Regulating Relations: Forming Families Inside and Outside of Law's Reach. Australia is wrestling with the complex challenges posed by the increase in cross-border reproductive care. This project asks: what are the causes and consequences of Australians being excluded from, or choosing to evade, regulated assisted reproductive treatment? The research aims to identify barriers to the pathways to licensed assisted reproductive treatment and motivations for evasion of regulation. It entails a series ....Regulating Relations: Forming Families Inside and Outside of Law's Reach. Australia is wrestling with the complex challenges posed by the increase in cross-border reproductive care. This project asks: what are the causes and consequences of Australians being excluded from, or choosing to evade, regulated assisted reproductive treatment? The research aims to identify barriers to the pathways to licensed assisted reproductive treatment and motivations for evasion of regulation. It entails a series of interlinked case studies reflecting the life-cycle of family formation in assisted conception. The aim is to develop solutions for more responsive legal frameworks that encourage beneficial clinical and ethical practices and contain harmful ones through inclusion rather than exclusion.Read moreRead less
The last outlaw: Making a nation from the crimes of Jimmy Governor. This project aims to produce a legal history of the murderer Jimmy Governor to discover the extent to which law-making was generated by acts of law-breaking. The Australian Federation laid the foundations for the nation’s legal institutions under the rule of law. The Aboriginal serial killer, Jimmy Governor, was outlawed and convicted on the threshold of Federation, in 1900. Through Governor’s legal history, the project will pro ....The last outlaw: Making a nation from the crimes of Jimmy Governor. This project aims to produce a legal history of the murderer Jimmy Governor to discover the extent to which law-making was generated by acts of law-breaking. The Australian Federation laid the foundations for the nation’s legal institutions under the rule of law. The Aboriginal serial killer, Jimmy Governor, was outlawed and convicted on the threshold of Federation, in 1900. Through Governor’s legal history, the project will produce an account of the law and its outsiders at an important historical moment. This project expects to provide knowledge about punishment, surveillance and imprisonment in the emerging nation, and a history of the rules of evidence and criminal procedure.Read moreRead less
Integrated governance of water and coal seam gas. This project aims to evaluate the governance of the water effects on unconventional gas, to develop legal and policy principles for the integration of these effects in an effective, efficient and legitimate manner, and to investigate problems posed for integrated and polycentric governance, more generally. Australia must meet its unconventional gas needs without harming its water resources. The project is expected to deliver effective and legitim ....Integrated governance of water and coal seam gas. This project aims to evaluate the governance of the water effects on unconventional gas, to develop legal and policy principles for the integration of these effects in an effective, efficient and legitimate manner, and to investigate problems posed for integrated and polycentric governance, more generally. Australia must meet its unconventional gas needs without harming its water resources. The project is expected to deliver effective and legitimate outcomes for water, energy and potentially other social and environmental issues, aiming to establish Australia as a leader in sustainable water management.Read moreRead less
Investigating the Coronial Determination of Suicide as a Category of Death. Data for suicide statistics can only come from official findings of suicide by a coroner, but this is a finding they are often reluctant to reach. The purpose of this project is to investigate how statistical calculations of suicide are dependent upon its coronial determination. The research is not only expected to result in more defensible national suicide data, it also aims to clarify the degree to which the recurrent ....Investigating the Coronial Determination of Suicide as a Category of Death. Data for suicide statistics can only come from official findings of suicide by a coroner, but this is a finding they are often reluctant to reach. The purpose of this project is to investigate how statistical calculations of suicide are dependent upon its coronial determination. The research is not only expected to result in more defensible national suicide data, it also aims to clarify the degree to which the recurrent 'problem' of suicide data may lie in the coronial construction of suicide itself. Expected benefits of the project include the clarification of the role of the coroners regarding suicide determination, and the more effective targeting of suicide prevention programs.Read moreRead less
Producing, managing and owning knowledge in the 21st century university. The use, creation and dissemination of the products of research is a core function of Australian universities, and critical if research is to have impact in the real world. It is regulated by intellectual property laws, sector-wide grant conditions, licensing agreements with libraries and university policies on intellectual property ownership, authorship, open access and engagement. International law and practice creates an ....Producing, managing and owning knowledge in the 21st century university. The use, creation and dissemination of the products of research is a core function of Australian universities, and critical if research is to have impact in the real world. It is regulated by intellectual property laws, sector-wide grant conditions, licensing agreements with libraries and university policies on intellectual property ownership, authorship, open access and engagement. International law and practice creates another layer of regulation. Navigating this terrain is the responsibility of every academic and manager, but it is a complex, incoherent framework. Mapping it with an eye toward harmonization and coherence will better advance public goals, in particular improve access to research for impact and engagement.Read moreRead less
Model Laws to Regulate the Use of Restraint on Persons with Disabilities. This project aims to address the current lack of a common legal framework for regulating the use of restraint on persons with disabilities in mental health, disability and aged care sectors. Through developing model laws and guidelines, this project aims to support the Disability Ministers’ National Framework for Reducing and Eliminating the Use of Restrictive Practices and the National Mental Health Commission’s work on r ....Model Laws to Regulate the Use of Restraint on Persons with Disabilities. This project aims to address the current lack of a common legal framework for regulating the use of restraint on persons with disabilities in mental health, disability and aged care sectors. Through developing model laws and guidelines, this project aims to support the Disability Ministers’ National Framework for Reducing and Eliminating the Use of Restrictive Practices and the National Mental Health Commission’s work on reducing and eliminating restraint. Its main objective is to benefit persons with disabilities by supporting government policies aimed at reducing, with a view to eliminating, the adverse consequences of coercive practices in general.Read moreRead less
Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration. This is the first national study of its kind that investigates the trajectories of wrongful convictions as systems failures by examining decisions from investigation to exoneration. Wrongful conviction is a significant social and legal problem in Australia and other nations. It costs the Australian government millions in police, court and prison services and has health and psychological consequences for exonerees and their families ....Trajectories of Wrongful Conviction and Pathways to Exoneration. This is the first national study of its kind that investigates the trajectories of wrongful convictions as systems failures by examining decisions from investigation to exoneration. Wrongful conviction is a significant social and legal problem in Australia and other nations. It costs the Australian government millions in police, court and prison services and has health and psychological consequences for exonerees and their families. Expected outcomes for this project include an early warning detection tool to identify at-risk cases and overall improved accuracy in convictions. This will provide significant benefits, for criminal justice agencies, victims and accused individuals while positioning Australia as a world leader in the field.Read moreRead less
Justice Reinvestment in Australia: conceptual foundations for criminal justice innovation. This project will examine the characteristics of Justice Reinvestment programs used in other countries which reduce spending on prisons and reinvest the savings in high crime communities to reduce crime and build community services. This study will analyse whether such programs can be developed in the Australian context.
What is a Document? Evidentiary Challenges in the Digital Age. This project plans to investigate the changing nature and role of documentary evidence in modern Australian litigation. The transformation driven by digital technologies presents challenges to traditional distinctions in the law of evidence. Using case studies, interviews with court officials and legal professionals and observational fieldwork, the project plans to explore methods developed in the fields of information science and th ....What is a Document? Evidentiary Challenges in the Digital Age. This project plans to investigate the changing nature and role of documentary evidence in modern Australian litigation. The transformation driven by digital technologies presents challenges to traditional distinctions in the law of evidence. Using case studies, interviews with court officials and legal professionals and observational fieldwork, the project plans to explore methods developed in the fields of information science and the humanities, where understandings of material cultural in the digital age have advanced rapidly, to examine their potential for law. The project is expected to inform policy development in evidence law so that it remains relevant in the information and cultural economies of the digital age.Read moreRead less
Increasing advance personal planning by older adults. This project aims to increase the uptake of advance personal planning among people aged 65 years or over in the community by developing, implementing and evaluating a community action model. People have a legal right to engage in advance personal planning, a process that helps them discuss and document their financial, personal and health preferences, in case they later lose the ability to make or communicate decisions. Few people plan ahead, ....Increasing advance personal planning by older adults. This project aims to increase the uptake of advance personal planning among people aged 65 years or over in the community by developing, implementing and evaluating a community action model. People have a legal right to engage in advance personal planning, a process that helps them discuss and document their financial, personal and health preferences, in case they later lose the ability to make or communicate decisions. Few people plan ahead, even though it can reduce the likelihood of financial exploitation, family conflict and unwanted medical care. This project aims to provide a model of community action to build capacity and collaboration across social services and improve the wellbeing of older people.Read moreRead less