Edward Santow

Edward Santow is the Director - Policy & Governance at the Human Technology Institute, and Industry Professor - Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney.

Ed leads the Human Technology Institute (HTI) with Prof Nicholas Davis and Prof Sally Cripps. HTI is building a future that applies human values to new technology, through the creation of three interconnected laboratories: the Human Technology Skills Lab, Tools Lab and Policy Lab.

From 2016-2021, Ed was Australia's Human Rights Commissioner, where he led the Commission's work on AI and new technology; refugees and migration; human rights issues affecting LGBTI people; national security; and implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

Ed is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and of the NSW Government AI Review Committee. He is a patron of the Refugee Advice + Casework Service, and serves on a number of boards and committees.

In 2009, Ed was presented with an Australian Leadership Award, and in 2017, he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Ed previously served as chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and was a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law School, a research director at the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and a solicitor in private practice.