Designing world-class venture capital programs to support commercialisation of Australian research during and beyond an economic crisis. Government support of venture capital investment is vital for Australia’s economic prosperity. This project examines how foreign governments have tackled the effect of the financial crisis on such investment and provides policy options for ensuring Australia maintains internationally competitive programs in challenging economic times.
Drug Companies, their Patenting Strategies and High-Cost Pharmaceuticals: An Empirical Investigation. Pharmaceuticals are a vital part of clinical services that maintain and improve Australia's health; they are also costly, absorbing a substantial proportion of the national health expenditures. By conferring market protections, the patent system helps the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to recoup the high costs of research associated with developing new products. Abuses of the patent system by ....Drug Companies, their Patenting Strategies and High-Cost Pharmaceuticals: An Empirical Investigation. Pharmaceuticals are a vital part of clinical services that maintain and improve Australia's health; they are also costly, absorbing a substantial proportion of the national health expenditures. By conferring market protections, the patent system helps the manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to recoup the high costs of research associated with developing new products. Abuses of the patent system by pharmaceutical manufacturers have the potential to stifle competition and inappropriately raise the costs of pharmaceuticals to society. This innovative, cross-disciplinary, research will investigate the existence of abusive patents and, if necessary, propose reforms that will prevent further abuse and reduce the size of the health budget. Read moreRead less
Co-operative intellectual property management and technology transfer for the Australian biotechnology industry. The Australian biotechnology industry rests on a framework of internationally competitive research and should be well placed to capture a significant share of expanding global markets. However, existing intellectual property (IP) management strategies do not make the most of this potential because they raise barriers to much-needed co-operation among industry players. By developing an ....Co-operative intellectual property management and technology transfer for the Australian biotechnology industry. The Australian biotechnology industry rests on a framework of internationally competitive research and should be well placed to capture a significant share of expanding global markets. However, existing intellectual property (IP) management strategies do not make the most of this potential because they raise barriers to much-needed co-operation among industry players. By developing and refining new co-operative IP management models in an Australian context, this project offers direct economic benefits (more efficient industry structures), improved social and economic benefits (better and cheaper biotechnology products and services), and an opportunity for Australia to take the lead in developing innovative approaches to IP management.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
Integrated governance of water and coal seam gas. This project aims to evaluate the governance of the water effects on unconventional gas, to develop legal and policy principles for the integration of these effects in an effective, efficient and legitimate manner, and to investigate problems posed for integrated and polycentric governance, more generally. Australia must meet its unconventional gas needs without harming its water resources. The project is expected to deliver effective and legitim ....Integrated governance of water and coal seam gas. This project aims to evaluate the governance of the water effects on unconventional gas, to develop legal and policy principles for the integration of these effects in an effective, efficient and legitimate manner, and to investigate problems posed for integrated and polycentric governance, more generally. Australia must meet its unconventional gas needs without harming its water resources. The project is expected to deliver effective and legitimate outcomes for water, energy and potentially other social and environmental issues, aiming to establish Australia as a leader in sustainable water management.Read moreRead less
Non-urban water governance: rethinking compliance and enforcement. This project aims to critically evaluate the practices and strategies of non-urban water compliance and enforcement in Australia and internationally, to identify and develop innovations for water governance. New law and policy knowledge is expected from its fusion of empirical data and regulatory theory. The project expects to advance applied regulatory theory by identifying improvements in compliance and enforcement to help solv ....Non-urban water governance: rethinking compliance and enforcement. This project aims to critically evaluate the practices and strategies of non-urban water compliance and enforcement in Australia and internationally, to identify and develop innovations for water governance. New law and policy knowledge is expected from its fusion of empirical data and regulatory theory. The project expects to advance applied regulatory theory by identifying improvements in compliance and enforcement to help solve environmental issues. It will also lead to policy reforms for delivering more effective, efficient and politically-acceptable compliance outcomes for non-urban water management that will benefit water regulators and the sustainability and productivity of Australia's agricultural industry.Read moreRead less
Coherent, independent and user-friendly? Participant perceptions of social security administrative review processes in Australia and Britain. The capacity to exercise rights associated with citizenship, and to participate meaningfully in community life, is significantly affected by access to financial security and by community confidence in the independence and fairness of systems of entitlement review. This research will examine recent developments in Australian social security review mechanism ....Coherent, independent and user-friendly? Participant perceptions of social security administrative review processes in Australia and Britain. The capacity to exercise rights associated with citizenship, and to participate meaningfully in community life, is significantly affected by access to financial security and by community confidence in the independence and fairness of systems of entitlement review. This research will examine recent developments in Australian social security review mechanisms, in both policy and practice. It is of national significance as it will demonstrate the extent to which statutory objectives of fairness, comprehensibility and accessibility are achieved, particularly from the perspectives of participants in appeals. The research has critical implications for legislation, policy and practice in administrative law and tribunal practice. Read moreRead less
An Integrated Legal Regime for a Sustainable Carbon Cycle. The reduction of carbon emissions is a priority for governments worldwide. In Australia, the Federal Government is in the process of introducing a carbon emissions reduction scheme. Key elements of that scheme relating to the legal treatment of carbon in all forms relies upon the disparate property law frameworks of the respective States and Territories inherited from England in the 19th Century. The object of this project is to create a ....An Integrated Legal Regime for a Sustainable Carbon Cycle. The reduction of carbon emissions is a priority for governments worldwide. In Australia, the Federal Government is in the process of introducing a carbon emissions reduction scheme. Key elements of that scheme relating to the legal treatment of carbon in all forms relies upon the disparate property law frameworks of the respective States and Territories inherited from England in the 19th Century. The object of this project is to create a consistent and coherent approach to this national (and international) issue to make the operation of any scheme more effective thus leading to a reduction of carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
...and by opposing, end them: A Comparative Examination of Opposition Processes in Patent Law. Patent law is central to the key Australian economic aim of encouraging an innovative culture. One aspect of patent law, the opposition process, is directly linked to two important issues currently facing our patent system: improving patent quality, and minimising predatory behaviour by powerful firms. This project will assess the operation of the opposition process here, and the practice of equivalent .......and by opposing, end them: A Comparative Examination of Opposition Processes in Patent Law. Patent law is central to the key Australian economic aim of encouraging an innovative culture. One aspect of patent law, the opposition process, is directly linked to two important issues currently facing our patent system: improving patent quality, and minimising predatory behaviour by powerful firms. This project will assess the operation of the opposition process here, and the practice of equivalent international procedures in other jurisdictions, in order to inform Australian policy in current and ongoing negotiations towards global harmonisation. Material from this project will lead directly to proposals for improving the Australian patent system, and ensuring that it promotes, and does not retard, innovation. Read moreRead less
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