Non-Discrimination Laws and Religious Freedom: Current Conflicts and Future Directions. Achieving the right balance between adequately protecting religious freedom while staying true to principles of non-discrimination is far from easy. This project will advance understanding and analysis of religious freedom and equal treatment in Australia, in principle, in law and empirically. In the context of community tensions along ethno-religious lines, it will benefit Australia to have the issues at st ....Non-Discrimination Laws and Religious Freedom: Current Conflicts and Future Directions. Achieving the right balance between adequately protecting religious freedom while staying true to principles of non-discrimination is far from easy. This project will advance understanding and analysis of religious freedom and equal treatment in Australia, in principle, in law and empirically. In the context of community tensions along ethno-religious lines, it will benefit Australia to have the issues at stake described and clarified. The project will identify the relevant interests at stake and develop policy recommendations for their protection. The aim is to contribute to inter-religious (and inter-cultural) harmony, as an element of safeguarding Australia.Read moreRead less
The Implementation of Agreements and Treaties with Indigenous and Local Peoples in Postcolonial States. This project involves a comparative study by an interdisciplinary team of the implementation of agreements with Indigenous and local peoples across selected Australian and international jurisdictions. Agreement making is now a major policy tool for governments, industry and Indigenous peoples. Using case studies, this project will address the critical need for research on implementation of agr ....The Implementation of Agreements and Treaties with Indigenous and Local Peoples in Postcolonial States. This project involves a comparative study by an interdisciplinary team of the implementation of agreements with Indigenous and local peoples across selected Australian and international jurisdictions. Agreement making is now a major policy tool for governments, industry and Indigenous peoples. Using case studies, this project will address the critical need for research on implementation of agreements and the factors promoting long-term sustainability. This will involve examination of legal, governance, economic development, land/heritage, and environmental management issues that arise in agreement implementation and investigation of the features of agreements that enhance social, cultural and economic outcomes for Indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia. Law is at the heart of Islam and the absence of a distinction between religion and law creates inherent tension between Islamic law (syariah) and the modern nation state. As the Indonesian state struggles to redefine itself post-Soeharto, syariah's role has again become contested. Modern scholarship has, however, ignored contemporary Indonesian Islamic law. Working with leading Indonesian Muslim scholars this project will investigate Islamic legal institu ....Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia. Law is at the heart of Islam and the absence of a distinction between religion and law creates inherent tension between Islamic law (syariah) and the modern nation state. As the Indonesian state struggles to redefine itself post-Soeharto, syariah's role has again become contested. Modern scholarship has, however, ignored contemporary Indonesian Islamic law. Working with leading Indonesian Muslim scholars this project will investigate Islamic legal institutions, substantive law and jurisdiction, surveying lawyers, judges and litigants. It will build bridges between Western, Indonesian and Middle-Eastern Islamic jurisprudence to expand Australian understandings of Indonesian Islam at a critical moment in bilateral relations.Read moreRead less
Regional governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: the development of a legal framework and practical models to address discrimination and disadvantage. Many Indigenous people are of the view that the needs and aspirations of their communities may be more effectively negotiated and managed on a local or regional level. Government leaders and agencies have identified more localised decision-making by Indigenous communities as a policy priority. Despite this, there is littl ....Regional governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: the development of a legal framework and practical models to address discrimination and disadvantage. Many Indigenous people are of the view that the needs and aspirations of their communities may be more effectively negotiated and managed on a local or regional level. Government leaders and agencies have identified more localised decision-making by Indigenous communities as a policy priority. Despite this, there is little comprehensive research regarding the legal and policy issues associated with regional governance for Indigenous people in Australia. This research project will redress the paucity of in-depth legal analysis in this area, and develop achievable and practical models of regional governance for Indigenous communities, to enhance their cultural, economic and social well-being.Read moreRead less
Islam and Modernity: Syari'ah, Terrorism and Governance in South-East Asia. Our region faces major political and legal challenges in the post-Cold War era, one of the most important of which is militant Islam. Australia has historically paid little attention to the implications of its location immediately to the south of the world's largest Muslim populations but 9/11 and Islamic terrorism in SE Asia have shown that regional Islam is of direct strategic and security importance for our welfare. T ....Islam and Modernity: Syari'ah, Terrorism and Governance in South-East Asia. Our region faces major political and legal challenges in the post-Cold War era, one of the most important of which is militant Islam. Australia has historically paid little attention to the implications of its location immediately to the south of the world's largest Muslim populations but 9/11 and Islamic terrorism in SE Asia have shown that regional Islam is of direct strategic and security importance for our welfare. There is, however, a significant gap in Australian understandings of Islam and Islamic law (syari'ah) and their implications for regional governance. This program addresses this gap, updates scholarship on SE Asian syari'ah, informs Australian foreign policy and builds bridges with SE Asian Muslim scholars and lawyers.Read moreRead less
Islamic Law in Contemporary Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei: The Anglo-Malay Madhhab. Islam is a fundamentally legalistic religion: law and religion are largely inseparable. In the last decade radical Islamic interpretations of sharîah (Islamic law) in SE Asia have led to increasingly militant responses to modernity and the secular state, that have come to threaten Australians. Through a detailed examination of legal theory, current intellectual debates, legal institutions and substantive law in ....Islamic Law in Contemporary Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei: The Anglo-Malay Madhhab. Islam is a fundamentally legalistic religion: law and religion are largely inseparable. In the last decade radical Islamic interpretations of sharîah (Islamic law) in SE Asia have led to increasingly militant responses to modernity and the secular state, that have come to threaten Australians. Through a detailed examination of legal theory, current intellectual debates, legal institutions and substantive law in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, the project offers a more complete understanding of Islam and law in the archipelago to Australia's North. It will update current knowledge but will also build bridges with Muslim scholars and lawyers in the regionRead moreRead less
Public Law Implications of Treaty Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Australia is the only Commonwealth country that has never signed an official treaty with its Indigenous peoples. It is not surprising then that a treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has been cited as a goal of the reconciliation process by bodies including the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. Unfortunately, there has been little academic examination of the merits or content of a treaty ....Public Law Implications of Treaty Between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians. Australia is the only Commonwealth country that has never signed an official treaty with its Indigenous peoples. It is not surprising then that a treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has been cited as a goal of the reconciliation process by bodies including the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. Unfortunately, there has been little academic examination of the merits or content of a treaty, or of how a treaty might be accommodated within Australia's constitutional structure. With the benefit of comparative analysis, this project will provide a scholarly investigation of the role that a treaty could play under Australian law.Read moreRead less
A comparative analysis of youth punishment in Australia and the United Kingdom. This project is a comparative Australian and United Kingdom investigation of penal policy and the punishment of juvenile offenders. The research analyses the changing approaches to juvenile incarceration, particularly in the context of perceived effects on crime and the substantial public and social costs of incarceration.
Developing a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to law reform and development in plural legal regimes. This project will focus on developing a response to issues arising from the interaction between different legal systems operating in the same social sphere (legal pluralism). The research aims to build an innovative, inter-disciplinary approach to law reform and legal development, which will accommodate both State law and Indigenous law.
Directing China's Top 100 Companies: corporate governance, accountability and corporate law in the top 100 companies in China. Governance, transparency and accountability in listed companies are worldwide concerns; this is especially so for PRC companies listed in China and abroad. Using a mixture of fieldwork, financial data-base analysis and library research in China and Australia, the project will map the impact of corporate disclosure requirements on governance practices of the Fortune magaz ....Directing China's Top 100 Companies: corporate governance, accountability and corporate law in the top 100 companies in China. Governance, transparency and accountability in listed companies are worldwide concerns; this is especially so for PRC companies listed in China and abroad. Using a mixture of fieldwork, financial data-base analysis and library research in China and Australia, the project will map the impact of corporate disclosure requirements on governance practices of the Fortune magazine top 100 PRC companies. PRC companies are internationally active and engaged with Australian companies and capital markets. Post-WTO entry PRC reforms of Chinese corporate governance and accountability practices will be assessed. A new theorization of governance, law and accountability in Chinese companies will be developed.Read moreRead less