Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 10 of 471
-
ItemChanging climates, compounding challenges: a participatory study on how disasters affect the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people in Fiji.(BMJ, 2023-12-16)Pacific youth are at the forefront of the climate crisis, which has important implications for their health and rights. Youth in Fiji currently bear a disproportionate burden of poor experiences and outcomes related to their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). There is limited information about how the increasing climate impacts may affect their SRHR, and what the implications may be for climate action and disaster risk reduction. We aimed to explore the experiences of 21 Fijian youth in fulfilling their SRHR when living through multiple natural hazards. We conducted 2 workshops and 18 individual semistructured interviews using visual and storytelling methods. Irrespective of the type of hazard or context of disasters, participants identified limited agency as the main challenge that increased SRHR risks. Through reflexive thematic analysis, we identified four themes centred around 'youth SRHR agency'; (1) information and knowledge, (2) community and belonging, (3) needs and resources, and (4) collective risks. These themes encompassed multiple factors that limited youth agency and increased their SRHR risks. Participants highlighted how existing challenges to their SRHR, such as access to SRHR information being controlled by community gatekeepers, and discrimination of sexual and gender diverse youth, were exacerbated in disasters. In disaster contexts, immediate priorities such as water, food and financial insecurity increased risks of transactional early marriage and transactional sex to access these resources. Daily SRHR risks related to normalisation of sexual and gender-based violence and taboos limited youth agency and influenced their perceptions of disasters and SRHR risks. Findings offer important insights into factors that limited youth SRHR agency before, during and after disasters. We underscore the urgency for addressing existing social and health inequities in climate and disaster governance. We highlight four key implications for reducing youth SRHR risks through whole-of-society approaches at multiple (sociocultural, institutional, governance) levels.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableMaking robo-advisers careful? Duties of care in providing automated financial advice to consumers(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2021-01-01)
-
ItemADM+S submission to the Safe and responsible AI in Australia discussion paper(ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society, 2023-08-04)The ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) is a cross-disciplinary, national research centre which commenced operations in mid 2020. ADM+S welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Department of Industry, Science and Resource’s consultation on Safe and responsible AI in Australia. Resolving the legal and regulatory challenges posed by artificial intelligence—and how regulatory systems can promote responsible, ethical, and inclusive AI and ADM for the benefit of all Australians—is one of the Centre’s founding objectives. This submission seeks to highlight not only well-known harms and challenges brought about by these technologies (such as privacy risks, or unfair bias and discrimination), but also the new challenges and shifts that are emerging as a result of the rise of generative AI/foundation models and associated developments, including the broad take-up and rapid integration of generative AI, and its broad potential as a general purpose technology embedded in complex supply chains.
-
ItemSocial media ads are littered with ‘green’ claims. How are we supposed to know they’re true?(The Conversation, 2023-12-01)Online platforms are awash with ads for so-called “green” products. Power companies are “carbon neutral”. Electronics are “for the planet”. Clothing is “circular” and travel is “sustainable”. Or are they? Our study of more than 8,000 ads served more than 20,000 times in people’s Facebook feeds found many green claims are vague, meaningless or unsubstantiated and consumers are potentially being deceived. This costs consumers, as products claiming to be greener are often more expensive. And it costs the planet, as false and exaggerated green claims – or “greenwashing” – make it seem more is being done to tackle climate change and other environmental crises than is really happening. The widespread use of these claims could delay important action on tackling climate change, as it dilutes the sense of urgency around the issue.
-
ItemSeeing Green: Prevalence of environmental claims on social media(Consumer Policy Research Centre and ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society, 2023-11-21)Green claims are everywhere, even on social media. But how easy is it for consumers to tell the difference between a genuine environmental claim and a meaningless one? CPRC, in partnership with ADM+S, has analysed over 20,000 impressions of more than 8,000 Facebook ads with green claims. This report: • highlights the diversity of environmental claims that are made via social media advertising • explores the sectors where environmental claims are most prevalent • examines the frequency of generic environmental terms, specific colours and even emojis used in advertising.
-
ItemAgents in International Tax Treaties(Oxford University Press, 2023)This chapter discusses agents in international tax treaties. One of the most common ways through which an enterprise may undertake business in another jurisdiction is through the provision of services by an agent. The chapter examines one particular issue in relation to agents in international tax treaties: the treatment of commissionaire arrangements. The question here is whether the commissionaire constitutes a ‘dependent agent’. The issue has arisen due to different conceptions of agents under civil law and common law. The potential for differing tax treatment arising from the various concepts of agents was recognized during the drafting of the first model tax treaties in 1928 but the issue was left unresolved. However, the potential to avoid taxation or minimize taxes through the use of commissionaire arrangements has recently been addressed through the coordinated global effort to target base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).
-
ItemThe League of Nations and International Tax in the 1930s(Hart Publishing, 2023)In 1928, the League of Nations published the first model bilateral tax treaties, which are the foundation of the existing bilateral tax treaty network of more than 3,000 treaties. The 1928 model tax treaties were followed by the publication of two further model tax treaties in 1943 and 1946 (the Mexico and London models respectively). However, the intention after the publication of the 1928 model tax treaties was that the League would work on the development of a multilateral tax treaty. The 1928 model tax treaties were intended to be an interim solution while the League took the time necessary to develop a multilateral solution. However, despite working on the issue for more than a decade, the League again developed bilateral model tax treaties in 1943 and 1946. This chapter will examine the work of the League of Nations’ Fiscal Committee, the first permanent international committee on taxation, in the 1930s. In doing so, the chapter suggests some reasons why the development of a multilateral tax treaty proved elusive.
-
ItemGovernment-owned firms like Snowy Hydro can do better than building $600 million gas plants(The Conversation AU, 2021)The Morrison government today announced it’s building a new gas power plant in the Hunter Valley, committing up to A$600 million for the government-owned corporation Snowy Hydro to construct the project. Critics argue the plant is inconsistent with the latest climate science. And a new report by the International Energy Agency has warned no new fossil fuel projects should be funded if we’re to avoid catastrophic climate change. The move is also inconsistent with research showing government-owned companies can help drive clean energy innovation. Such companies are often branded as uncompetitive, stuck in the past and unable to innovate. But in fact, they’re sometimes better suited than private firms to take investment risks and test speculative technologies. And if the investments are successful, taxpayers, the private sector and consumers share the benefits.
-
ItemNo Preview AvailableConfronting carbon in the state sector: Why engaging SOEs is critical for the climate challenge(European Corporate Governance Institute, 2023)State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are significant – albeit under-examined – contributors to global climate change. At the turn of the twenty-first century, SOEs seemed to be diminishing in size and significance as advanced economy governments were selling off and redistributing state assets in a bid to shrink the size of the government, and development finance institutions encouraged emerging economies to do the same. But since the year 2000, the role of SOEs in the global economy has rebounded. Today, SOEs own around 20 percent of the total assets of the largest 2000 companies around the world, around 4 times higher than in 2000. Beyond their USD45 trillion asset base, SOEs also have become important actors in cross border acquisition activity, and large players in financial markets. SOEs now hold USD7.4 trillion in corporate debt, making them sizeable issuers in the debt capital markets.
-
ItemHow one student forced the government to admit the economic risks of climate change(The Conversation AU, 2023-09-07)Last month, a significant victory for climate change was won behind closed doors. In 2020, Katta O’Donnell, then a 23-year-old university student in Melbourne, launched a world-leading class action lawsuit against the Commonwealth government. O’Donnell alleged that she and other investors in Australian-issued bonds had been misled because the government failed to disclose how climate change might impact their investments.