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Staff Profile

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Ms Donna Barclay Tan

Lecturer
B. Sc (University of Newcastle), Dip Legal Practice (College of Law), Grad Dip Law (University of Sydney), Master of Law and Justice (Queensland University of Technology)

Faculty of Business, Design and Arts

Office No:+60 82 260 656
Fax No:+60 82 260 815
Room No: B337
Email: [email protected]
Google Scholar  ORCID

Biography

Donna studied law in Australia and worked for the Attorney-General’s Department in Australia before relocating to Malaysia, Donna has extensive experience teaching Australian, British, and Malaysian law. She has coached national champion moot competition teams. A six-time District 87 Toastmasters speaking champion, Donna is also a public speaking coach and she helps members of Toastmasters clubs in Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia achieve their dreams of competing successfully in contests.

Research Interests

Donna currently has several research papers in the pipeline. With a passion for the law of tort, Donna is currently working on a paper critiquing the current law of vicarious liability, comparing and contrasting English and Malaysian law. Other projects are on employment law and include the four-day work week, workplace bullying, and wage theft. She has previously published papers on unfair contract terms and management prerogative in the workplace.
     

Teaching Areas

Donna has taught a variety of law subjects over the years, including the law of tort, jurisprudence, the law of evidence, and family law. At Swinburne, her focus is on Finance Law, the Law of Employment, and Managing Workplace Relations.

Awards

Donna has won six Toastmasters public speaking championships for District 87, comprising Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.
 

Training/Consultancy

With Train-the-Trainer certification, Donna has provided training and consultancy to a large number of government departments and private companies.

Research Grants

30 May 2024 Swinburne Sarawak Early Career Research Grant Recipient

Recent Media

Artificial Intelligence and the Reshaping of Employment Relations D Barclay New Sarawak Tribune
17 Mar 2024 Donna Barclay ‘Diversity Matters‘, New Sarawak Tribune
28 Aug 2024 Donna Barclay, Dr Komathi Wasudawan and Dr Christina Chueh Ping Yin ‘Education, Learning Environments and Empowered Graduates‘, Borneo Post
02 Nov 2024 ‘Minimum Wage and Wage Theft: A Dilemma’, Borneo Post

Publications
Book Chapter: Barclay, D., Sritharan, N., Ting, J.K.S. (2025). Reimagining Women’s Future Workplaces: Where Are We Heading?. In: Fung, C.Y., Lim, A.S.S., Lim, W.M., Cheong, H.F. (eds) Future of Work in Asia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-95804-5_6
 
Newspaper Report: ‘Social Media Ad Irritation and User Trust Issues’ 12 October 2025 Borneo Post. Authors: Wasudawan, K., Ee, Y. S., & Barclay, D. (2025, October 12).  

Journal: ‘Causes and Consequences of Mothers’ Workforce Re-entry After Career Breaks: A Systematic Literature Review‘ Authors: Dr Nivakan Sritharan, Jacob Ting King Soon and Donna Barclay, Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol 10, Issue 4, Secholian Publication

Journal: Barclay, D., King Soon, J.T. & Sritharan, N. (2024) “Unveiling Wage Theft: Exploring themes, implications and future directions”, Malaysian Journal of Business and Economics (MJBE), 11(2). https://jurcon.ums.edu.my/ojums/index.php/mjbe/article/view/5736

Journal: Sritharan, N., A/P Ramalingam, H., Barclay, D. & King Soon, J.T. (2024). Impact of Political Instability in Bangladesh on Labour Migration and Economic Productivity in Malaysia: A Sectoral Analysis. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(11). http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v14-i11/23297

Conference Proceeding: Barclay, D., King Soon, J.T. & Sritharan, N. (2024) Wage Theft:  Exploring Themes, Implications and Future Directions. Presented in UNIMAS Finance, Economics and Business Sustainability Conference,  18 Sept 2024.