Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
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ItemRegulating Libra(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2021-03-01)Libra is the first private cryptocurrency with the potential to change the landscape of global payment and monetary systems. Due to the scale and reach provided by its affiliation with Facebook, the question is not whether, but how, to regulate it. This article introduces the Libra project and analyses the potential responses open to regulators worldwide. We conclude that perhaps the greatest impact will come not from Libra itself, but rather from reactions to it, particularly by other BigTechs, incumbent financial institutions and governments around the world.
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ItemThe perils and pitfalls of formal equality in australian family law reform(SAGE Publications, 2018-01-01)In this paper, we identify the influence of formal equality—and more specifically, formal gender equality (that is, treating men and women the same)—in central areas of major Australian family law reform over the past 20 years. Given the influence of formal equality and our concerns regarding this trend, we consider whether equality-based arguments should be abandoned entirely, at least in the family law context, and explore alternative approaches that could reframe the debate.
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ItemExploring separated fathers' understandings and experiences of 'home' and homemaking(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2021-07-03)This paper considers fathers’ understandings and experiences of home after relationship separation–an issue that has received little research attention to date–through interviews with four separated fathers conducted as part of a larger qualitative study. Key themes to emerge were: the significance attached by participant fathers to home and homemaking through their focus on everyday interactions; the concern that their home might be viewed by children as secondary; and a sense of the vulnerability and transience of home arising from their children’s presence and absence. Viewed overall, the fathers in this study conveyed their determination to offer their children a loving, stable, and secure home life as a fundamental dimension of their commitment to post-separation fathering while also describing key challenges they experienced in doing so.
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ItemThe meaning of home for children and parents after parental separation: Recent insights from a qualitative study(LexisNexis Australia, 2021)In this article, we draw on our recent study on the meaning of home for children and young people in separated families to offer some insights of relevance to Australian post-separation parenting law and practice. We identify the centrality of relationships, safety, and economic resources in shaping home. Our project findings convey the importance of listening to what children and young people — and their parents — say about home and homemaking after parental separation as a way of shedding light on what is most needed to support their adjustment and encouraging greater child focus when parenting arrangements are made.
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ItemThe use of fire and threats to burn in the context of domestic and family violence and coercive control(Taylor and Francis Group, 2022-07-23)Fire can be harnessed by abusive partners or ex-partners in their efforts to maintain and regain control in an abusive relationship. Reports about the use of fire in the context of domestic and family violence are not uncommon in the media, with incidents of house fires, burning cars and using fire to kill or cause harm and threats to burn ex-partners and children being regularly reported. This article analyses 49 reported legal cases where the offender has been found guilty of a criminal offence when they used or threatened to use fire to cause harm in the context of domestic and family violence. It considers how fire is used in abusive relationships to exert control, and it examines the co-occurrence of mental health and drug misuse issues in the cases. The article concludes that fire departments are an important part of the domestic and family violence safety system. It also identifies that the use of fire as a tool of abuse in the context of domestic and family violence is under-examined in Australia and makes some suggestions for further research.
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ItemWhere does responsibility lie? Analysing legal and regulatory responses to flawed clinical decision support systems when patients suffer harm(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2022-07-15)Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) are digital healthcare information systems that apply algorithms to patient data to generate tailored recommendations. They are designed to support, but neither dictate nor execute, clinical decisions. CDSSs can introduce new risks, both by design features that heighten clinician burden and by outright errors that generate faulty recommendations for care. In the latter instance, if such unintercepted recommendations were to result in harm to the patient, novel legal questions emerge. Does legal responsibility for this harm lie with the clinician, the software developer or both? What is the clearest path to a remedy? Further, how does the Australian regulatory framework provide for oversight and redress? This article analyses the potential forms of legal redress in negligence, contract and under statutory consumer law, for the patient and the clinician. It also examines the Australian regulatory framework, specifically in relation to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and reflects on the framework's adequacy to protect patients and clinicians. It finds that the regulatory approach and the contour of legal risk still centre upon the clinician's duty to exercise decisional autonomy and to intercept flawed recommendations generated by algorithmic errors within CDSSs.
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ItemThe long-term impact of bushfires on the mental health of Australians: a systematic review and meta-analysis(TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2022-12-31)Background: The long-term health effects of bushfires include the potential to trigger new and exacerbate existing mental health problems. Objective: This review aimed to determine the prevalence of long-term mental health issues in Australian populations exposed to bushfires. Method: A systematic search was conducted in five databases (Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science) to identify studies focusing on Australian populations impacted by bushfires with the prevalence of mental health issues reported at 2+ years after bushfire. The Joanna Briggs Institute prevalence critical appraisal tool was utilised. We conducted meta-analyses to determine the prevalence of general psychological distress in the general population, and a narrative synthesis. Results: We included 21 articles based on 5 studies and conducted on 3 bushfire events. Meta-analyses showed a pooled prevalence of 14% (95% CI 12%-16%) for psychological distress in the general population at 2-4 years post bushfire. The overall prevalence of long-term psychological problems in firefighters at 2-7 years ranged from 28% to 47.6%. The prevalence of some psychological issues decreased with time and was directly proportional to the level of bushfire impact. Conclusions: As the magnitude of long-term bushfire-related mental health impacts in Australia is severe, it is important to monitor psychological problems and assist communities in future. Future research needs include: (a) more studies on the full range of long-term psychological impacts of bushfires, and (b) consensus on instruments and diagnostic criteria to define mental health issues. HIGHLIGHTS: First systematic review of long-term bushfire mental health issues in Australia.Indicating substantial mental health problems among affected populations.Long-term issues were linked to bushfire impact and elevated among firefighters.Highlighting need for further rigorous research on long-term disaster sequalae.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableInternal audit stigma impairs internal audit outcomes(Virtus Interpress, 2021)Prior research finds that the internal audit function (IAF) plays a critical role in organizations, yet there is still a stigma toward the profession. We examine how this stigma affects internal audit outcomes, using three different data sources: survey results from parts of Europe (113 observations) and the United States (124 observations) for the year 2017 and an experiment (65 observations) in 2018. We find that when internal auditors in parts of Europe and the U.S. believe there is a negative stigma about internal auditing, they report negative work outcomes, including less ability to add value, less influence in the organization, more resistance to implementing their recommendations, and more pressure to change audit findings. Our experimental results confirm the survey findings and provide further evidence that negative stigma causes participants to perceive less value in internal audit reports and that internal audit recommendations are less influential in decision-making. Taken together, the results suggest that negative perceptions of internal audit have a significant impact on the profession
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ItemNo Preview AvailableRacialized water governance: the 'hydrological frontier' in the Northern Territory, Australia(TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS, 2022-03-19)
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ItemAn Impossible Task? Australian Food Law and the Challenge of Novel Meat Analogues(SAGE Publications, 2022-09-01)This paper asks what the regulatory assessment of the novel processed meat analogue products reveals about the nature of food regulation in Australia. We analyse Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (‘FSANZ’) assessment of the recent application by Californian technology company Impossible Foods Inc to sell its proprietary burger products which contain a genetically modified protein that is said to make their burger ‘bleed’. We show that FSANZ’s assessment process has little capacity to engage with broader and longer term, social, ecological and public health implications of novel foods and changing food markets. FSANZ’s regulatory pre-approval process focuses almost exclusively on the safety of individual ingredients rather than the impact of novel foods on the food supply as whole and leaves broader issues to the market and consumer choice with limited support from laws addressing misleading labelling and marketing of foods. Extending the capacity of Australia’s regulatory regime for food to deal with more than the safety of individual ingredients will become more urgent as other novel foods, such as cell-based meats, enter the marketplace.