ARC Asia-Pacific Futures Research Network. The ARC Asia Pacific Futures Network is an international vehicle for building research capacity in the national research system to enhance understanding of Australia, its region, and the world. The Network brings experienced researchers working in identified research areas and themes into dynamic collaboration with government and industry through structured programs, with a view to stimulating new research directions, partnerships and training opportuni ....ARC Asia-Pacific Futures Research Network. The ARC Asia Pacific Futures Network is an international vehicle for building research capacity in the national research system to enhance understanding of Australia, its region, and the world. The Network brings experienced researchers working in identified research areas and themes into dynamic collaboration with government and industry through structured programs, with a view to stimulating new research directions, partnerships and training opportunities. In its 5-year plan, the Network will focus on Governance and Security, Culture and Religion, Media and Communications, Health and Population, and Trade and Industry. APFN will also have the capacity to marshal expertise on pressing issues facing Australia and the region as a whole.Read moreRead less
Executive Power under the Australian Constitution: definition, delimitation and accountability. The executive branch of government is the central actor in protecting Australia from terrorism and crime, as it is in other countries. The executive is also central to defence, immigration control as well as critical domestic policy domains. Understanding the nature and scope of executive power, and how it is regulated and rendered accountable, is therefore vital to good governance and successful prot ....Executive Power under the Australian Constitution: definition, delimitation and accountability. The executive branch of government is the central actor in protecting Australia from terrorism and crime, as it is in other countries. The executive is also central to defence, immigration control as well as critical domestic policy domains. Understanding the nature and scope of executive power, and how it is regulated and rendered accountable, is therefore vital to good governance and successful protection of Australian interests. This project will provide the first integrated, broadly-based and comparatively-informed analysis of executive government under the Constitution since the emergence of Australian constitutional nationalism in the High Court in the 1990s and since the executive assumed expanded powers in the post 9/11 world.Read moreRead less
Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwea ....Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwealth and State levels. It will provide the basis for a more informed debate in this important area and will assess the need for reform of the current system.Read moreRead less
Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have onl ....Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have only begun to consider such issues, which have been debated in America for decades. This project will involve a comparison of the methodologies of constitutional interpretation in five different countries, and a theoretical inquiry into the underlying normative and linguistic principles.Read moreRead less
Freedom of Expression in Democratic States: A New Theoretical Direction. Modern democratic states must protect freedom of expression while also responding to the harms caused by hateful, violent and dangerous form of speech - a problem accentuated by increasing racial, religious and ethnic conflict and the threat of (and responses to) terrorism.
The project is important because it aims to develop a theory of freedom of expression that - free from the distorting influence of the United States ....Freedom of Expression in Democratic States: A New Theoretical Direction. Modern democratic states must protect freedom of expression while also responding to the harms caused by hateful, violent and dangerous form of speech - a problem accentuated by increasing racial, religious and ethnic conflict and the threat of (and responses to) terrorism.
The project is important because it aims to develop a theory of freedom of expression that - free from the distorting influence of the United States jurisprudence - can explain and guide the courts in other democratic countries. Its comparative and theoretical innovation will place Australian scholarship at the forefront of a central problem in modern political life and enrich scholarly and public debate.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
Dollars and democracy: The dynamics of Australian political finance and its regulation. This project will provide a foundation for meeting the complex challenge of realising democratic principles given the various flows of money in politics. Its analyses reform recommendations, and data will serve the national benefit by enabling the political and electoral system to better advance the democratic functions of parties; the principles of transparency, equality and liberty; and the prevention of co ....Dollars and democracy: The dynamics of Australian political finance and its regulation. This project will provide a foundation for meeting the complex challenge of realising democratic principles given the various flows of money in politics. Its analyses reform recommendations, and data will serve the national benefit by enabling the political and electoral system to better advance the democratic functions of parties; the principles of transparency, equality and liberty; and the prevention of corruption and its perception. The public availability of its data will enhance political reporting and accountability. It will also contribute significantly to the international literature on political finance through its comparative examination of theoretical explanations and democratic principles.Read moreRead less
Cooperation, competition or control? Public policy and the use of tied grants in Australian federalism. Tied grants account for $26 billion worth of Commonwealth expenditure and cover everything from child care to aged care, environmental programs to road building. They crucially affect the capacity of Australian governments to make policy and deliver services. A better understanding of how they work in practice will be a great benefit in improving our capability to meet pressing social, econo ....Cooperation, competition or control? Public policy and the use of tied grants in Australian federalism. Tied grants account for $26 billion worth of Commonwealth expenditure and cover everything from child care to aged care, environmental programs to road building. They crucially affect the capacity of Australian governments to make policy and deliver services. A better understanding of how they work in practice will be a great benefit in improving our capability to meet pressing social, economic, environmental and regional development challenges.Read moreRead less
The Origins of Homosexual Politics in the British World: A Transnational Study. This project's findings will be of national and community benefit in three ways. Addressing the origins and early development of one of the most important social movements of modern times, it will contribute to the understanding of the ways in which social inequality has been so successfully tackled in Australia over the past fifty years. By attending to the international context of this history it will expand knowle ....The Origins of Homosexual Politics in the British World: A Transnational Study. This project's findings will be of national and community benefit in three ways. Addressing the origins and early development of one of the most important social movements of modern times, it will contribute to the understanding of the ways in which social inequality has been so successfully tackled in Australia over the past fifty years. By attending to the international context of this history it will expand knowledge of the nature, extent and longevity of Australia's connections to global political cultures. Finally, it will strengthen Australian scholarship's already well-established claim to world-class research in gay and lesbian and queer studies.Read moreRead less