Responding to Climate Change: Australia's Environmental Law and Regulatory Framework. Climate change presents Australia with unparalleled sustainability challenges. Impacts on environmental resources will require an integrated legal and socio-economic regulatory response. An effective and adaptable environmental law framework will be crucial for adaptation and mitigation measures. The project addresses this need by undertaking a comprehensive, interdisciplinary evaluation of Australia's legal ca ....Responding to Climate Change: Australia's Environmental Law and Regulatory Framework. Climate change presents Australia with unparalleled sustainability challenges. Impacts on environmental resources will require an integrated legal and socio-economic regulatory response. An effective and adaptable environmental law framework will be crucial for adaptation and mitigation measures. The project addresses this need by undertaking a comprehensive, interdisciplinary evaluation of Australia's legal capacity to respond to climate change, so identifying appropriate governance structures and regulatory tools. This analysis is vital to positioning Australian environmental law to manage climate change impacts and associated social, ecological and economic costs and to ensure compliance with international obligations.Read moreRead less
A legal framework for managing mangrove ecosystem services. This project aims to examine legal and policy challenges, together with expert opinion, to generate a legal framework that recognises and protects the multiple ecosystem services provided by mangroves. Global rates of mangrove loss are of great concern because of the significant ecosystem services they provide in coastal environments. In the Australian context it is important that national and state legal frameworks operate efficiently ....A legal framework for managing mangrove ecosystem services. This project aims to examine legal and policy challenges, together with expert opinion, to generate a legal framework that recognises and protects the multiple ecosystem services provided by mangroves. Global rates of mangrove loss are of great concern because of the significant ecosystem services they provide in coastal environments. In the Australian context it is important that national and state legal frameworks operate efficiently to manage and protect these valuable resources. The framework developed in this project will be adaptable to provide significant benefits to other fragile ecosystems in Australia.Read moreRead less
Sexual harassment in Australia: Contexts, outcomes and prevention. Sexual harassment remains a persistent workplace issue with significant social costs. The project will examine how to most effectively prevent sexual harassment and to reduce the impact of sexual harassment for individuals and organizations where it occurs. A comprehensive analysis will be undertaken, drawing on a longitudinal study of more than 100 'targets' of sexual harassment, interviews with a wide range of employers and ext ....Sexual harassment in Australia: Contexts, outcomes and prevention. Sexual harassment remains a persistent workplace issue with significant social costs. The project will examine how to most effectively prevent sexual harassment and to reduce the impact of sexual harassment for individuals and organizations where it occurs. A comprehensive analysis will be undertaken, drawing on a longitudinal study of more than 100 'targets' of sexual harassment, interviews with a wide range of employers and external complaint handling bodies, and an analysis of formal and informal reports. The project outcomes will contribute to improved policy and practice in workplaces and human rights and assist other bodies to prevent and more effectively respond to sexual harassment.Read moreRead less
Intellectual property and 3D printing. This project aims to provide guidance for industry and policy-makers about intellectual property, three-dimensional (3D) printing, and innovation policy. It will consider the evolution of 3D printing, and examine its implications for the creative industries, branding and marketing, manufacturing and robotics, clean technologies, health-care and the digital economy. The project will examine how 3D printing disrupts copyright law, designs law, trade mark law, ....Intellectual property and 3D printing. This project aims to provide guidance for industry and policy-makers about intellectual property, three-dimensional (3D) printing, and innovation policy. It will consider the evolution of 3D printing, and examine its implications for the creative industries, branding and marketing, manufacturing and robotics, clean technologies, health-care and the digital economy. The project will examine how 3D printing disrupts copyright law, designs law, trade mark law, patent law and confidential information. The project expects to provide practical advice about intellectual property management and commercialisation, and boost Australia’s capacity in advanced manufacturing and materials science.Read moreRead less
Testing trade mark law's image of the consumer. An effective trade mark law is vital both to protect consumers and to allow businesses to build brand recognition. This project seeks to put Australian trade mark law on a firmer empirical footing by bringing together experts from psychology, law and marketing to test the law’s assumptions against actual consumer responses.
Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture. The development of new plant varieties is crucial to the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture. It also has wider social, cultural and economic consequences. Intellectual property laws have the potential to promote and hinder the developments of new plant varieties. In recent years there has been a shift towards the use of patents to protect plant i ....Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture. The development of new plant varieties is crucial to the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture. It also has wider social, cultural and economic consequences. Intellectual property laws have the potential to promote and hinder the developments of new plant varieties. In recent years there has been a shift towards the use of patents to protect plant innovations: a trend which has the potential to transform existing research and development arrangements and industry practices in Australia. By providing policy-makers and stakeholders with recommendations on how to respond to and manage these changes, the project will promote plant breeding in Australia and also enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Legal risk management of adverse health outcomes and injury in the fitness industry: developing evidence-informed regulation that improves safety. This project analyses Australian laws, policies and practices designed to manage legal risks and liabilities in the fitness industry, and assesses their effectiveness in preventing adverse health outcomes, injuries, and the legal liability associated with those risks.
Conceiving and Implementing National Integrity Systems Assessments (NISA). Integrity and corruption are conceptually linked opposites. Integrity systems (or 'ethics regimes') are the most powerful tools for dealing with corruption. They involve a range of institutions, law, procedures, practices and attitudes which encourage integrity and discourage/sanction its absence among public servants and those who might wish to corrupt them. This project will examine the way Australian government and bus ....Conceiving and Implementing National Integrity Systems Assessments (NISA). Integrity and corruption are conceptually linked opposites. Integrity systems (or 'ethics regimes') are the most powerful tools for dealing with corruption. They involve a range of institutions, law, procedures, practices and attitudes which encourage integrity and discourage/sanction its absence among public servants and those who might wish to corrupt them. This project will examine the way Australian government and business integrity systems (some of which have received international praise for their design and conception) function in order to improve their operation in Australia and to provide examples for other countries.Read moreRead less
The limits of disclosure: private rights, public duties and the search for accountable governance. A reliance on technical considerations such as enhanced disclosure, literacy programs and attempts to bifurcate between sophisticated and unsophisticated investors has each proved sub-optimal in the search for greater, or more accurately, effective accountability both here in Australia and internationally. The acceptance by the corporate sector to process risk allocation, develop a mutually endors ....The limits of disclosure: private rights, public duties and the search for accountable governance. A reliance on technical considerations such as enhanced disclosure, literacy programs and attempts to bifurcate between sophisticated and unsophisticated investors has each proved sub-optimal in the search for greater, or more accurately, effective accountability both here in Australia and internationally. The acceptance by the corporate sector to process risk allocation, develop a mutually endorsed formal and informal regulatory framework, and agree on clear and transparent roles and responsibilities marks a significant step forward. It is both significant and innovative that the design and implementation of the proposed strategic plan will derive from an extended exercise in deliberative democracy.Read moreRead less
Sentencing Indigenous offenders of partner violence: A fundamental comparative analysis of Indigenous sentencing courts and specialist family violence courts. Courts are often used for rehabilitating offenders, however, there is usually little thought and planning put into the development of court processes so that they can achieve their goals. Since specialist courts are being used to sentence Indigenous offenders of partner violence it is important to make the court experience more meaningfu ....Sentencing Indigenous offenders of partner violence: A fundamental comparative analysis of Indigenous sentencing courts and specialist family violence courts. Courts are often used for rehabilitating offenders, however, there is usually little thought and planning put into the development of court processes so that they can achieve their goals. Since specialist courts are being used to sentence Indigenous offenders of partner violence it is important to make the court experience more meaningful for such offenders so that a reduction of violence in Indigenous communities can begin to occur. The economic and social benefits of reducing violence have direct effects on the individuals affected, and wider, long-term effects on generating more harmonious and cohesive Indigenous families and communities. Read moreRead less