Sophia O'Brien | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Sophia is a lecturer in law at the University of the Sunshine Coast. 

She predominantly teaches and researches issues in international law, constitutional law and international human rights law.

Sophia’s doctoral thesis examined the problem of impunity for grave human rights violations and the manner in which international law and policy attempts to address it. 

As an undergraduate, Sophia attained a Bachelor of Law with First Class Honours and a Bachelor of International Relations majoring in International Political Economy. 

Sophia was a university medallist, and has been awarded prizes including the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award, which enabled her to undertake research into international law and policy in Beijing. There, Sophia developed expertise on the premier strategic and security challenges in our region, including the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea.

Sophia enjoys contributing to academic life. Among other efforts, Sophia has played a role in founding the UniSC Chapter of Scholars at Risk, an international network of academic institutions which supports and defends academic freedom and the human rights of scholars around the world, and has represented UniSC on the SAR international advisory committee.

Sophia is admitted to the legal profession and has worked in litigation. 

She is also an active member of the Sunshine Coast community, having served on the Board of not-for-profit groups such as Generation Innovation.