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Academic Leader: Health Law and Ethics, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Wollongong

Colin Thomson BA, LLB, LLM (Hons) has a fractional appointment as Professor of Law at the University of Wollongong where he is the Academic Leader for Health Law and Ethics in the Graduate School of Medicine and Health.

He was Chair of the Australian Health Ethics Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) from 2006-2009 and a member of that committee from 1998-2002.

Between 2002 and 2006, he was the Consultant on Health Ethics for the NHMRC. During this period, Colin provided consulting services to the NHMRC, the NSW Health Department and the NSW Department of Community Services (DoCS).

In 1983, he introduced the second Australian university course on law and medicine, at the Australian National University, and has since taught health law and ethics to graduate students at the University of Wollongong and conducted numerous on-site teaching sessions in health law and ethics for health professionals in ACT and NSW hospitals.

He has been a member of human research ethics committees since 1984, both in universities and the public health sector and currently chairs one committee and is a member of two others.

He has published and spoken widely, nationally and internationally, on issues in health law and ethics. He has been Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Health, Law and Ethics and Vice-President of the Australasian Bioethics Association – now combined as the Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law and is Secretary for the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry Pty Ltd.

Education

  • 1972 
    University of Sydney, LL.M (hons)
  • 1966 
    University of Sydney, BA, LLB