England's obedient servant? The history of Australian tort law, 1901-1945. Did Australian courts develop an Australian law of tort between federation and the Second World War despite the confines of being bound formally or informally by English precedent? Australian courts may have been more creative and independent and less subservient to England than previously thought.
Enhancing Reproductive Opportunity in Australia: Reconsidering Consent, Altruism and the Legal Status of Embryos in ART Processes. This project meets the national research priority of a healthy start to life by enhancing reproductive opportunity while safeguarding the rights and interests of all involved in reproduction with donor gametes. This research will create significant national benefits in the form of an up to date, practical and coherent platform for the reform of all aspects of embryo ....Enhancing Reproductive Opportunity in Australia: Reconsidering Consent, Altruism and the Legal Status of Embryos in ART Processes. This project meets the national research priority of a healthy start to life by enhancing reproductive opportunity while safeguarding the rights and interests of all involved in reproduction with donor gametes. This research will create significant national benefits in the form of an up to date, practical and coherent platform for the reform of all aspects of embryo and gamete donation and embryo disputes. We propose a pro-active consultative model that centres the needs and experiences of gamete and embryo donors and recipients. Our research will inform current and future modes of regulation of gamete and embryo donation and dispute resolution, including legislation, ethics guidelines and codes of practice.Read moreRead less
Terrorism and the non-State actor after September 11: The role of law in the search for security. September 11 elicited diverse legal responses to a perceived threat of unprecedented global terrorism. This project will redress the dearth of analysis integrating legal and social-scientific perspectives on recent anti-terrorism laws. Combining perspectives from international and criminal law, criminology and social psychology, the project will explore the challenges these developments pose to acce ....Terrorism and the non-State actor after September 11: The role of law in the search for security. September 11 elicited diverse legal responses to a perceived threat of unprecedented global terrorism. This project will redress the dearth of analysis integrating legal and social-scientific perspectives on recent anti-terrorism laws. Combining perspectives from international and criminal law, criminology and social psychology, the project will explore the challenges these developments pose to accepted legal categories; debates around exceptionalism as a justification for new laws; their unintended and collateral consequences; and public attitudes to new security measures. The research will enhance understanding of current reactions to terrorism and inform policy analysis and public debate over appropriate future responses.
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Defining, regulating and taxing the not-for-profit sector in Australia: Law and policy for the 21st century. The not-for-profit sector is crucial to the economy and social inclusion in Australia. The sector's role and significance is growing but it struggles with complex and disparate taxation requirements and piecemeal supervision by state and federal governments. This project addresses both the needs of the sector and public expectations of it by comprehensively researching legal definition, r ....Defining, regulating and taxing the not-for-profit sector in Australia: Law and policy for the 21st century. The not-for-profit sector is crucial to the economy and social inclusion in Australia. The sector's role and significance is growing but it struggles with complex and disparate taxation requirements and piecemeal supervision by state and federal governments. This project addresses both the needs of the sector and public expectations of it by comprehensively researching legal definition, regulation and tax rules and recommending appropriate reform, thereby making a significant contribution to National Priority Research area, Promoting and Maintaining Good Health and Well Being, Priority Goal 4, 'understanding and strengthening key elements of Australia's social and economic fabric'.Read moreRead less
The fundamental importance of foreign direct investment to Australia in the 21st century: Reforming treaty and dispute resolution practice. This project will evaluate the economic and legal risks associated with the Australian Government’s current policy on investor-state dispute settlement through multidisciplinary research, namely econometric modeling, empirical research through stakeholder surveys and interviews, as well as critical analysis of case law, treaties and regulatory approaches. Th ....The fundamental importance of foreign direct investment to Australia in the 21st century: Reforming treaty and dispute resolution practice. This project will evaluate the economic and legal risks associated with the Australian Government’s current policy on investor-state dispute settlement through multidisciplinary research, namely econometric modeling, empirical research through stakeholder surveys and interviews, as well as critical analysis of case law, treaties and regulatory approaches. The aim of this project is to identify optimal methods of investor-state dispute prevention, avoidance and resolution that efficiently cater to inbound and outbound investors as well as Australia as a whole. The goal is to promote a positive climate for investment inflows and outflows, while maintaining Australia's ability to take sovereign decisions on matters of public policy.Read moreRead less
Detecting Fraud and Anti-Competitive Behaviour in the Australian Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries. This Project will deliver law reform proposals to ensure greater accountability and a reduction of fraud and anti-competitive behaviour associated with over 6 billion dollars of public money expended each year under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as well as significant amounts paid by public hospitals on medical devices. It unites experts in Australian pharmaceutical regulatio ....Detecting Fraud and Anti-Competitive Behaviour in the Australian Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries. This Project will deliver law reform proposals to ensure greater accountability and a reduction of fraud and anti-competitive behaviour associated with over 6 billion dollars of public money expended each year under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) as well as significant amounts paid by public hospitals on medical devices. It unites experts in Australian pharmaceutical regulation and high technology law enforcement with an eminent United States Partner Investigator in False Claims litigation. Reducing fraud and anti-competitive behaviour could be critical to survivability of the PBS and the benefits it brings particularly to an ageing population. 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
Building rule of law capacity in a transitional state: lessons from the Australian criminal justice assistance programme in Cambodia 1997-2007. Australian overseas aid has recently stressed funding better governance and security as pre-requisites to poverty reduction and economic development. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a long term legal assistance programme designed to strengthen the rule of law in a fragile state such as Cambodia. Police reform in fragile states has often failed ....Building rule of law capacity in a transitional state: lessons from the Australian criminal justice assistance programme in Cambodia 1997-2007. Australian overseas aid has recently stressed funding better governance and security as pre-requisites to poverty reduction and economic development. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a long term legal assistance programme designed to strengthen the rule of law in a fragile state such as Cambodia. Police reform in fragile states has often failed and lessons learnt by the CCJAP over the past 10 years will contribute to our knowledge about the best practices and strategies needed to improve security and governance in fragile states. Capacity building efforts to improve international law enforcement cooperation, especially in regard to counter-terrorism and transnational crime, will benefit from this review.Read moreRead less
Nodal Governance and Human Security. Australia is in a region where a number of countries fail to provide their people with security in basic areas such as health and community security. Understanding the security problems of Australia's neighbours is vital, but not easy. This pathbreaking project will help Australians involved in working with these countries to gain an interrelated understanding of the problems facing our neighbours. The benefits that flow from this include an improved planning ....Nodal Governance and Human Security. Australia is in a region where a number of countries fail to provide their people with security in basic areas such as health and community security. Understanding the security problems of Australia's neighbours is vital, but not easy. This pathbreaking project will help Australians involved in working with these countries to gain an interrelated understanding of the problems facing our neighbours. The benefits that flow from this include an improved planning capacity for dealing with security issues in the region, better use of the resources that we provide, and strengthened relationships with our neighbours. We will do this while placing Australia at the head of an emerging, highly exciting field of study centred on human security.Read moreRead less
Reconceiving Engagement with International Law in a Populist Era. This project seeks to address the fundamental problem of how to reconceive engagement by states with the international legal order, in the face of a sustained populist backlash. It proposes to develop a new analytical framework to evaluate the origins and impact of populist concerns about international law. Expected outcomes include detailed empirical studies of the extent to which countries with populist leaders have disengaged f ....Reconceiving Engagement with International Law in a Populist Era. This project seeks to address the fundamental problem of how to reconceive engagement by states with the international legal order, in the face of a sustained populist backlash. It proposes to develop a new analytical framework to evaluate the origins and impact of populist concerns about international law. Expected outcomes include detailed empirical studies of the extent to which countries with populist leaders have disengaged from the international legal order, and evidence-based recommendations to increase committed engagement by states with that order. Anticipated benefits include expanding national research and policy capacity in reinforcing the rules and institutions that support Australia’s security and prosperity.Read moreRead less