The Impact of Hate Speech Laws on Public Discourse in Australia. 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the first Australian laws (NSW) directed at the regulation of hate speech. Although hate speech laws are now firmly embedded in Australia's legal landscape, and have been extended in some jurisdictions to vilification based on religious and sexual orientation, they remain a controversial instrument for supporting Australia's policies on multiculturalism, religious tolerance an ....The Impact of Hate Speech Laws on Public Discourse in Australia. 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the first Australian laws (NSW) directed at the regulation of hate speech. Although hate speech laws are now firmly embedded in Australia's legal landscape, and have been extended in some jurisdictions to vilification based on religious and sexual orientation, they remain a controversial instrument for supporting Australia's policies on multiculturalism, religious tolerance and respect for difference. An examination of the effects of hate speech laws on public discourse - both intended and unintended - will offer valuable insights about the capacity of law to deliver social cohesion in 21st century Australia.Read moreRead less
Moral Panics and the Law in Eighteenth-Century England. This project will reveal the origins of a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in modern western society. By doing so it will attract international attention from academic historians and sociologists. It will also contribute to Australia's reputation for producing high-quality intellectual products, and further enhance its standing as a leading centre for the study of Britain in the eighteenth century. Because of its contemporary relevance the stu ....Moral Panics and the Law in Eighteenth-Century England. This project will reveal the origins of a phenomenon that is ubiquitous in modern western society. By doing so it will attract international attention from academic historians and sociologists. It will also contribute to Australia's reputation for producing high-quality intellectual products, and further enhance its standing as a leading centre for the study of Britain in the eighteenth century. Because of its contemporary relevance the study will provide a critical perspective on modern politics, especially the perception that governments legitimise their authority by helping to constitute popular anxiety about threats to moral and personal security.Read moreRead less
The prospects for justice in the legal reform of police administrative detention powers in China. Australia's security and economic well-being is becoming increasingly closely tied to China. Australia has a strong interest in China's continued economic well-being, as well as promoting the rule of law and valuing the protection of human rights. The effective legal protection of human rights is of vital concern to our relationship, to China's long term stability and to China's increasing participa ....The prospects for justice in the legal reform of police administrative detention powers in China. Australia's security and economic well-being is becoming increasingly closely tied to China. Australia has a strong interest in China's continued economic well-being, as well as promoting the rule of law and valuing the protection of human rights. The effective legal protection of human rights is of vital concern to our relationship, to China's long term stability and to China's increasing participation in international human rights fora. This project will enhance our understanding of struggles to effect legal reform of contentious police powers and to improve protection of citizens' rights through reforming law enforcement practices. It will contribute to ongoing Sino-Australian cooperation to promote human rights protection.Read moreRead less
Testing Court Reform Projects in Cambodia and Vietnam. Financial assistance for court reform projects in ASEAN countries is among Australia's foreign aid priorities, consuming highly sought-after aid dollars. This research will make recommendations aimed at increasing the efficacy of aid-assisted court reform projects. By paying particular attention to indigenous perspectives of successes and failures of such projects, the research will contribute to Australia's understanding of the legal and ju ....Testing Court Reform Projects in Cambodia and Vietnam. Financial assistance for court reform projects in ASEAN countries is among Australia's foreign aid priorities, consuming highly sought-after aid dollars. This research will make recommendations aimed at increasing the efficacy of aid-assisted court reform projects. By paying particular attention to indigenous perspectives of successes and failures of such projects, the research will contribute to Australia's understanding of the legal and judicial contexts in two of its Southeast Asian neighbours. The research will inform Australia's aid investments in Cambodia and Vietnam, the region and internationally. It will enhance Australia's ability to achieve more effective design, implementation and evaluation of court-related aid interventions. Read moreRead less
Pushing against globalisation: Understanding how state and non-state actors in socialist transforming East Asia shape global laws and regulations. Improving trade and investment with China and Vietnam is among Australia's foreign affairs and trade priorities. The predictive model will assist Australian policy makers and business investors/exporters to understand how China and Vietnam are likely to deal with transnational treaty obligations such as the World Trade Organisation and bilateral trade ....Pushing against globalisation: Understanding how state and non-state actors in socialist transforming East Asia shape global laws and regulations. Improving trade and investment with China and Vietnam is among Australia's foreign affairs and trade priorities. The predictive model will assist Australian policy makers and business investors/exporters to understand how China and Vietnam are likely to deal with transnational treaty obligations such as the World Trade Organisation and bilateral trade agreements. The project will shed light on domestic resistance to legal globalisation-an inquiry that has been overlooked by existing research. It will also inform important theoretical debates about the role non-state actors play in shaping the regulatory environment in the world's most dynamic economies and improve postgraduate research and teaching programs.Read moreRead less
The Origins of Homosexual Politics in the British World: A Transnational Study. This project's findings will be of national and community benefit in three ways. Addressing the origins and early development of one of the most important social movements of modern times, it will contribute to the understanding of the ways in which social inequality has been so successfully tackled in Australia over the past fifty years. By attending to the international context of this history it will expand knowle ....The Origins of Homosexual Politics in the British World: A Transnational Study. This project's findings will be of national and community benefit in three ways. Addressing the origins and early development of one of the most important social movements of modern times, it will contribute to the understanding of the ways in which social inequality has been so successfully tackled in Australia over the past fifty years. By attending to the international context of this history it will expand knowledge of the nature, extent and longevity of Australia's connections to global political cultures. Finally, it will strengthen Australian scholarship's already well-established claim to world-class research in gay and lesbian and queer studies.Read moreRead less
Civilizing Divorce: Social Change, Law and the Transformation of Parenthood. The project will leave policy-makers, professionals, law reformers, and parents and their children themselves, better equipped to navigate their way through a major process of transformation in the way our intimate lives are structured. It will help take some of the 'heat' out of the child custody debate, to see current changes as an integral part of a broader process of change in our emotional relationships, and to br ....Civilizing Divorce: Social Change, Law and the Transformation of Parenthood. The project will leave policy-makers, professionals, law reformers, and parents and their children themselves, better equipped to navigate their way through a major process of transformation in the way our intimate lives are structured. It will help take some of the 'heat' out of the child custody debate, to see current changes as an integral part of a broader process of change in our emotional relationships, and to broaden the conceptual resources available to policy-making and law reform concerning post-separation child custody.Read moreRead less
The rule of law in history and memory: Australian and Canadian settler frontiers. This study is inspired by current 'History Wars' debates in Australia and Canada, which in raising questions about 'what happened' in the colonial past have demonstrated that the shape of the nation's historical memory is of vital present day importance. These debates have shown that more detailed historical research is required into how the frontiers of European settlement evolved in practice, and how Indigenous p ....The rule of law in history and memory: Australian and Canadian settler frontiers. This study is inspired by current 'History Wars' debates in Australia and Canada, which in raising questions about 'what happened' in the colonial past have demonstrated that the shape of the nation's historical memory is of vital present day importance. These debates have shown that more detailed historical research is required into how the frontiers of European settlement evolved in practice, and how Indigenous populations were made subject to colonial legal authority. As a project of comparative history, the study is of international as well as national significance. It has the potential to generate improved understanding of current conditions by highlighting differences and similarities between Australian and Canadian experiences.Read moreRead less
Lawyers, Civil Society and the State in Post-colonial Malaysia. This study investigates how Malaysian lawyers have mobilized to defend core legal values in response to key political events in Malaysian history. It will contribute to Australian understanding of civil society and the rule of law in our regional neighbour and build bridges between Malaysian and Australian lawyers and scholars. The development of deeper respect for the rule of law in this region plays an important role in increasing ....Lawyers, Civil Society and the State in Post-colonial Malaysia. This study investigates how Malaysian lawyers have mobilized to defend core legal values in response to key political events in Malaysian history. It will contribute to Australian understanding of civil society and the rule of law in our regional neighbour and build bridges between Malaysian and Australian lawyers and scholars. The development of deeper respect for the rule of law in this region plays an important role in increasing regional stability and creating a safe and more predictable environment. Understanding the role that lawyers play in this process is a vital component of regional security.Read moreRead less
‘Traction’ or ‘Turbulence’ in Japanese Regulatory Style? - An Empirical Analysis of Japanese Commercial Law Reform since the 1990s. A massive program of law reform is fundamentally reconfiguring Japan's commercial law regime. But where will this reform lead? Many commentators predict the law's 'traction' to either a 'Japanese-style' system of informal governance or an 'American-style' system of transparent ex-post regulation. In contrast, this project hypothesises a more 'turbulent' process of l ....‘Traction’ or ‘Turbulence’ in Japanese Regulatory Style? - An Empirical Analysis of Japanese Commercial Law Reform since the 1990s. A massive program of law reform is fundamentally reconfiguring Japan's commercial law regime. But where will this reform lead? Many commentators predict the law's 'traction' to either a 'Japanese-style' system of informal governance or an 'American-style' system of transparent ex-post regulation. In contrast, this project hypothesises a more 'turbulent' process of law reform - one that is complex, conflicting, unpredictable and ongoing. Empirically testing this hypothesis against Japan's wave of commercial law reforms since the 1990s, this project aims to develop a model of legal and regulatory change in Japan. This model is of strategic importance for Australian policy-makers, business-leaders and legal advisors seeking to understand and respond to Japan's changing business and legal environment.Read moreRead less