Melbourne School of Government - Research Publications
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ItemThe Future of Work and Labour Regulation After COVID-19(LexisNexis Australia, 2021)The worldwide shock of the COVID-19 pandemic has recast debates about the future of work. A discussion previously dominated by automation and the rise of the gig economy rapidly expanded to encompass new, and newly important, concerns: remote work, the protection and recognition of ‘essential’ workers, wage subsidies for the unemployed and furloughed, and government’s broader responsibilities to maintain social cohesion and rebuild economic vitality. As the Australian economy commences a tentative recovery from the deep ravages of 2020, we cast our eye over recent developments in the labour market and working practices, in light of that earlier future of work discourse, to ask how much of it remains relevant and what new issues and concerns have come to light. We argue that the role of technological change has been subdued, but not extinguished, by the current crisis. We highlight two important domains — workplace surveillance and enforcement of minimum standards — where governments and labour regulators can seize on nascent technological possibilities to realise a more equitable future of work after COVID-19.
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ItemCriminal Liability for "Wage Theft": A Regulatory Panacea?(Monash University, 2021)In response to concerns over the growing problem of ‘wage theft’, the federal government, as well as various state governments, have committed to introducing criminal sanctions for underpayment contraventions. While policymakers and the public have largely assumed that criminal sanctions will address a perceived deterrence gap and promote employer compliance with basic employment standards, there has been far less scholarly appraisal of how this regulatory shift might shape enforcement decisions and affect compliance outcomes. Drawing on literature from criminology, as well as regulation and governance, this article evaluates a range of conceptual justifications put forward in support of criminalising certain forms of wage theft. It also considers key practical issues which may arise in a dual track system where both criminal and civil sanctions are available for the same or similar contraventions. This article concludes with some suggestions on how criminal offences might be framed in the federal system so as to optimise employer compliance and reduce regulatory tensions.
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ItemTransnational education provision in a time of disruption: Perspectives from Australia(SAGE Publications, 2021-12-16)As the scale and scope of transnational education (TNE) has broadened, and the range of delivery models and partnerships has continued to expand, so too have the challenges. Universities offering courses outside their own country face a growing range of legal, practical and political challenges. The significant disruption during 2020–2021 coming from the global coronavirus pandemic, and it’s effect on the provision of higher education in most countries, has further amplified many of these challenges, raising questions about what the future might hold for TNE, including in China. This article aims to establish the major enablers and challenges for TNE provision. It utilises an investigation into Australian TNE providers immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to analyse these factors. As a major provider of TNE, including in China and other Asian countries, Australia provides a useful example of how TNE partnerships are being facilitated, for better and worse. In particular, the article establishes that tailored and often market-specific collaborations offer the best chance of a successful partnership. The study also provides an important basis for considering how TNE will function as a key component of the ongoing response of the higher education sector to the pandemic.
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ItemHow Do Distanced and Online Election Campaigning Affect Political Freedoms?(International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2021)The need for physical distancing during this Covid-19 pandemic has raised the need for innovative campaign methods to be developed by election contestants because conventional campaign methods such as rallies, public meetings, etc. are prohibited in some jurisdictions. Distant and online election campaigning may be seen as restrictive to both contestants and voters alike due to physical and technological barriers that appear. To what degree is this true?
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ItemRising to Ostrom's challenge: an invitation to walk on the bright side of public governance and public service(TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2021-10-02)In this programmatic essay, we argue that public governance scholarship would benefit from developing a self-conscious and cohesive strand of "positive" scholarship, akin to social science subfields like positive psychology, positive organizational studies, and positive evaluation. We call for a program of research devoted to uncovering the factors and mechanisms that enable high performing public policies and public service delivery mechanisms; procedurally and distributively fair processes of tackling societal conflicts; and robust and resilient ways of coping with threats and risks. The core question driving positive public administration scholarship should be: Why is it that particular public policies, programs, organizations, networks, or partnerships manage do much better than others to produce widely valued societal outcomes, and how might knowledge of this be used to advance institutional learning from positives?
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ItemDevelopment of the University Food Environment Assessment (Uni-Food) Tool and Process to Benchmark the Healthiness, Equity, and Environmental Sustainability of University Food Environments(MDPI, 2021-11)Globally, there is increasing interest in monitoring actions to create healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food environments. Currently, there is a lack of detailed tools for monitoring and benchmarking university food environments. This study aimed to develop the University Food Environment Assessment (Uni-Food) tool and process to benchmark the healthiness, equity, and environmental sustainability of food environments in tertiary education settings, and pilot test its implementation in three Australian universities in 2021. The Uni-Food tool development was informed by a review of the literature and input from an expert advisory panel. It comprises three components: (1) university systems and governance, (2) campus facilities and environments, and (3) food retail outlets. The process for implementing the tool is designed for universities to self-assess the extent to which they have implemented recommended practice in 68 indicators, across 16 domains, weighted based on their relative importance. The pilot implementation of the tool identified moderate diversity in food environments across universities and highlighted several opportunities for improvements at each institution. The assessment process was found to be reliable, with assessors rating the tool as easy to use, requiring minimal resources. Broad application of the tool has the potential to increase accountability and guide best practice in tertiary education and other complex institutional settings.
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ItemClinical Practice in Education: Towards a Conceptual Framework(Springer, 2017)Clinical practice has recently emerged as a promising approach that is being applied to teaching and teacher education. Despite this growing interest, however, conceptual and practical ambiguities continue to surround the term. This chapter provides a critical and comprehensive review of how clinical practice is being conceptualised in education by: (a) identifying the core components that characterise clinical practice in education; and (b) discussing the complexities and possibilities of clinical practice in theory and practice. The chapter begins by forging a conceptual framework for understanding clinical practice by identifying three core components that are central to characterising teaching as a clinical practice profession: (1) a focus on student learning and development; (2) evidence-informed practice; and (3) processes of reasoning that lead to decision-making. In summary, we argue that clinical practice offers important possibilities for deepening the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching and teacher education, but that several cautions need to be born in mind in order for it to continue to develop into a meaningful and sustainable concept. While adapting a medical model to teaching should be done with caution and a number of caveats, on balance it offers an approach that has the capacity to strengthen teaching and teacher education.
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ItemHuman Rights Conditionality in European Union Trade Negotiations: the Case of the EU-Singapore FTA(WILEY, 2017-07)Abstract Trade policy is among the EU's most significant capabilities in promoting values including human rights. Yet trade policy and the EU's values‐based foreign policy are often in tension. Scholarship on the social dimension of trade policy has emphasized the tension between values and the EU's commercial interests. Human rights and conditionality clauses have not been the focus of analysis, yet conditionality is one of the EU's most visible links between the trade agenda and its values‐based foreign policy. Analyzing the EU's decision‐making in negotiating human rights conditionality, this paper employs the EU–Singapore free trade agreement and its negotiation as an in‐depth single case study. The tension between commercial interests and values results in decision‐makers promoting incoherent interests. We argue that organizationally defined preferences and issue salience circumscribed the Parliament's impact on decision‐making, resulting in concessions on human rights conditionality with Singapore.
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ItemBack to the future: Reflections and predictions(WILEY, 2021-12)
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