
Irene Nikoloudakis
Higher Degree by Research Candidate
Adelaide Law School
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Irene Nikoloudakis is a PhD Candidate at the Adelaide Law School. Her PhD focuses on laws that criminalise wage theft.
Irene has written one of the most comprehensive scholarly articles on the criminalisation of wage theft in Australia. More broadly, her previous academic publications have centred on exploring and improving the rights of vulnerable workers, particularly temporary migrant workers and those engaged in unpaid work. Irene has published in some of Australia's most prestigious law journals, including the UNSW Law Journal, Federal Law Review and Griffith Law Review, and in 2021 she contributed a chapter in an edited book published by the International Labour Organization (an agency of the United Nations). She has co-authored research reports on vulnerable work for the International Labour Organization, the Consulate-General of South Korea and one of Australia’s largest trade unions. Her work was recently cited in the Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work.
Irene also practises as a government solicitor in the areas of public and employment law, with previous experience as a solicitor in employment law in the private sector. She has appeared unled in the Supreme Court of South Australia, as junior counsel (led by the Solicitor-General for SA) in the Court of Appeal and as an instructing solicitor in the High Court of Australia on employment and industrial law matters.
Irene concurrently completed degrees in Law (with First Class Honours), Commerce and Psychological Science from the University of Adelaide, and received numerous academic awards including for being the most meritorious student in the Law of Work.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2020 - ongoing Solicitor Crown Solicitor's Office (SA) 2018 - 2020 Judge's Associate Supreme Court of South Australia 2018 - 2018 Lawyer Piper Alderman 2016 - 2023 Research Assistant Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2016 Scholarship Adelaide Summer Research Scholarship The University of Adelaide Australia - 2016 Award The HWL Ebsworth Prize for Excellence in Intellectual Property Law Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide Australia - 2016 Award The Norman Waterhouse Prize for Law of Work Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide Australia - 2015 Award The Adelaide Law Review Association Prize for the Senior Student Editors Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide Australia - 2015 Scholarship Adelaide Summer Research Scholarship The University of Adelaide Australia - 2013 Award Principles of Macroeconomics I Excellence Award Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide Australia - 2011 Award Dean's Certificate - Foundations of Law Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide Australia - 2011 Award LexisNexis Prize for Academic Excellence Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide Australia - -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Commerce (accounting) University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Laws (with First Class Honours) University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Psychological Science -
Postgraduate Training
Date Title Institution Country Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice Law Society of South Australia Australia -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Nikoloudakis, I. (2025). Criminalising Wage Theft and Toughening Civil Penalties: Understanding the Federal Reforms and Their Implications for Employers. The Bulletin, Law Society of South Australia. 2023 Nikoloudakis, I., & Ranieri, S. (2023). Criminalising 'Wage Theft' in Australia: A Proposed Regulatory Model. University of New South Wales Law Journal, 46(4), 1134-1168. 2023 Howe, J., & Nikoloudakis, I. (2023). The evolution of Australia’s dedicated temporary skilled migration program: a bipartisan political journey from agreement to disagreement. Griffith Law Review, 32(3), 357-385.
2021 Howe, J., & Nikoloudakis, I. (2021). Short Stay Visa Holders and Occupational Trainees in Australia’s Labour Migration Program: Regulatory Challenges at the Apex of Temporariness. Federal Law Review, 50(1), 40-61.
Scopus12019 Dunning, I., Nikoloudakis, I., & Georgeson, C. (2019). The Value of the Adelaide Law Review from a Student Editor Perspective. Adelaide Law Review, 40(1), 125-133. 2018 Nikoloudakis, I. A., Crutzen, R., Vandelanotte, C., Quester, P., Dry, M., Skuse, A. J., . . . Short, C. E. (2018). Can you elaborate on that? Addressing participants’ need for cognition in computer-tailored health behavior interventions. Health Psychology Review, 12(4), 437-254.
Scopus25 WoS17 Europe PMC142018 Nikoloudakis, I., Vandelanotte, C., Rebar, A., Schoeppe, S., Alley, S., Duncan, M., & Short, C. (2018). Examining the correlates of online health information-seeking behavior among men compared with women. American Journal of Men's Health, 12(5), 1358-1367.
Scopus45 WoS32 Europe PMC232015 Nikoloudakis, I. (2015). Australian Communications and Media Authority v Today FM (Sydney) Pty Ltd: The Royal Prank Call's Implications for the Broadcasting Industry and Administrative Decision-Makers. Media and Arts Law Review, 20(4), 470-479. -
Book Chapters
Year Citation 2021 Nikoloudakis, I. (2021). Regulating internships in active labour market programmes: A comparative perspective. In A. Stewart, R. Owens, N. O’Higgins, & A. Hewitt (Eds.), Internships, Employability and the Search for Decent Work Experience (pp. 239-254). Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.
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Report for External Bodies
Year Citation 2023 Nikoloudakis, I. (2023). Submission to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations on the Criminalising Wage Underpayments and Reforming Civil Penalties in the Fair Work Act 2009 Consultation Paper. 2018 Howe, J. M., & Nikoloudakis, I. (2018). A Critique of the Australian Working Holiday Programme: Options for Reform. 2018 Stewart, A., Owens, R., Hewitt, A., & Nikoloudakis, I. (2018). The regulation of internships: A comparative study. International Labour Organisation.
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