Regulating Australia's retail grocery sector - goals, actors and techniques. The major supermarket chains have a substantial economic and social impact on consumers, businesses and communities and are crucial to Australia's economic growth and productivity. Given their size and reach, regulation of the chains poses significant challenges. This interdisciplinary, empirical and theoretically driven project aims to interrogate the goals and processes of competition law as it applies in the retail g ....Regulating Australia's retail grocery sector - goals, actors and techniques. The major supermarket chains have a substantial economic and social impact on consumers, businesses and communities and are crucial to Australia's economic growth and productivity. Given their size and reach, regulation of the chains poses significant challenges. This interdisciplinary, empirical and theoretically driven project aims to interrogate the goals and processes of competition law as it applies in the retail grocery sector. In the first Australian research of its kind, it endeavours to explain how the chains' strategies and industry relationships influence regulatory action. The research is expected to produce recommendations on instruments and techniques to ensure that regulation of the sector is legally and practically efficient and effective.Read moreRead less
Criminalisation of poverty and homelessness in Australia: A national study. The project aims to assess the policing and enforcement of public order crimes and related offences (e.g. obstruct/disobey police, breach of bail, and minor property offences) on individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. The project endeavours to collect and analyse qualitative data from across Australia on the lived experience of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, regarding the impact of crimin ....Criminalisation of poverty and homelessness in Australia: A national study. The project aims to assess the policing and enforcement of public order crimes and related offences (e.g. obstruct/disobey police, breach of bail, and minor property offences) on individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness. The project endeavours to collect and analyse qualitative data from across Australia on the lived experience of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, regarding the impact of criminal laws and police powers concerned with presence in, and movement around public places. It will particularly focus on the impact on women, children and Indigenous peoples. The outcomes will seek to reduce the criminalisation of homeless people, by identifying law and policy reform options, and comparing their cost with that of 'business as usual'.Read moreRead less
Law, order and federalism in Australia. In a series of recent cases the High Court has emphasised the constitutional imperatives of judicial independence and impartiality in State court systems. These developments provide minimum human rights protections to individuals confronting criminal justice in the States. But what has not been considered is the cost of these developments. This project will investigate the uncertainty of the constitutional restrictions confronting State governments when re ....Law, order and federalism in Australia. In a series of recent cases the High Court has emphasised the constitutional imperatives of judicial independence and impartiality in State court systems. These developments provide minimum human rights protections to individuals confronting criminal justice in the States. But what has not been considered is the cost of these developments. This project will investigate the uncertainty of the constitutional restrictions confronting State governments when responding to law and order priorities, and the extent to which these have led to the frustration of policy development and experimentation across the Australian federation.Read moreRead less
Energy governance and climate change: towards a low carbon economy. This project aims to lay bare the architecture of energy governance, globally and nationally, in order to understand how such governance might best facilitate an ‘energy revolution’. It will provide an empirically grounded understanding of existing governance mechanisms and their limitations; identify the key obstacles to more effective governance and explore how they might be overcome; identify the governance mechanisms to best ....Energy governance and climate change: towards a low carbon economy. This project aims to lay bare the architecture of energy governance, globally and nationally, in order to understand how such governance might best facilitate an ‘energy revolution’. It will provide an empirically grounded understanding of existing governance mechanisms and their limitations; identify the key obstacles to more effective governance and explore how they might be overcome; identify the governance mechanisms to best achieve a transition to a low-carbon economy; and, develop design principles to support the creation of global and national energy regimes capable of achieving that transition and in such a way as to efficiently mitigate climate change and encourage energy innovation.Read moreRead less
Gauging informed public opinion on sentencing sex offenders: a national study. Sex offences appear to attract the greatest community condemnation and desire to punish, particularly when involving predatory stranger rapists or when the victims are children. This national study aims to ascertain informed public opinion on sex offender sentencing by exploring the views of jurors in sex offence trials in all higher courts in Australia.
Optimising access to the Law Reports Series of Australia's war crimes trials, 1945-51. The forthcoming Law Reports Series on Australia’s war crimes trials held in 1945-51 will be, in effect, the official history of the trials. It is vital, therefore, that all users, particularly the Australian public, are provided with the necessary tools to optimally access the Series and thus obtain a comprehensive understanding of the trials.
Regulating the Climate Finance Revolution. This project aims to identify how financial market regulators might best incentivise financial institutions to shift from high to low carbon investments, thereby mitigating climate change. It expects to generate new knowledge identifying regulatory excellence in previously uncharted territory and to enable best practice policymaking. Its expected outcomes will be to identify the central roles that the design and implementation of regulation can play in ....Regulating the Climate Finance Revolution. This project aims to identify how financial market regulators might best incentivise financial institutions to shift from high to low carbon investments, thereby mitigating climate change. It expects to generate new knowledge identifying regulatory excellence in previously uncharted territory and to enable best practice policymaking. Its expected outcomes will be to identify the central roles that the design and implementation of regulation can play in fast tracking finance for climate action. Its benefits should include advancing climate change mitigation, facilitating the development of Australia as a competitive sustainable finance market and contributing to Australia’s research on achieving a desirable energy future. 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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States, Coalitions and Climate Change Governance. Australia will suffer a greater adverse effect from climate change than most other developed countries, yet it is also placed to do well as part of an effective global mitigation effort. The success of this mitigation effort will be crucially dependent on the co-operation of lead states. This project analyses the dynamics of climate change co-operation. It will have national benefit in helping Australia to understand the emerging coalitions that ....States, Coalitions and Climate Change Governance. Australia will suffer a greater adverse effect from climate change than most other developed countries, yet it is also placed to do well as part of an effective global mitigation effort. The success of this mitigation effort will be crucially dependent on the co-operation of lead states. This project analyses the dynamics of climate change co-operation. It will have national benefit in helping Australia to understand the emerging coalitions that will shape the future of climate change and how Australia might best mediate its influence internationally in order to secure effective climate change mitigation.Read moreRead less
Parole in crisis? Public opinion on the use of parole. Serious crimes committed by parolees in Australia have brought parole into the public eye. Without concrete evidence, governments often act on the assumption that the public holds punitive attitudes. This project is expected to develop an evidence base to inform policy on parole at a crucial time when governments are under pressure to restrict its use. Three mixed-method studies aim to assess: what public views on parole are; why the public ....Parole in crisis? Public opinion on the use of parole. Serious crimes committed by parolees in Australia have brought parole into the public eye. Without concrete evidence, governments often act on the assumption that the public holds punitive attitudes. This project is expected to develop an evidence base to inform policy on parole at a crucial time when governments are under pressure to restrict its use. Three mixed-method studies aim to assess: what public views on parole are; why the public holds these views; and what influence these views have on policy and practice. The project is expected to make contributions to: creating information strategies that properly inform the public; supporting prisoner reintegration strategies; and shaping criminal justice policies based on informed community feedback.Read moreRead less