Advisory Board, Gradient Institute (current)

Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia

Fellow, Australian Academy of Law

Fellow, Royal Society of NSW

CEO’s Award, Data to Decisions CRC (2017) and Team Collaboration Award, Data to Decisions CRC (2016)

Australian Academy of Law Annual Essay Prize (shared, 2016)

1. Krebs, S, Bennett Moses, L, 2024, ‘Data Sharing Agreements: Contracting Personal Information in the Digital Age’, Melbourne University Law Review, 48(1), 95-151

2. Bennett Moses L, 2023, 'Oversight of Police Intelligence: A Complex Web, but Is It Enough?', Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 60, pp. 289 - 336, http://dx.doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.3892

3. Bennett Moses L; valentine K; Chan J, 2021, 'Data Practices in a Web of Values: Reflections on the Gap between Ethical Principles and Data-Driven Social Policy', in Chan J; Saunders P (ed.), Big Data for Australian Social Policy, Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Australia, pp. 105 - 119, https://socialsciences.org.au/publications/big-data-for-australian-social-policy/

4. Bennett Moses, L 2020, ‘Who Owns Information? Law Enforcement Information Sharing as a Case Study in Conceptual Confusion’, University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol. 43, article-no. 8

5. Bennett Moses, L 2017, ‘Regulating in the Face of Sociotechnical Change’ in Brownsword, Scotford & Yeung (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Law, Regulation and Technology, Oxford University Press, pp. 573–59