National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy. Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia?s, are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. What is the impact of this agenda on Australia's interests? Should Australia take the lead in ....National and Regional Patent Administration in Small to Medium-Sized States in the Global Economy. Patents and patent administration are key to the rules of the game in the knowledge economy. The study will analyse how a group of smaller national patent offices including Australia?s, are responding to the agenda of patent harmonization that is being led by the US, European and Japanese patent offices. What is the impact of this agenda on Australia's interests? Should Australia take the lead in pushing for a regional patent organization? Using sociolegal techniques, the study will answer these and other key questions facing Australian policy makers. The work of patent offices within APEC, ASEAN and the Pacific Island Forum (for example, NZ, Fiji, and China)will be the subject of in-depth fieldwork and analysis.Read moreRead less
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
Balancing law and life. Law firms have been transformed as a result of mergers, incorporation and listing on the stock exchange. The centrality of competition and globalisation has jeopardised any possibility of a work/life balance. This project will examine the tensions in trying to effect a balance for lawyers expected to work 24/7.
Internal Regulation: Overcoming the Disconnect between Corporate Objectives and Health, Safety, Environmental and Community Performance. This research will enable corporations to identify the points of greatest leverage over corporate and facility level health, safety, environmental and community (HSEC) performance and to develop strategies that successfully achieve their HSEC objectives. It will provide broader national benefits in (i) reducing workplace injury and environmental degradation at ....Internal Regulation: Overcoming the Disconnect between Corporate Objectives and Health, Safety, Environmental and Community Performance. This research will enable corporations to identify the points of greatest leverage over corporate and facility level health, safety, environmental and community (HSEC) performance and to develop strategies that successfully achieve their HSEC objectives. It will provide broader national benefits in (i) reducing workplace injury and environmental degradation at multiple facilities across Australia and (ii) increasing productivity and economic benefits (by doing so at reduced cost to companies). The study will also benefit the Australian and regional communities by identifying strategies that facilitate better community-company relations. Read moreRead less
Beyond Compliance - Safety, Health and Environmental Regulation in the Mining Sector, An Empirical Analysis. Through empirical research on the mining sector, this study will enrich our understanding of the motivators of corporate safety, health and environmental performance. It will explain how regulation, social licence pressures, economic constraints and internal management style, affect outcomes and cause some, but not others, to go 'beyond compliance'. Its significance will be to explain and ....Beyond Compliance - Safety, Health and Environmental Regulation in the Mining Sector, An Empirical Analysis. Through empirical research on the mining sector, this study will enrich our understanding of the motivators of corporate safety, health and environmental performance. It will explain how regulation, social licence pressures, economic constraints and internal management style, affect outcomes and cause some, but not others, to go 'beyond compliance'. Its significance will be to explain and model the pathways to better corporate safety, health and environmental performance and thereby advance regulatory theory and contribute to effective policy design. By facilitating and rewarding industry for going beyond compliance it will enable better policy outcomes at less cost.Read moreRead less
Towards Global Carbon Integrity: Applying integrity systems methodology to the ‘global carbon crisis’. This project applies a widely respected approach to analysing governance systems to global problems of carbon emissions and sustainable development generally. Its significance lies in the centrality of the problems addressed and the adaptation of the widely praised NISA (National Integrity Systems Assessments) approach from domestic to international spheres. It aims to: adapt NISA to apply to ....Towards Global Carbon Integrity: Applying integrity systems methodology to the ‘global carbon crisis’. This project applies a widely respected approach to analysing governance systems to global problems of carbon emissions and sustainable development generally. Its significance lies in the centrality of the problems addressed and the adaptation of the widely praised NISA (National Integrity Systems Assessments) approach from domestic to international spheres. It aims to: adapt NISA to apply to a global sectoral problem of major significance; map and assess the Global Carbon Integrity system; identify gaps, weaknesses and areas on non-collaboration; provide suggestions for improvement; provide a fresh and useful perspective on global problems applicable to other issues. Read moreRead less