Duncan Kerr began practice as a lawyer in 1980. He has worked nationally and internationally as a barrister, solicitor and senior counsel. He has served as Crown Counsel for Tasmania, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Papua New Guinea, and Principal Solicitor for the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service. He has appeared before the Tasmanian Supreme Court, the Federal and Family Court and the High Court of Australia, the National and Supreme Courts of Papua New Guinea and has represented Tasmania in legal proceedings in the United States.

Duncan was appointed Senior Counsel in 2004. He has acted pro bono in major public interest cases before the High Court of Australia. Duncan Kerr was leading counsel for the successful applicant in Plaintiff S157 v The Commonwealth(2003) 211 CLR 476. That case cemented the availability of judicial review of Commonwealth administrative decisions. It has been described as one of the seven most far reaching and influential of the High Court’s decisions on constitutional matters in the past one hundred years (Crispin Hull, The Canberra Times High Court Centenary Issue).

In July 2007 Duncan was appointed Adjunct Professor of Law at the Queensland University of Technology.

Duncan is a passionate advocate for human rights and, amongst things, is an executive member of the International Commission of Jurists (Australian Section). He has contributed to several law and public policy journals and has authored both legal and general interest books, the most recent being Elect the Ambassador! Building a democracy in a globalised world.