The fundamental importance of foreign direct investment to Australia in the 21st century: Reforming treaty and dispute resolution practice. This project will evaluate the economic and legal risks associated with the Australian Government’s current policy on investor-state dispute settlement through multidisciplinary research, namely econometric modeling, empirical research through stakeholder surveys and interviews, as well as critical analysis of case law, treaties and regulatory approaches. Th ....The fundamental importance of foreign direct investment to Australia in the 21st century: Reforming treaty and dispute resolution practice. This project will evaluate the economic and legal risks associated with the Australian Government’s current policy on investor-state dispute settlement through multidisciplinary research, namely econometric modeling, empirical research through stakeholder surveys and interviews, as well as critical analysis of case law, treaties and regulatory approaches. The aim of this project is to identify optimal methods of investor-state dispute prevention, avoidance and resolution that efficiently cater to inbound and outbound investors as well as Australia as a whole. The goal is to promote a positive climate for investment inflows and outflows, while maintaining Australia's ability to take sovereign decisions on matters of public policy.Read moreRead less
Catching capital: Understanding and influencing corporate tax strategy. This project aims to analyse the factors which influence the tax strategies of large multi-national corporations, and explain variations in behaviour between firms and industry sectors. Identifying reforms that exert the greatest influence over corporate behaviour will enable reforms which refine and improve the efficacy of international tax regimes. The expected outcomes will provide an evidence base for policy makers to ev ....Catching capital: Understanding and influencing corporate tax strategy. This project aims to analyse the factors which influence the tax strategies of large multi-national corporations, and explain variations in behaviour between firms and industry sectors. Identifying reforms that exert the greatest influence over corporate behaviour will enable reforms which refine and improve the efficacy of international tax regimes. The expected outcomes will provide an evidence base for policy makers to evaluate and refine corporate tax reform initiatives.Read moreRead less
Harnessing Business Insights from Unstructured Customer Data. Resulting from customers’ widespread uptake of online channels to buy and communicate has been a surge in online reviews and social media posts. This textual information offers a viable alternative to surveys that Australian businesses currently conduct to obtain customer insights. However, these reviews are unstructured and require substantial pre-processing to extract underlying customer perceptions. Therefore, this project aims to ....Harnessing Business Insights from Unstructured Customer Data. Resulting from customers’ widespread uptake of online channels to buy and communicate has been a surge in online reviews and social media posts. This textual information offers a viable alternative to surveys that Australian businesses currently conduct to obtain customer insights. However, these reviews are unstructured and require substantial pre-processing to extract underlying customer perceptions. Therefore, this project aims to develop a novel machine learning approach to quantify the business-relevant information contained in textual information shared by customers online. This alternative approach will provide significant cost-saving benefits for a range of Australian companies, such as retailers, hotels, airlines and restaurants.Read moreRead less
The Responsibilities of the Affluent to Address Global Poverty. Australia is a wealthy country surrounded by less developed countries. This project will serve as a guide to a morally defensible Australian foreign policy and in particular as an aid for policy makers working on foreign assistance, international trade, and environmental policy. It is important to observe that in order to safeguard Australian national security it is prudent to address the issue of global poverty. Although terrorists ....The Responsibilities of the Affluent to Address Global Poverty. Australia is a wealthy country surrounded by less developed countries. This project will serve as a guide to a morally defensible Australian foreign policy and in particular as an aid for policy makers working on foreign assistance, international trade, and environmental policy. It is important to observe that in order to safeguard Australian national security it is prudent to address the issue of global poverty. Although terrorists and other threats seem seldom to be motivated by considerations of fairness, sympathy with and support for their actions seems often rooted in the perception that they are acting on behalf of the poor and impoverished.Read moreRead less
The Concept of ‘Imminence’ in the International Protection of Refugees. The project aims to contribute to the law on international protection by examining the concept of ‘imminence’. We are in an unprecedented era of international displacement; over 50 million people are on the move. While many are fleeing from traditional threats, such as conflict and persecution, some are leaving because they are scared of future risks – like the impacts of climate change. This creates new challenges for count ....The Concept of ‘Imminence’ in the International Protection of Refugees. The project aims to contribute to the law on international protection by examining the concept of ‘imminence’. We are in an unprecedented era of international displacement; over 50 million people are on the move. While many are fleeing from traditional threats, such as conflict and persecution, some are leaving because they are scared of future risks – like the impacts of climate change. This creates new challenges for countries because traditional refugee frameworks are ill-suited to respond. The question this project asks is: if people cross a border to escape future harm, how ‘imminent’ does the harm need to be before another country has an obligation to protect them? Should international law protect only people who face the risk of immediate danger, or should it also protect those at risk of harm that may manifest more slowly over time?Read moreRead less
The role of community sponsorship for refugee resettlement in Australia . This Project aims to conduct the first large-scale comparative study of community or private sponsorship of refugee resettlement in Australia and other jurisdictions. It will generate ground-breaking insights into Australia’s role historically in community sponsorship of refugee resettlement and identify the legal and policy background of current successful community sponsorship programs. Expected outcomes include clarity ....The role of community sponsorship for refugee resettlement in Australia . This Project aims to conduct the first large-scale comparative study of community or private sponsorship of refugee resettlement in Australia and other jurisdictions. It will generate ground-breaking insights into Australia’s role historically in community sponsorship of refugee resettlement and identify the legal and policy background of current successful community sponsorship programs. Expected outcomes include clarity and policy guidance about how community or private sponsorship is understood, conceived and implemented globally; and better knowledge about the motives of community sponsors. This Project will position Australia as a world leader in practice and research on community or private sponsorship for refugee resettlement. Read moreRead less
Digital Transaction Platforms in Asia. This project seeks to provide a comprehensive and authoritative account of the rapid shift towards digital payments in Asian economies. The study examines the technical and commercial organisation of the leading Asian transaction platforms. Our approach seeks to emphasise the significance of cultural diversity in Asian markets through detailed studies of everyday norms and practices in India , Indonesia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Ph ....Digital Transaction Platforms in Asia. This project seeks to provide a comprehensive and authoritative account of the rapid shift towards digital payments in Asian economies. The study examines the technical and commercial organisation of the leading Asian transaction platforms. Our approach seeks to emphasise the significance of cultural diversity in Asian markets through detailed studies of everyday norms and practices in India , Indonesia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines. A large scale analysis of market and user data seeks to illustrate key trends at scale and provide a regional knowledge base for assessing the implications for Australia, fostering multilateral collaboration and developing robust policy recommendations on the digital economy.
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Shop Talk: Department Stores, Shoppers and Consumer Capitalism, 1945-2025. This project aims to provide a deeper understanding of shopping and its significance in everyday Australian life by using oral history interviews with shoppers, workers and managers who have engaged with department stores since 1945. This project expects to produce the first history of the country’s post-war department stores. Expected outcomes include new, more nuanced perspectives of shopping and the challenges affectin ....Shop Talk: Department Stores, Shoppers and Consumer Capitalism, 1945-2025. This project aims to provide a deeper understanding of shopping and its significance in everyday Australian life by using oral history interviews with shoppers, workers and managers who have engaged with department stores since 1945. This project expects to produce the first history of the country’s post-war department stores. Expected outcomes include new, more nuanced perspectives of shopping and the challenges affecting the retail sector via a range of publications, international collaborations, and an archive of oral history recordings. This should provide significant benefits to researchers examining the retail sector, to Australians working in retail, and to ordinary Australians, whose stories will be placed on the historical record.Read moreRead less