The evolution of cybercrime: the monitoring of serious crime in cyberspace. The research ascertains future threats in cyberspace, in particular, the role of serious criminal networks. The evidence generated will benefit law enforcement, information security industries and policy makers in terms of resource assessment, law reform, and the development of effective mutual legal assistance regimes. The data enable the monitoring of cybercrime, and generate relevant metrics that inform public educati ....The evolution of cybercrime: the monitoring of serious crime in cyberspace. The research ascertains future threats in cyberspace, in particular, the role of serious criminal networks. The evidence generated will benefit law enforcement, information security industries and policy makers in terms of resource assessment, law reform, and the development of effective mutual legal assistance regimes. The data enable the monitoring of cybercrime, and generate relevant metrics that inform public education aimed to reduce risks to individuals and organizations targeted by cybercrime. The research enables law enforcement, lawmakers and other key stakeholders to better understand and manage new cybercrime threats and to develop rapid and innovative solutions to serious forms of cybercrime.Read moreRead less
Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change. While few Australians have direct experience of courts, nearly all agree that courts are important to the community, though public confidence is low. Social changes and the ambiguous position of courts in relation to change are part of this tension. This project will undertake a concrete examination of one aspect of social change and the courts: the increasing number of women in the judiciary. The focus on how gender interacts with judicial work and th ....Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change. While few Australians have direct experience of courts, nearly all agree that courts are important to the community, though public confidence is low. Social changes and the ambiguous position of courts in relation to change are part of this tension. This project will undertake a concrete examination of one aspect of social change and the courts: the increasing number of women in the judiciary. The focus on how gender interacts with judicial work and the wider roles of courts will produce new and valuable understandings of gender and judging, gender and work, and courts and social change. Better knowledge about these complex relationships will strengthen Australian society and its legal integrity.Read moreRead less
Confidentiality in Therapeutic Relationships: Developing Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals. The outcome of this project will be a document on ethical standards that will contribute to a conceptual framework for resolving ethical, legal and professional issues that need to be addressed with regard to confidentiality in therapeutic relationships. By assisting with the establishment of guidelines necessary to promote clarity and confidence, the project will make a substantial contribution ....Confidentiality in Therapeutic Relationships: Developing Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals. The outcome of this project will be a document on ethical standards that will contribute to a conceptual framework for resolving ethical, legal and professional issues that need to be addressed with regard to confidentiality in therapeutic relationships. By assisting with the establishment of guidelines necessary to promote clarity and confidence, the project will make a substantial contribution to the effective implementation of a way of working which improves the delivery and quality of mental health care for patients and goes some way to ensuring greater safety for the public.Read moreRead less
Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretica ....Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretical and applied questions of legal interpretation implicit in this argument. It rejects the charge of judicial activism. It proposes a ?value-maximizing? theory of reasoning and interpretation that characterizes adjudication in contentious cases as precisely a process of theorizing about relevant moral and political values.Read moreRead less
Federalism for the 21st Century - A Framework for Achieving Reform and Change. Improvements to Australia's federal consitutional system could return between $9 billion and $20 billion each year to taxpayers (up to 3% of GDP). The problem affects service delivery in areas like health and education and hampers our ability to meet new challenges like water scarcity and climate change. In developing clear criteria for improving Australia's federal constitutionalism this project offers significant ....Federalism for the 21st Century - A Framework for Achieving Reform and Change. Improvements to Australia's federal consitutional system could return between $9 billion and $20 billion each year to taxpayers (up to 3% of GDP). The problem affects service delivery in areas like health and education and hampers our ability to meet new challenges like water scarcity and climate change. In developing clear criteria for improving Australia's federal constitutionalism this project offers significant long term financial and other benefits to the nation and will also produce more specific benefits as a result of its case studies of health and water management.Read moreRead less
Superannuation and divorce in Australia: an evaluation of post-reform legal practice and property settlement outcomes. The project evaluates the impact of the new Family Law Legislation Amendment (Superannunation) Act 2001, which includes superannuation as property that can be split between the parties. It investigates the ways in which the Courts, legal advisers and divorcing parties take superannuation into account when marriages end. This research assumes, on the basis of previous studies, th ....Superannuation and divorce in Australia: an evaluation of post-reform legal practice and property settlement outcomes. The project evaluates the impact of the new Family Law Legislation Amendment (Superannunation) Act 2001, which includes superannuation as property that can be split between the parties. It investigates the ways in which the Courts, legal advisers and divorcing parties take superannuation into account when marriages end. This research assumes, on the basis of previous studies, that these groups will have difficulties applying this reform in practice, and that various procedural, social and financial factors may limit the broad application of this reform. This research is crucial to ensure that the reform results in improved financial security during retirement - especially for women.Read moreRead less
The prospects for justice in the legal reform of police administrative detention powers in China. Australia's security and economic well-being is becoming increasingly closely tied to China. Australia has a strong interest in China's continued economic well-being, as well as promoting the rule of law and valuing the protection of human rights. The effective legal protection of human rights is of vital concern to our relationship, to China's long term stability and to China's increasing participa ....The prospects for justice in the legal reform of police administrative detention powers in China. Australia's security and economic well-being is becoming increasingly closely tied to China. Australia has a strong interest in China's continued economic well-being, as well as promoting the rule of law and valuing the protection of human rights. The effective legal protection of human rights is of vital concern to our relationship, to China's long term stability and to China's increasing participation in international human rights fora. This project will enhance our understanding of struggles to effect legal reform of contentious police powers and to improve protection of citizens' rights through reforming law enforcement practices. It will contribute to ongoing Sino-Australian cooperation to promote human rights protection.Read moreRead less
Impaired jury decision-making: The impact of stereotypes in the Australian court room. There have been calls for reforms and overhauls of the jury system in Australia because of concerns about the ability of jurors to reach objective verdicts and concerns about the costs associated with the jury system; however the consequences of these proposed changes for jury functioning are not well understood. This research will provide a better understanding those factors that contribute to impaired jury d ....Impaired jury decision-making: The impact of stereotypes in the Australian court room. There have been calls for reforms and overhauls of the jury system in Australia because of concerns about the ability of jurors to reach objective verdicts and concerns about the costs associated with the jury system; however the consequences of these proposed changes for jury functioning are not well understood. This research will provide a better understanding those factors that contribute to impaired jury decision-making, helping to avoid the very real risk of any changes to the jury system resulting in profound and unpredictable changes to the functioning of the legal system. By doing so, the concerns of people calling for drastic reforms can be addressed without socially and economically expensive overhauls of the jury system.Read moreRead less
Coherent, independent and user-friendly? Participant perceptions of social security administrative review processes in Australia and Britain. The capacity to exercise rights associated with citizenship, and to participate meaningfully in community life, is significantly affected by access to financial security and by community confidence in the independence and fairness of systems of entitlement review. This research will examine recent developments in Australian social security review mechanism ....Coherent, independent and user-friendly? Participant perceptions of social security administrative review processes in Australia and Britain. The capacity to exercise rights associated with citizenship, and to participate meaningfully in community life, is significantly affected by access to financial security and by community confidence in the independence and fairness of systems of entitlement review. This research will examine recent developments in Australian social security review mechanisms, in both policy and practice. It is of national significance as it will demonstrate the extent to which statutory objectives of fairness, comprehensibility and accessibility are achieved, particularly from the perspectives of participants in appeals. The research has critical implications for legislation, policy and practice in administrative law and tribunal practice. Read moreRead less
Managing Competing Claims to Land and Resources - Does Property Law Promote Sustainability ? A key factor in promoting environmental sustainability is the resolution of competing claims to land and water resources in rural Australia. This project would examine the effectiveness of property law as the major model for resolving conflicts and regulating land and resources. Through overseas and Australian comparative research the project would provide an analysis of alternative legal and instituti ....Managing Competing Claims to Land and Resources - Does Property Law Promote Sustainability ? A key factor in promoting environmental sustainability is the resolution of competing claims to land and water resources in rural Australia. This project would examine the effectiveness of property law as the major model for resolving conflicts and regulating land and resources. Through overseas and Australian comparative research the project would provide an analysis of alternative legal and institutional models of relevance to land and resource management authorities, industry and community groups. It would support the resolution of competing claims through an examination of legal models, which may more effectively promote environmental sustainability.Read moreRead less