Legal and Ethical Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza. Over 40 million people in the world died in the 1918 Influenza pandemic. Any repetition could have devastating social and economic costs for Australia and the Region. Community confidence in quarantine or other restrictions in the medical management of pandemics depends on balancing protection of public health against the rights of citizens to go about their work and daily lives. By studying the adequacy of existing human pandemic influenz ....Legal and Ethical Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza. Over 40 million people in the world died in the 1918 Influenza pandemic. Any repetition could have devastating social and economic costs for Australia and the Region. Community confidence in quarantine or other restrictions in the medical management of pandemics depends on balancing protection of public health against the rights of citizens to go about their work and daily lives. By studying the adequacy of existing human pandemic influenza planning in Australia and the Asian region, this project will contribute to law reform and policy development needed to command community confidence in the ethical and public policy balances embodied in national pandemic plans, and the laws and practices which support them.Read moreRead less
Genetic discrimination in Australia: an exploration of the nature and extent of the phenomenon within the legal and social context. This project involves national, groundbreaking research into the newly-emerging phenomenon of genetic discrimination in Australia. Undertaken by a multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional team with a wide range of expertise, this innovative and topical research will investigate genetic discrimination across three key perspectives: consumers, third parties and the le ....Genetic discrimination in Australia: an exploration of the nature and extent of the phenomenon within the legal and social context. This project involves national, groundbreaking research into the newly-emerging phenomenon of genetic discrimination in Australia. Undertaken by a multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional team with a wide range of expertise, this innovative and topical research will investigate genetic discrimination across three key perspectives: consumers, third parties and the legal system. It will advance the existing knowledge base, both nationally and internationally, and establish comprehensive baseline data for further evaluative research. Important outcomes for each of the three sectors will be generated, as well as a comprehensive overview of this important new Australian social issue. Recommendations will inform the development of appropriate law and policy.
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Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults lacking capacity: Enhancing medical decision-making through doctors' compliance with the law. This project will enhance medical decision-making about the provision of life-sustaining treatment to adults without decision-making capacity through improved compliance with the law. This will advance patients' autonomy and dignity, protect vulnerable adults whose lives may be wrongly ended because of inappropriate treatment decisions a ....Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults lacking capacity: Enhancing medical decision-making through doctors' compliance with the law. This project will enhance medical decision-making about the provision of life-sustaining treatment to adults without decision-making capacity through improved compliance with the law. This will advance patients' autonomy and dignity, protect vulnerable adults whose lives may be wrongly ended because of inappropriate treatment decisions and avoid litigation for doctors and hospitals. The project also aims to improve the quality of the law by resolving legal ambiguity and proposing reforms. This will further enhance the quality of decision-making, and will reduce defensive medicine and the cost of complying with the law, leading to savings in health expenditure.Read moreRead less
Fostering Safe Nanotechnology Research Focused on Critical Public Health Problems. This Project builds upon the applicant's unique interdisciplinary research and collaborations to develop an innovative framework for improving occupational health and safety standards of nanotechnology research at the Australian National University and fostering its focus on critical public health problems such as biosecurity, food and water safety, pollution control and equitable access to health technologies.
Lifestyle wars: law's role in responding to the challenges of non-communicable diseases. In economic, social and personal terms, non-communicable diseases impose a massive health burden upon Australian society. Law is a potent tool that could influence the economic, environmental and social structures, as well as the personal choices, that generate poor health outcomes. Very little work has been carried out on law's relationship with non-communicable diseases, either in Australia or internatio ....Lifestyle wars: law's role in responding to the challenges of non-communicable diseases. In economic, social and personal terms, non-communicable diseases impose a massive health burden upon Australian society. Law is a potent tool that could influence the economic, environmental and social structures, as well as the personal choices, that generate poor health outcomes. Very little work has been carried out on law's relationship with non-communicable diseases, either in Australia or internationally. By exploring and promoting the contribution that public health law can make to health policy on non-communicable diseases, this project will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of good health in Australia.Read moreRead less
Regulating Medical Nanotechnology in Australia: Developing Practical Improvements in Safety and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. This Project will provide policy makers with previously unavailable detailed information and well developed, innovative regulatory options, on how best to ensure safe and cost-effective use of one of the fastest growing areas of Australian research and development: medical nanotechnology. The Project will benefit Australian healthcare workers and patients who will increasi ....Regulating Medical Nanotechnology in Australia: Developing Practical Improvements in Safety and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. This Project will provide policy makers with previously unavailable detailed information and well developed, innovative regulatory options, on how best to ensure safe and cost-effective use of one of the fastest growing areas of Australian research and development: medical nanotechnology. The Project will benefit Australian healthcare workers and patients who will increasingly be exposed to, and concerned about, the risks of medical nanotechnology. It will help to facilitate export and institutional uptake of Australian medical nanotechnology products, by ensuring they comply with world's best practise safety standards and offer value for public expenditure. Read moreRead less
Electronic Health Records: Achieving an Effective and Ethical Legal and Recordkeeping Framework. Health records are essential to efficacious treatment and affect every individual. They are 'socially-critical' communications because the therapeutic relationship between doctor and patient is based on trust. Without any systematic ethical and legal safeguards or recordkeeping framework, the application of new technologies for networking health records lacks social credibility. This multidisciplina ....Electronic Health Records: Achieving an Effective and Ethical Legal and Recordkeeping Framework. Health records are essential to efficacious treatment and affect every individual. They are 'socially-critical' communications because the therapeutic relationship between doctor and patient is based on trust. Without any systematic ethical and legal safeguards or recordkeeping framework, the application of new technologies for networking health records lacks social credibility. This multidisciplinary study will provide a set of principles and standards relating to authenticity, ownership, access, privacy, and confidentiality of doctor-patient communications in a networked environment, which, if implemented, will benefit patients and the medical community thus furthering the development of a more efficacious national health system.Read moreRead less
Using Law To Improve Population Health and the Quality of Health Care Services. There are huge gaps in our understanding of how legal rules and processes impact population health and the quality of health care services in Australia. This research program will begin to fill those gaps by addressing topical issues such as medical negligence litigation, the coroner's role in injury prevention, and the use of medical science in the courtroom. The findings will be useful to government policymakers, ....Using Law To Improve Population Health and the Quality of Health Care Services. There are huge gaps in our understanding of how legal rules and processes impact population health and the quality of health care services in Australia. This research program will begin to fill those gaps by addressing topical issues such as medical negligence litigation, the coroner's role in injury prevention, and the use of medical science in the courtroom. The findings will be useful to government policymakers, regulators, and judges, as well as professionals working in both the legal and health care fields. But most importantly, the findings will serve patients by helping to shape strategies and reforms that enable Australia's health care system to deliver services that are safer, of higher quality, fairer, and more efficient.Read moreRead less
Employment consequences of criminal behaviour: Double punishment or just deserts? Employment deprivations are hardships often consequent upon findings of criminal guilt and additional to criminal sanctions imposed by the courts - a convicted person may be dismissed from employment or ineligible to apply for certain jobs, particularly public sector positions. There are no settled legal principles governing inter-play between criminal behaviour and employment status and opportunities. Unfairness ....Employment consequences of criminal behaviour: Double punishment or just deserts? Employment deprivations are hardships often consequent upon findings of criminal guilt and additional to criminal sanctions imposed by the courts - a convicted person may be dismissed from employment or ineligible to apply for certain jobs, particularly public sector positions. There are no settled legal principles governing inter-play between criminal behaviour and employment status and opportunities. Unfairness may result, as the offence effectively attracts a 'double' punishment; an offender's rehabilitative prospects are impeded; social and economic burdens ensue.
The project aims to develop comprehensive policy guidelines concerning the appropriate connection between criminal behaviour and employment status for courts, governments and employers.Read moreRead less
Food advertising to children: evaluation of diverse regulatory models. Food advertising to children on television typically portrays energy-dense, low-nutrient products as sources of fun or social acceptance. The effect of this advertising on the increasing problem of childhood obesity is a matter of concern and debate.
The current regulatory regime in Australia for such advertising does not effectively incorporate the views of all stakeholders, and so overemphasises the views of the TV indus ....Food advertising to children: evaluation of diverse regulatory models. Food advertising to children on television typically portrays energy-dense, low-nutrient products as sources of fun or social acceptance. The effect of this advertising on the increasing problem of childhood obesity is a matter of concern and debate.
The current regulatory regime in Australia for such advertising does not effectively incorporate the views of all stakeholders, and so overemphasises the views of the TV industry and the advertisers.
This study will advance the development of an effective regime for regulating food advertising to children in Australia, by analysing and evaluating models in other jurisdictions.
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