Robert Alexander Hayes (1942 - 2011) was an Australian academic and lecturer at the University of Western Sydney.
Graduating from the University of Melbourne with a PhD in defamation, Hayes was a qualified solicitor, barrister, quasi-judicial officer, law reform commissioner, government consultant, legal publisher, and law lecturer. His international appointments have included lecturing at the Law Schools of McGill, Montreal and the University of Toronto.
Hayes was the foundation editor of the Australian Law Reports, is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Forensic Sciences, former president of the Mental Health Appeals Tribunal and founder of the UNSW Faculty of Law.
He had an extensive list of publications, his most recent being Criminal Law and Procedure in New South Wales which he co-authored with Michael Eburn, a senior lecturer at the University of New England, Australia.
Hayes was involved in numerous community services programs including the Intellectual Disability Rights Service and as Chair of the Management Committee of Charmian Clift Cottages, a residential programme for mothers with mental illness and their children.
Hayes was married with four children and resided in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.