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Alex Gardner is Professor of Law at The University of Western Australia where he has taught and researched natural resources and environmental law since 1988. He has also taught constitutional law, administrative law and comparative law. He has taught students in the LLB, JD and Masters programs, and has supervised to completion 8 higher degree by research students. He has been an active member of the Centre for Mining, Energy and Natural Resources Law, and was in 2017-2020 the Director Higher Degrees (Research).

Alex becomes a UWA Emeritus Professor in 2025.

Alex was born and raised on a farm in the Western Australian wheatbelt, attending high school in Perth. After undergraduate studies at the Australian National University in Canberra (1977-1983) he worked as a solicitor in Melbourne before undertaking a Master of Laws specialising in Natural Resources and Environmental Law at the University of British Columbia (1986-87). Since 1988, Alex has been based at the University of Western Australia Law School, and has held adjunct appointments teaching Water Resources Law in the postgraduate programs at the Australian National University College of Law (2001-2017) and the University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law (teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students in Public Law and Natural Resources and Environmental Law.

Alex is credited with 112 research outputs on his UWA staff profile. He has been a researcher in four national research programs. His work has been cited by the WA Supreme Court, the High Court, State and Commonwealth Parliamentary Committees, and the Productivity Commission.

Alex has been an active legal professional. He was a foundation member of the National Environmental Law Association (WA), serving as a committee member 1989 – 1995. In October 1994, he was one of the two lawyers to gain the first injunction to stop old growth logging in Western Australia, and in 1995 helped found the Environmental Defenders Office (WA), serving as convenor of the EDO (WA) Management Committee (2015-2018). Other examples of his professional service include:

• long term member of the Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association and the Editor of the Australian Resources and Energy Law Journal from 2012-2017;
• contributions to the work of LawAsia and the Law Council of Australia;
• consulting to Western Australian and Australian government agencies, to the Environmental Defenders Office and private parties;  
• senior sessional member of the Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal 2005-2017;
• in recent years, assisting private parties in environmental appeals in WA.

Alex has three key goals for the coming years; more time with family, completing some academic projects, and advocating for water resources law reform in Western Australia.