Metadata
Title
Kit Barker
Category
general
UUID
34f0e6b1f6bb4544a50f9100877da700
Source URL
https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1749
Parent URL
https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/bel/about/leaders
Crawl Time
2026-03-11T06:57:58+00:00
Rendered Raw Markdown 
# Kit Barker

**Source**: https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1749
**Parent**: https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/bel/about/leaders

Professor

# Kit Barker

Email:
:   [k.barker@law.uq.edu.au](mailto:k.barker@law.uq.edu.au)

Phone:
:   [+61 7 334 67609](tel:+61 7 334 67609)

## Positions

Centre Director of Australian Centre for Private Law
:   Australian Centre for Private Law
:   Faculty of Business, Economics and Law

Professor
:   School of Law
:   Faculty of Business, Economics and Law

## Overview

### Background

Kit Barker joined the TC Beirne School of Law in 2006. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with first class honours (in 1988) and subsequently completed the BCL (with distinction) in 1991. He was admitted to the Middle Temple Inn of Court as a Harmsworth Scholar and to the Bar of England and Wales in 1990. He is interested in private law as a whole, but specialises in the law of torts and unjust enrichment law and the law's doctrine, philosophical foundations and remedies. More recently, his work has explored the interface between private law and public law and policy, with a focus on the tortious liability of government, misfeasance in public office and the use of private enforcers in public law. He is a former Associate Dean (Research) at the TC Beirne School of Law and an assistant editor of the *Torts Law Journal*. He is the author of *Enforcement Rights in Public and Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Hybrids* (OUP, 2026) and co-author of three other, major works - *Unjust Enrichment* (3rd ed, Sydney, Lexis Nexis, Butterworths, 2024, 1st ed, 2008), *The Law of Torts in Australia* (5th ed, 2011, OUP) and *Remedies: Commentary and Materials* (7th edn, Thomson, 2015). He is also an editor and contributor to six essay collections: *Life and Death in Private Law* (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2024), *Private Law: Key Encounters with Public Law* (Cambridge University Press, 2013), *The Law of Misstatements* (Hart Publishing, 2015); *Private Law and Power* (Hart Publishing, 2017) ; *Private Law in the Twenty-First Century* (Hart Publishing, 2017); *Apportionment in Private Law* (Hart Publishing, 2018) and the *Research Handbook on Unjust Enrichment and Restitution* (Edward Elgar, 2020).

He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and current director of the [*Australian Centre of Private Law*](https://law.uq.edu.au/australian-centre-private-law) at the TC Beirne School of Law.

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### Availability

Professor Kit Barker is:
:   Available for supervision

### Fields of research

[Commercial law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4808)
[Commercial law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5444)
[Law and Legal Studies](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4770)
[Law in context](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4879)
[Legal theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=5384)
[Private law and civil obligations](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=4821)
[Tort law](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/search?research-field=6541)

### Qualifications

- Bachelor of Arts, University of Oxford
- Masters (Coursework), University of Oxford
- Masters (Coursework) of Law, University of Oxford

### Research interests

- #### Enforcement Rights in Private and Public Law -

  Issues related to enforcement rights in both public and private law, including
  -the history of law enforcement - feuds, self-help and the development of state enforcement agencies
  -private criminal prosecutions - incidence, risks, rewards and modern role
  -the standing of private enforcers in actions for judicial review, misfeasance in public office, public nuisance, competition and consumer law, environmental law and human rights law
  -state enforcement of private rights in cases of incapacity, charity and in insolvency proceedings
  - theoretical modelling of 'rights of action' , their nature and constraints
  -'hybrid' law enforcement processes

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- #### Restitution and Unjust Enrichment

  The law and philosophical underpinnings of civil remedies for unjust enrichment.

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- #### State Liability in Tort

  Civil liability of the state for the wrongdoing of its agents and agencies. Interests include the tort of misfeasance in public office, false imprisonment and negligence in the execution of its public functions across a wide range of public welfare functions.

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- #### Philosophical Foundations of the Common Law

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- #### Defamation and Privacy

  Private law remedies for defamation and invasions of privacy.

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- #### Private Law Remedies

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View all research interests
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### Research impacts

Private law plays a foundational role in regulating relationships between individuals, but its great complexity and responsiveness to social change present constant challenges for legal coherence, fairness, accessibility and enforcement.

Professor Kit Barker’s research addresses contemporary issues in private law and theory, with particular focus on the law of torts, unjust enrichment law, and private law remedies. It has identified problems in courts’ approach to cases involving negligently inflicted economic loss, misstatements, and government wrongdoing, as well as in their understanding of liabilities for unjust enrichment. Most recently, it tackles pressing questions about law enforcement across both public and private law, modelling the way in enforcement powers are currently distributed between state agencies and private actors. This research reveals the persistent role that private enforcers play in plugging gaps in public law enforcement systems across a wide range of regulatory fields such as criminal prosecution, environmental regulation, judicial review of government action, abortion laws, misfeasance in public office, and human rights law.

Barker’s work adopts a mixed doctrinal and theoretical approach, drawing strongly on Anglo-Australian and Commonwealth legal traditions. It often uses Hohfeldian analysis to clarify the meaning of key legal concepts and aspires to make the law’s rules more accessible and more coherent with their underlying aims. It regularly engages with contemporary law reform debates. He has collaborated with scholars from the UK, Australia, Canada, Singapore, the USA and the EU, editing (and contributing to) international volumes with leading publishers such as Hart, Edward Elgar, and CUP.

Professor Barker has published over 120 scholarly works. He is the author of five books: Enforcement Rights in Public and Private Law (OUP, 2026), Unjust Enrichment (LexisNexis, 2024), The Law of Torts in Australia (OUP, 2012), and Remedies: Commentary and Materials (Thomson, 2015). He has co-edited a further six international essay collections. His work has informed and shaped modern debates about symbolic damages and rights-recognition, proportionate liability, tort liability, government accountability, the role and rationale of restitutionary remedies and the interface between private and public law and policy. His scholarship is cited internationally in leading journals, legal texts and case law across common law jurisdictions, and has contributed to law reform discussions in Australia and the UK.

Professor Kit Barker is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, the current Director of the Australian Centre for Private Law and a founder of the [Current Legal Issues Seminar Series](https://law.uq.edu.au/events/current-legal-issues-seminars), fostering professional collaboration and public engagement in the solution of contemporary legal problems and advocating for continual improvements in the administration of justice.

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## Works

[Search Professor Kit Barker’s works on UQ eSpace](http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/list/author_id/4654)

[All
(110)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/1749/all)
[Book
(13)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/1749/4747)
[Journal Article
(50)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/1749/4748)
[Other Outputs
(1)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/1749/4749)
[Conference Publication
(13)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/1749/4751)
[Book Chapter
(33)](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts-publication/1749/4752)

Featured

2024

Book Chapter

##### Suicide, madness and state - the tale from tort

Barker, Kit (2024). Suicide, madness and state - the tale from tort. Life and death in private law. (pp. 149-174) edited by Kate Falconer, Kit Barker and Andrew Fell. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509969357.ch-008

[Suicide, madness and state - the tale from tort](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:e0e3665)

Featured

2024

Book

##### Unjust enrichment

Barker, Kit and Grantham, Ross (2024). Unjust enrichment. 3rd ed. Chatswood, NSW Australia: LexisNexis Butterworths.

[Unjust enrichment](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:ea56e3f)

Featured

2023

Book Chapter

##### Lamb v Cotogno (1987): insured punishment

Barker, Kit (2023). Lamb v Cotogno (1987): insured punishment. Landmark cases in the law of punitive damages. (pp. 99-128) edited by James Goudkamp and Eleni Katsampouka. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. doi: 10.5040/9781509967032.ch-006

[Lamb v Cotogno (1987): insured punishment](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:9d65671)

Featured

2021

Journal Article

##### Misfeasance in public office: raw statistics from the Australian front line

Barker, Kit and Lamont, Katelyn (2021). Misfeasance in public office: raw statistics from the Australian front line. Sydney Law Review, 43 (3), 315-348.

[Misfeasance in public office: raw statistics from the Australian front line](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:13acbf0)

Featured

2021

Book Chapter

##### Punishment in private law - no such thing (any more)

Barker, Kit (2021). Punishment in private law - no such thing (any more). Punishment and private law . (pp. 35-62) edited by Elise Bant, Wayne Courtney, James Goudkamp and Jeannie Marie Paterson. Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing . doi: 10.5040/9781509939183.ch-002

[Punishment in private law - no such thing (any more)](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:85b6909)

Featured

2020

Journal Article

##### Unjust enrichment in Australia - What is(n't) it ? Implications for legal reasoning and practice

Barker, Kit (2020). Unjust enrichment in Australia - What is(n't) it ? Implications for legal reasoning and practice. Melbourne University Law Review, 2020 (43), 903-936.

[Unjust enrichment in Australia - What is(n't) it ? Implications for legal reasoning and practice](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:4d6d0f8)

Featured

2020

Book

##### Research Handbook on Unjust Enrichment and Restitution

Elise Bant, Kit Barker and Simone Degeling eds. (2020). Research Handbook on Unjust Enrichment and Restitution. Research Handbooks in Private and Commercial Law series, Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781788114264

[Research Handbook on Unjust Enrichment and Restitution](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:b60a1c6)

Featured

2017

Book

##### Private law and power

Kit Barker, Simone Degeling, Karen Fairweather and Ross Grantham eds. (2017). Private law and power. Hart Studies in Private Law, Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing.

[Private law and power](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:412961)

2026

Book

##### Enforcement rights in public and private law: paradigms, exceptions and hybrids

Barker, Kit (2026). Enforcement rights in public and private law: paradigms, exceptions and hybrids. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

[Enforcement rights in public and private law: paradigms, exceptions and hybrids](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:1088dbb)

2026

Journal Article

##### Unjust enrichment in Australia

Barker, Kit and Kretowicz,Anna (2026). Unjust enrichment in Australia. Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2026, 117-157.

[Unjust enrichment in Australia](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:095044d)

2024

Book

##### Life and death in private law

Kate Falconer, Kit Barker and Andrew Fell eds. (2024). Life and death in private law. Hart Studies in Private Law, Oxford, United Kingdom: Hart.

[Life and death in private law](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:c63f926)

2024

Other Outputs

##### Private Rights of Action in Private Law: A Limited Continuity

Barker, Kit (2024). Private Rights of Action in Private Law: A Limited Continuity. Obligations Discussion Group, University of Oxford.

[Private Rights of Action in Private Law: A Limited Continuity](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:8e261af)

2024

Conference Publication

##### Rights of Action in Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Justifications

Barker, Kit (2024). Rights of Action in Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Justifications. Rights of Action in Private Law, London, United Kingdom, 30 October 2024.

[Rights of Action in Private Law: Paradigms, Exceptions and Justifications](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:43d1a61)

2024

Journal Article

##### Unjust enrichment in Australia 2024

Barker, Kit and Kretowicz, Anna (2024). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2024. Llloyds Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2024 (May), 302-350.

[Unjust enrichment in Australia 2024](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:31b0066)

2024

Conference Publication

##### Suicide and the State: a Duty of Care? Reconsidering Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra

Barker, Kit (2024). Suicide and the State: a Duty of Care? Reconsidering Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra. Tort Law and Compensation Systems, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 15-16 February 2024.

[Suicide and the State: a Duty of Care? Reconsidering Stuart v Kirkland-Veenstra](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:b4cf0e3)

2023

Journal Article

##### Unjust enrichment in Australia 2023

Barker, Kit and Bristow, Penelope (2023). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2023. Lloyds Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2023 (1), 130-170.

[Unjust enrichment in Australia 2023](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:4333d10)

2022

Conference Publication

##### Insured punishment - the awkward case of Lamb v Cotogno

Barker, Kit (2022). Insured punishment - the awkward case of Lamb v Cotogno. Landmark Cases in the Law of Punitive Damages, Oxford, United Kingdom, 30 Sept, 6-7 Oct 2022.

[Insured punishment - the awkward case of Lamb v Cotogno](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:e91ca41)

2022

Journal Article

##### Unjust enrichment in Australia 2022

Barker, Kit, Bristow, Penelope and Walpole, Samuel (2022). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2022. Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2022 (2), 289-312.

[Unjust enrichment in Australia 2022](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:2c79682)

2021

Conference Publication

##### Rights of action in private and public law: the analytics of enforcement

Barker, Kit (2021). Rights of action in private and public law: the analytics of enforcement. McGill Global Seminars in Private Law Theory, Montreal, QC Canada, 2021. McGill University.

[Rights of action in private and public law: the analytics of enforcement](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:24fd48f)

2021

Journal Article

##### Unjust enrichment in Australia 2021

Walpole, Samuel and Barker, Kit (2021). Unjust enrichment in Australia 2021. Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly, 2021, 179-204.

[Unjust enrichment in Australia 2021](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:5aa23d7)

## Funding

### Past funding

- 2018 - 2019

  Foundations of the Common Law Library (ARC LIEF grant administered by The University of New South Wales)

  University of New South Wales

  [Open grant](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/project/35295)

## Supervision

### Availability

Professor Kit Barker is:
:   Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on [how to choose a supervisor](https://study.uq.edu.au/study-options/phd-mphil-professional-doctorate/how-to-choose-a-supervisor).

### Available projects

- #### The law and theory of unjust enrichment

  Potential topics available include:

  - Foundational theories of unjust enrichment
  - Remedies for unjust enrichment

  For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au

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- #### The modern law of torts

  Potential topics available include:

  - State Negligence
  - Liabilities for Pure Economic Loss
  - Misfeasance in Public Office and False Prosecution
  - Private actions for the Invasion of Privacy
  - Remedies for Defamation

  For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au.

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- #### Private Law Enforcement

  Potential topics available include:

  - Theories of Public and Private Enforcement
  - The role of the Bounty Hunter – past and present

  For further information contact Professor Kit Barker, e: k.barker@law.uq.edu.au

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### Supervision history

#### Completed supervision

- 2022

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### Which of the Duties of Directors are Fiduciary?

  Principal Advisor
- 2020

  Doctor Philosophy

  ##### [Coherence in Australian Private Law: A Review of the High Court's Approach](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:a4f9567)

  Principal Advisor

  Other advisors:
  [Professor Ross Grantham](https://about.uq.edu.au/experts/1421)

## Media

### Enquiries

For media enquiries about Professor Kit Barker's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

[communications@uq.edu.au](mailto:communications@uq.edu.au)

## External profiles

- [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9140-3846)
- [Scopus](https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId= )

## Personal links

- [​Australian Centre for Private Law](https://law.uq.edu.au/australian-centre-private-law)
- [SSRN](http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=870782)

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