Dewar is an internationally known family law specialist. He was a member of the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Family Law Pathways Advisory Group from 2000 to 2001 and a former member and chair of the
Family Law Council from 1998 to 2004. Before working at Griffith University, Dewar taught at the universities of
Lancaster and
Warwick in the
United Kingdom and was a fellow and tutor in law at
Hertford College, Oxford. He was Head of Education and Training for
Allen & Overy (London) from 1988 to 1990.
Griffith University Dewar moved from the United Kingdom in 1995 to take up a professorial position in the
Griffith University Law School, where he eventually became the
dean of the school from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2005, he was the pro vice-chancellor for
business and
law and then became deputy vice-chancellor (academic).
University of Melbourne Dewar moved to the
University of Melbourne in April 2009, becoming the deputy vice-chancellor (global relations). In September that year, he was appointed
provost of the university, a role similar to his previous one at Griffith University. The role's focus was "on refining the Melbourne Model and ensuring successful second phase implementation of the University's graduate programs in 2011".
La Trobe University Dewar became the sixth vice-chancellor of
La Trobe University in
Melbourne, Australia, in January 2012. On arrival, he declared that his goal was to ensure that La Trobe be "recognised as the natural alternative to Victoria's two Group of Eight universities, with a unique appeal other universities can't offer". In 2012, Dewar announced a plan to cut 500 subjects and 41 jobs. Dewar ran from student protestors frustrated with his plan to cut university subjects and job and escaped via a network of tunnels under the university. In 2020 as a consequence of the effects of COVID-19 on university revenue, Dewar was one of four vice-chancellors who negotiated with the National Tertiary Education Union's leadership to deliver the Australian Universities Job Protection Framework. La Trobe staff subsequently voted to vary the university's collective agreement pursuant to the Job Protection Framework, opting to take pay cuts to protect the financial equivalent of around 225 jobs. Humanities and the arts became the subject of reductions in November 2020, with Dewar informing staff that some subjects were no longer financially viable. In 2021, Dewar consulted on a proposal to close the school of molecular science and reassign its disciplines to other schools in a bid to reduce costs. In February 2023, La Trobe chancellor the Hon
John Brumby announced that, after 12 years, Dewar would conclude his term as vice-chancellor in early 2024. In July 2022, he delivered a speech at the
National Press Club arguing the case for investing in universities.
Other appointments Dewar holds a number of other directorships including the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, the
Committee for Melbourne and the Foundation for Australian Studies in China. He is also a member of the University Foreign Interference Taskforce, the University of Lincoln's 21st Century Lab Higher Education Reference Group and the Champions of Change Coalition. He is an honorary fellow of
Hertford College, Oxford, an adjunct professor in the Melbourne Law School and the La Trobe Law School, and a visiting professor at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at
Sheffield Hallam University. == Awards ==