Bio
Cleo is a Lecturer and doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Law at The University of Tasmania. Cleo’s research focuses on international and regional refugee law, human rights, treaty interpretation law, and displacement in the context of climate change. In 2023, Cleo consulted to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on the application of the African OAU Convention's expanded refugee definition to people displaced in the context of climate change and disasters. Cleo has extensive professional experience in the legal, not-for-profit and government sectors in Australia. Her previous roles include: Senior Legal Officer for the former Department of Immigration and Border Protection, focusing on litigation and refugee law; and Humanitarian Observer for the Australian Red Cross’s Immigration Detention Program, leading humanitarian monitoring visits to Australia's mainland and Christmas Island immigration detention facilities.
Recent publications
Book Chapters
- Phillipa McCormack and Cleo Hansen-Lohrey, ‘Accountability, government decisions and future generations: lessons from the Australian Ombudsman’ in Jan Linehan and Peter Lawrence (eds), Giving Future Generations a Voice; Normative Frameworks, Institutions and Practice (Edward Elgar, 2021).
Other Articles and Blogs
- Cleo Hansen-Lohrey, ‘Assessing serious disturbances to public order under the 1969 OAU Convention, including in the context of disasters, environmental degradation and the adverse effects of climate change’ (UNHCR, 27 September 2023), PPLA/2023/01
- Cleo Hansen-Lohrey and Tamara Wood, ‘New immigration detention bill could give Australia a fresh chance to comply with international law’ in The Conversation 11 August 2022.
- Cleo Hansen-Lohrey, ‘Applying refugee law in Africa and Latin America: disasters, climate change and public order’ (2022) 69 Forced Migration Review 69.
- Tamara Wood and Cleo Hansen-Lohrey, ‘Disasters, climate change and public order: A principled application of regional refugee definitions’ Refugee Law Initiative Blog 24 May 2021.