Dr Tristan Harley is dual-trained as a lawyer and historian, and is a Senior Research Associate at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law in the Faculty of Law & Justice. Tristan is recognised as an international expert in the fields of international refugee and human rights law. He has published widely in the field, including as co-author of Refugees, Regionalism and Responsibility (Edward Elgar Press, 2016). He has also worked as a consultant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Refugee Council, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees, the Asia Pacific Network for Refugees, and Act for Peace.

Tristan's current research focuses on the international law and policy framework governing the meaningful participation of refugees in decision-making processes that affect them. He is the current recipient of a research grant on 'International Law and the Meaningful Participation of Refugees in Decision-Making' from Gerdha Henkel Stiftung. He also co-leads a research team looking at advancing refugee inclusion in the Asia Pacific region, in collaboration with several scholars with lived experience of forced displacement. Alongside this research, Tristan coordinates the Kaldor Centre's Displaced Scholars Peer Mentoring Program and the Kaldor Centre's Emerging Scholars Network.

Tristan holds a PhD from UNSW, a Juris Doctor (with First Class Honours) from UNSW, a Bachelor of Arts Advanced (with First Class Honours in History) from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Australian National University. He is also admitted as a lawyer of the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of New South Wales.