Accounting - Theses
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ItemConsolidation and Third Party Joinder in International Commercial Arbitration - Procedural Panacea or Poison?( 2023)In recent decades, international trade and commerce has become increasingly complex. When disputes arise there will often be multiple interrelated parties, contracts and claims that are relevant to the adjudication and final resolution of a dispute. While courts in Australia and overseas have powers to consolidate cases and join third parties to litigation for reasons of efficiency and fairness - including to avoid parallel proceedings that could lead to inconsistent results - special considerations apply in the field of international commercial arbitration where primacy has traditionally been given to party autonomy, privity of contract and party consent. These cornerstone principles of international commercial arbitration continue to be tested by developments in modern international commerce – and nowhere is this more acute than in cases involving multi-contract claims and disputes where non-signatory third parties are in some way connected with or involved in the subject matter of the dispute. Many of the major institutional arbitration rules now include provisions for consolidation, joinder and intervention to address these contemporary issues. However, there remain unresolved tensions between such procedures and the principles of party autonomy and consent that underpin international arbitration as a contractual and voluntary process. Thorny practical issues can also arise where tribunals, institutions and courts exercise their discretion to order consolidation or joinder in arbitration, as this will invariably involve procedural compromises that affect the rights of one or more parties. This extends to the appointment of the arbitral tribunal and other adaptations to accommodate new parties or claims once arbitral proceedings have commenced. This article explores some of these issues with a particular focus on Australia’s international commercial arbitration regime. Part 1 examines the rationales for and against consolidation and joinder in international arbitration, and general consent-based principles and other legal theories that have been applied by courts and tribunals to give effect to these procedures. Part 2 analyses how these issues are dealt with in the International Arbitration Act 1974 (Cth) (IAA) and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration institutional rules; and provides a comparative analysis with a sample of overseas national laws, judicial approaches and major institutional arbitration rules. The paper concludes by revisiting traditional approaches to consolidation and third-party joinder in international commercial arbitration, and offers some suggestions for reforms to Australia’s international arbitration regime to ensure that it continues to serve its underlying purposes while also meeting the modern demands of international commerce. Two proposals for reforms to the IAA are considered: (1) an “opt out” consolidation provision; and (2) an “opt out” third-party joinder provision – which would empower both tribunals and courts to make orders with respect to consolidation, joinder and intervention in certain circumstances.
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ItemMitigation of urban floods through the permeabilization of Melbourne’s large surfaces: The effects of green infrastructure on urban flooding under different scenarios in the Elizabeth Street catchment.( 2022)Water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) is an alternative to traditional drainage to better manage stormwater in highly urbanised areas, especially in the context of climate change. Often referred to as nature-based solutions, they help reduce runoff volumes through surfaces that mimic the hydrological process of retention and filtration. Although multiple types of WSUD exist, this research mainly shows the potential benefit of implementing green roofs and permeable pavements to minimise urban flood risk, as they are easily installed on unused surfaces such as rooftops and streetcar parks. Therefore, this thesis aims to explore the relationship between green roofs and permeable pavements for flood reduction using as a case study the Elizabeth Street catchment (ESC) in Melbourne, which is the most flood-prone area in the city. The impact of these systems during flooding was studied using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and rainfall-runoff simulations using IBER software to compare the flows and depths produced by a design storm under different modelling scenarios where the number of green roofs and porous pavements over the catchment surface were varied. At the same time, water management policies implemented in the study area were analysed to determine whether they promote the installation of green roofs and permeable pavements. The research found that implementing green roofs and permeable pavements at the urban scale depends on the level of integration in public policies. The results showed that there are 672,284 m2 of potential roofs and 98,517 m2 of on-street parking spaces in the ESC that can be intervened to help reduce the runoff volume following a rainfall event. The results showed that these strategies could help reduce runoff volume by 20%. On the other hand, it was found that the City of Melbourne's policies related to water management do not greatly promote the implementation of green roofs and permeable pavements, which is reflected in the limited number of these strategies encouraged in relevant policies.
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ItemTrajectories of stream evolution in response to catchment urbanisation: Cardinia Creek case study( 2022)Catchment urbanisation, via the increase of impervious surfaces and efficient drainage, triggers changes in stream channel morphology and function, commonly through channel enlargement and simplification. Disturbed streams pose significant environmental, social and economic impacts in cities and suburban areas, threatening riparian habitat, urban infrastructure and the removal of large areas of arable land. Although this enlargement trajectory is well-known, it is also highly dependent on local context factors, such as geology, topography, vegetation cover, sediment concentrations and legacies of past management. Consequently, understanding the complex relationship between hydrological drivers and local context factors in channel type formation is crucial. Taking Cardinia Creek as a case study within the urban growth belt of the Greater Melbourne Area, this research seeks to study the creek’s geomorphological evolution to analyse its response and sensitivity to urbanisation. Metrics of channel form, such as bankfull width, depth, slope, and cross-sectional shape, were quantified remotely through the use of LiDAR 2017 images and subsequently surveyed in the field following the rural-to-urban gradient of the creek. Similarly, urbanisation and local context predictor variables, including attenuated imperviousness, hardpoints, riparian vegetation cover, sediment stores, and valley confinement, were assessed to understand to what extent they could explain channel responses. Results were then analysed at the reach, site and cross-sectional level to develop a channel evolution model that describes the geomorphologic adjustments of the creek to urban perturbations. Main findings show that the central urbanised reach of the waterway has a deeper, wider and simplified channel in comparison to the upstream and downstream reaches. Additionally, a high variability of responses was found within and amongst less urbanised sites, suggesting local disturbances and context factors play an important role in local channel type formation. Thus, the channel evolution response to urbanisation does not entirely follow the fundamental sequence of enlargement by incision and subsequent widening, as the creek seems to be widening with limited incision. This finding highlights the importance of understanding local-scale context factors and legacies of past management to guide future stream management or restoration efforts.