Ernst Willheim
Ernst Willheim honorary professor in the College of Law at the Australian National University. Before his retirement he was a senior officer in the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department where he headed several policy divisions, established the Office of General Counsel, lead numerous Australian delegations to international conferences and appeared as counsel for the Commonwealth in the High Court and other appellate courts. He has published widely on international, constitutional, refugee and Indigenous law matters. Ernst Willheim is a retired public servant. He is currently an Honorary professor at the ANU College of law
Ernst's recent articles
3 December 2025
What the ICJ’s climate law decision means for Australia
A landmark advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice clarifies that states have a duty under international law to prevent climate harm – with serious implications for Australia’s fossil fuel approvals and future litigation.
17 June 2024
Superficial coverage of Dutton’s nuclear policy does Australia a disservice
Noel Turnbull correctly writes that media coverage of the federal opposition’s nuclear power proposal is superficial. There is a very wide range of as yet unanswered issues.
20 November 2021
Juukan Gorge: an avoidable disaster that must never happen again
The destruction of sacred Aboriginal sites by Rio Tinto was an egregious example of how heritage protection laws have shortchanged Indigenous peoples.