Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
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ItemA Life Course Approach to Addressing Exponential Inequalities: Age, Gender, and Covid-19(Oxford University PressOxford, 2023-01-19)This chapter argues that age is an exponential amplifier of inequality. It puts forward a life course perspective as a nuanced lens for enriching our understanding of discrimination and its impacts over time. A life course approach offers a targeted focus for addressing exponential inequalities, drawing our attention to discrimination at critical transition points. Building on this life course perspective, experiences of discrimination over time can be seen as non-linear and multi-directional, but still interlinked and biographic, punctuating and shaping life stories in unpredictable ways. These ideas are illustrated through a case study of gendered ageism at work, drawing on empirical evidence to map how gender inequality is amplified with age and time, and further exacerbated by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Viewed with this life course lens, this chapter argues that discrimination law appears fundamentally ill-adapted for responding to exponential inequalities. The chapter therefore considers the extent to which ‘next generation’ positive duties—like the Gender Equality Act 2020 (Vic)—might address these concerns.
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ItemAbandoning Individual Enforcement? Interrogating the Enforcement of Age Discrimination Law(Cambridge University Press, 2023)Discrimination law primarily relies on individual enforcement for addressing discrimination at work; yet those who are most impacted by discrimination are likely the least able to enforce their rights. The question then becomes: what role should individual enforcement play in discrimination law? Can we effectively abandon individual enforcement as part of the legislative model? Drawing on a mixed method, multi-year comparative study of the enforcement of age discrimination law in the UK, Australia and Sweden, this article considers the gaps, limits and risks of the individual enforcement model in discrimination law. Integrating doctrinal analysis; statistical analysis of claims and cases, and data from the EU and OECD; qualitative expert interviews; and a survey of legal practitioners, this article argues that while individual enforcement is inherently limited as a tool for achieving systemic change, it must remain part of any legislative model. Reflecting on the experience in Sweden, where individual enforcement of discrimination law is significantly curtailed, the article posits that individual rights and individual enforcement remain important complements to other regulatory tools, particularly in jurisdictions with strong enduring age norms. Abandoning or severely restricting individual enforcement is unlikely to support either the macro or micro effectiveness of age discrimination law.
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ItemPromoting Innovation or Exacerbating Inequality? Laboratory Federalism and Australian Age Discrimination Law(SAGE Publications, 2023-01-01)According to laboratory federalism, federal systems can promote governmental innovation and experimentation, while containing the risks of innovation to only one jurisdiction. However, it is unclear whether these benefits are realised in practice and whether states are actually effective ‘laboratories’. This article evaluates the extent to which laboratory federalism is occurring in practice, focusing on a case study of age discrimination law in Australia. Drawing on related ideas of democratic experimentalism; legal doctrinal analysis of age discrimination law in the Australian states and territories, and at the federal level; and qualitative expert interviews with 66 Australian respondents, I map the potential and limits of laboratory federalism in advancing age equality. I argue that, in this particular context, the benefits of experimentation may be outweighed by the resulting difficulties of enforcing age discrimination law, exacerbating inequality in practice. The federal structure has led to a confused and confusing patchwork of legal regulation. There is therefore a need for stronger federal structures to facilitate mutual learning and better realise the benefits of laboratory federalism.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.