Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 41
-
ItemNo Preview Available
-
ItemWe are All Entrepreneurs Now : Options and New Approaches for Adapting Equality Law for the Gig Economy(Kluwer Law International BV, 2018-12-01)As the world of work moves to increasingly precarious, temporary and insecure forms of labour, traditional forms of work regulation are becoming less relevant for the ‘gig economy’. Equality law has traditionally been framed as protecting ‘employees’ (and now ‘workers’) against acts of discrimination by ‘employers’. As these categories become increasingly remote from the lived experience of work, the relevance and potential of equality law to secure individual employment rights becomes increasingly limited. Drawing on comparative legal doctrinal analysis of the UK and Australia, this article considers options and new approaches for protecting workers from discrimination in new forms of employment, canvassing ideas such as the extension of equalitylaw to non-traditional workers, collectivized approaches to individual protection, and the use of positive duties to regulate the gig economy. This article questions the basic relevance and structuring of equality law for new forms of work. If equality law is to remain relevant and effective, serious changes are required to how it is conceived, framed and promoted. Merely extending existing ideas of ‘equality law’ to new forms of work will not respond to fundamental shifts in the labour market: there is a need to rethink and retheorize the role and purpose of equality law
-
ItemUnder Wraps: Secrecy, Confidentiality and the Enforcement of Equality Law in Australia and the United Kingdom(Melbourne University, Law Review Association, 2019)Confidentiality has become an integral part of the individual enforcement model for equality law in Australia and the United Kingdom. Contrary to the focus on openness and transparency in the courts generally, confidentiality is embedded in the enforcement, process, and outcomes of equality law. In this article, we consider the role and utility of confidentiality in equality law in Australia and the UK. We scrutinise the ways confidentiality is embedded in the enforcement, process, and outcomes of equality law in each jurisdiction, including via an examination of statutory provisions, the processes adopted by statutory equality agencies, and the available information about claims. We argue that the enforcement of equality law requires a more nuanced balance between confidentiality and transparency to support the individual and systemic aims of equality law and the imperatives of the rule of law.
-
ItemWhen Law and Data Collide: The Methodological Challenge of Conducting Mixed Methods Research in Law(Wiley, 2022-09-01)A mixed methods research methodology – that integrates both qualitative and quantitative research methods – theoretically offers substantial advantages for empirical legal scholarship. I argue that mixed methods represent both a challenge to socio-legal scholarship and an invitation to re-evaluate our approach to socio-legal research; indeed, mixed methods are well-aligned with the inclusive and eclectic nature of the field. At present, though, these opportunities appear underutilised. This paper considers how socio-legal scholarship might advance mixed methods methodology, through a renewed focus on qualitative methods, improved dialogue between methods, and emphasizing the practical ‘messiness’ of quantitative data. Drawing on an empirical mixed methods study of the enforcement of age discrimination law, I illustrate how legal data poses its own challenges to the methodologies of quantitatively-oriented mixed methods researchers.
-
ItemReforming Age Discrimination Law Beyond Individual Enforcement(Oxford University Press, USA, 2022-06-27)This book offers a roadmap for the future development of age discrimination law in common law countries to better address workplace ageism.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableCOVID-19 and the Australian labour market: how did older Australians fare during 2020?(Australian Population Studies, 2021)Background In analysing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market, attention has focussed on younger people, leaving a research gap when it comes to outcomes for older Australians aged 50 years or over, in terms of employment, unemployment, underemployment and hours worked. Aims To describe levels of labour force participation, unemployment, underemployment, and hours worked by older workers and job seekers during 2020. Data and methods Using Australian Bureau of Statistics data, we perform descriptive analyses of variations in labour market outcomes by geographic areas, public and private sector employment, industry of employment and demographic characteristics. Results Older employment fell in April but recovered by December. As the full-time share initially increased, average hours worked decreased due to reductions in hours offered to workers, increasing the underemployment rate. There was little recovery of employment in metropolitan Melbourne due to prolonged lockdown conditions. Of the largest industries, retail trade and manufacturing were worst affected.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableGUEST EDITORIAL Introduction to the Special Issue Using Transparency to Achieve Equality(La Trobe University, 2021-09-09)This Guest Editorial introduces a Special Issue of Law in Context which considers how the collection of large-scale data by government entities and organisations might advance the equality agenda across diverse areas of public life, and how best to manage the risks of this emerging strategy. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives and the insights of policymakers, the articles and comments listed below seek to develop new principles to guide government and organisational activity in this novel endeavour.
-
ItemAddressing Age Discrimination in Employment: a report on the findings of Australian Research Council Project DE170100228(University of Melbourne, 2021)This project aimed to research the effectiveness of Australian age discrimination laws. While demographic ageing necessitates extending working lives, few question the effectiveness of Australian age discrimination laws in supporting this ambition. This project drew on mixed methods and comparative UK experiences to offer empirical and theoretical insights into Australian age discrimination law. It sought to create a normative model for legal reform in Australia, to inform public policy and debate and improve responses to demographic ageing, providing economic, health and social benefits.
-
ItemPositive Equality Duties: The Future of Equality and Transparency?(La Trobe University, 2021)Transparency is a radical expectation in the context of equality law. In a system highly dependent on individual en-forcement, the lack of transparency in individual claiming dramatically limits the potential of equality law to achieve systemic change. Overcoming discrimination that is systemic, embedded, and pervasive requires moving beyond confidential mechanisms for addressing discrimination. Given that the implementation of workplace equality law occurs in practice at the organisational level, there is a growing need to focus on what employers are actually doing to achieve equality, and how their practices are accountable to those affected and the broader community. In this paper, drawing on case studies from the United Kingdom and Australia, I consider how corporate and governmental transparency might be extended to equality and discrimination, by embedding such obligations within positive equality duties. I consider how the publication of equality information under the Public Sector Equality Duty in the UK, and more limited gender pay gap reporting in the UK and Australia, have promoted transparency and addressed inequality. Considering theories of targeted transparency and action cycles, I put forward five key criteria to make transparency via positive equality duties effective. I consider the limitations of existing models, and put forward suggestions for how transparency might be better embedded and enacted in future positive equality duties.
-
ItemWorking at the edges of legal protection: Equality law and youth work experience from a comparative perspective(Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2021)
- 1 (current)
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5