Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableCharity trustees: governance duties and conflicts of interest(OXFORD UNIV PRESS, 2022-06-25)This article reports the results of an extensive survey of charity trustees in England and Wales in relation to governance duties and conflicts of interest. The results help discern trustees’ understanding of, and confidence with, their governance duties, their enthusiasm for practical assistance with these duties, the strength of their conflict management procedures, as well as compliance motivations and perceived barriers to enhanced governance and compliance. This in turn assists in critical evaluation of the effectiveness of the governance and regulatory system of charities in England andWales.
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ItemPolitical Finance Regulation and Reform in New South Wales: Towards a Fairer System?(WILEY, 2019-03)In recent years the regulation of political finance in Australia has moved from systems of laissez‐faire to systems of enhanced regulation, which aim to curb the scale and influence of donations. This article examines political finance regulation in New South Wales — the jurisdiction that has seen the most significant transformation of its regulatory setup — to assess whether and how the new regulations have affected donations to political parties in the state. We find, based on analysis of the pattern of donations before and after the reforms, that the regulations have made the financing system fairer and thus improved the quality of democracy in the state.
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ItemMore to Lose: The Attributes of Involuntary Bankruptcy(WILEY, 2019-03)While the majority of those who declare bankruptcy do so voluntarily, a significant proportion are forced into bankruptcy as a result of legal action. This paper interrogates data obtained from the Australian Financial Security Authority to explore the attributes of debtors who go bankrupt involuntarily. Based on this analysis, the authors hypothesise that people who go bankrupt involuntarily are those who have more to lose by going bankrupt – such as a family home, a business venture or a managerial or professional occupation – meaning that they are more likely to resist bankruptcy until they are forced into it by their creditors.
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ItemLess Money, Fewer Donations: The Impact of New South Wales Political Finance Laws on Private Funding of Political Parties(WILEY, 2018-12)Abstract The role of money in politics has been a concern internationally with strong calls for stricter regulation of such funds. In Australia, this has resulted in a shift from laissez‐faire to increased regulation. Yet, there has been little research into the impact of this shift. To address this gap, this article examines the impact of four New South Wales political finance laws enacted from 2008 to 2012, which reflect the emergent regulatory approach. Focusing on the total number and value of political donations made to New South Wales political parties, it assesses the effects of the four Acts individually, as well as their overall impact, to test the assumption of legal effectiveness. It finds strong support for two key expectations resulting from the assumption: first, the raft of legislation will reduce the total number and value of political donations to the parties and second, that the 2010 legislation, which imposed caps on political donations and election spending, and substantially increased public funding, would be the most significant of the four Acts in terms of impact due to its scope and depth.
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ItemImpacts of Financial Literacy and Confidence on the Severity of Financial Hardship in Australia(University of Wollongong, 2018)Consumers in Australia and other developed countries are increasingly required to interact with providers of complex financial products and services, and to estimate, mitigate or absorb the risks that flow from their financial decisions. A range of debt-related problems in Australia have been attributed to low levels of financial literacy in the population. However, there has been limited research exploring the relationship between low financial literacy and the problem of financial hardship, where a consumer takes on payment obligations under a contract, but then becomes unable to meet them when they fall due. Drawing on a survey of Australians who recently experienced debt problems, this article examines the impact of financial literacy levels and levels of confidence in managing day-to-day spending on severity of financial hardship. The article also examines the impacts of financial literacy and confidence levels on the strategies employed to get by financially while in debt. The article shows that while there is no straightforward relationship between low financial literacy and severity of financial hardship, lower levels of financial literacy may reduce consumers’ ability to avoid some of the more serious consequences of default, particularly if coupled with overconfidence about their ability to manage spending.