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Children's competitive sport in Australia poses barriers for children with disabilities. Sporting structures generally do not provide opportunities for children with disabilities to compete in a manner that is meaningful and fair to them, and generally not with the mainstream competitions. Such treatment may be discriminatory, either wrongfully or unlawfully so. Using Australia's Little Athletics as a case study, this paper uses systems thinking to holistically map the influences on a child with disability's experiences in a sporting contest, to identify how the socially constructed environment affects structures and rules and how the law might shape those. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article on the assessment of patients' decision-making capacity by professor Pēteris Dārzinņš in the 2010 issue of "Australian Occupational Therapy."

Healthy ageing refers to the development and maintenance of the functional ability of ageing individuals. Aged care nurses provide nursing care to elderly individuals and usually work in aged care residential facilities, nursing homes, home care services, and/or hospital departments. The registered nurse working in the aged care sector has several important roles. Key roles cover both therapeutic and preventative paradigms, as discussed in this paper. The aged care nurse is also "tasked with" holistic patient-centred care and the promotion of healthy ageing via advocacy and sociocultural roles. This paper examined, described, and analysed the multifaceted role of an aged care nurse from an Australian perspective. We conducted meticulous searches using PubMed, Google Scholar, government guidelines, authoritative body regulations, quality control guidelines, and government portals pertaining to aged care nursing in Australia. This paper relied upon the information garnered from publications, reports, and guidelines resulting from these searches and analyses. Multiple aspects of healthy ageing and holistic aged care nursing are discussed. The key roles of the aged care nurse are enumerated next, in accordance with the code of conduct from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). The NMBA promotes evidence-based, culturally sensitive, consultative, holistic aged care clinical practice that includes input from care recipients, their decision makers, and/or their health care providers. The difficult issue of loneliness is discussed with strategies to ameliorate aspects of this. Good social networks, community interactions, meaningful friendships, and participation in personalised spiritual/religious practices improve the quality of aged care. The key topic of elder abuse and its forms are discussed apropos of aged care nursing. Healthy ageing is promoted by identifying and reporting elder abuse at the earliest. Current Australian law and recent federal legislation changes pertaining to aged care nursing are discussed next. As a result of these legislation changes, several new quality control imperatives (for aged care organisations/facilities) under the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) have been implemented. Residential and flexible aged care providers should now have robust ongoing documentation and a well-developed behaviour support plan (BSP) for each care recipient who currently requires or may require restrictive practices, which must be reported under the new serious incident reporting scheme (SIRS). Various strategies to promote healthy ageing and approaches to communicate effectively with aged care recipients are also discussed. Healthy ageing is promoted when age care recipients are empowered with making their own autonomous choices in "major and minor" aspects of life. Finally, approaches to optimise quality aged care nursing care are discussed. The Roper–Logan–Tierney model is one of the models used to assess and optimise nursing care. This is premised on the capability of an ageing individual to accomplish 12 basic activities of daily living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The registered nurse has crucial preventative, therapeutic, sociocultural, and advocacy roles in promoting quality holistic patient-centred palliative care. This paper examines, describes, and analyses this multifaceted role from an antipodean perspective. We conducted systematic searches using PubMed, Google Scholar, government guidelines, authoritative body regulations, quality control guidelines, and government portals pertaining to palliative care nursing in Australia. This paper relies upon the information garnered from publications, reports, and guidelines resulting from these searches and analyses. The fundamental principles and guiding values of palliative care (and nursing) and the raison d'etre for palliative care as a discipline are underscored and expanded on. Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) pertaining to palliative end-of-life (EOL) nursing care and associated services are discussed. The relevant NMBA nursing standards that RNs need to have to administer opioids/narcotics in palliative care are summarised. The identification of patients who need EOL care, holistic person-centred care planning for them, and consultative multidisciplinary palliative clinical decision making are discussed in the palliative care context. Several components of advance care planning apropos health deterioration and conflicts are discussed. Several aspects of EOL care, especially palliative nursing care, are analysed using research evidence, established nursing and palliative care standards, and the Australian EOL CPGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian 2019 Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Act requires online intermediaries, including social media services and digital platform providers, to take steps to remove abhorrent violent material that is accessible in Australia. While the Act represents a significant landmark in internet governance, it is questionable whether it appropriately aligns the need to remove violent material with the need to support legitimate socially-beneficial online speech. In this context, this paper critically analyzes the operation of the Act, considering whether and to what extent compliance with the Act may lead to the over-removal of socially-beneficial and lawful speech on social media. Beyond Australian law, this paper considers the broader discourse of international law in this important and evolving area of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Governments use vaccination mandates, of different degrees of coerciveness, to encourage or require childhood vaccination. We elicited the views of well‐informed community members on the public acceptability of using childhood vaccination mandates in Australia. Methods: Four community juries were conducted in Canberra, Launceston, Cairns and Melbourne, Australia between 2021 and 2022. We recruited 51 participants from diverse backgrounds, genders and ages through random digit dialling and social media. Two juries were held in metropolitan areas, and two in regional/rural settings. Outcome measures included jury verdicts and reasons in response to structured questions. Results: All juries were concerned about collective protection and individual rights but prioritised the former over the latter. A majority in all juries supported mandates but juries disagreed with respect to the appropriate mandate types. All juries endorsed using the least restrictive or coercive means to encourage vaccination (providing incentives or education, e.g.) before imposing penalties such as financial losses and school exclusions. The overriding view was that it is fairer to place a direct burden on parents rather than children and that mandates should be designed to avoid inequitable impacts on less advantaged groups in society. Many jurors found conscientious objection acceptable as a controlled option for resolute refusers, provided that overall vaccination coverage remains high. Conclusion: This paper gives policymakers access to the reasons that Australians have for supporting or opposing different mandates under conditions of high knowledge, understanding and deliberation regarding policy options. Sustaining high rates of vaccination requires high levels of co‐operation between governments, public health actors and the public. Our findings highlight the importance of considering public values in the design and implementation of vaccination mandates. Patient and Public Involvement: We sought input from individuals who did and did not vaccinate during the study design. The views and perspectives of nonvaccinating parents were presented in the evidence to juries. We deliberately excluded nonvaccinating individuals from participating, as the divisive and often hostile nature of the topic, and their minority status, made it difficult to ensure they would feel safe as members of the jury without overrepresenting their perspective in the sample. Two related projects engaged directly with these parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic scholarship analyses how citizenship law reforms such as longer residency requirements and tougher language tests reinforce culturally exclusionary national narratives. Citizenship ceremonies however, have largely escaped scholarly attention. Drawing on Australia as a case study, this article addresses that gap. After examining how Australian citizenship is performed at ceremonies, this article argues that although the government states that citizenship ceremonies should welcome new citizens, deep suspicions about the cultural diversity of migrants are also conveyed. This paper contributes to an understanding of how citizenship ceremonies reinforce culturally exclusionary national narratives, even where the legal criteria for acquiring citizenship status is non-discriminatory. This paper also illustrates how citizenship ceremonies are important sites for the construction and communication of legal identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian law affirms a binary construction of fertility/infertility. This model is based upon the medical categorization of infertility as a disease. Law supports medicine in prioritizing technology, such as in vitro fertilization, as treatment for infertility. This prioritization of a medico-legal model of infertility in turn marginalizes alternative means of family creation such as adoption, fostering, traditional surrogacy, and childlessness. This paper argues that this binary model masks the impact of medicalization upon reproductive choice and limits opportunity for infertile individuals to create families. While medical technology should be available to enhance reproductive opportunity, infertile individuals will benefit from regulatory change which disentangles the medico-legal construct of infertility as a disease from the desire to create a family. This paper suggests that the medico-legal model of infertility should be reframed to support all opportunities for family creation equally, including non-medical opportunities such as adoption, fostering, and childlessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2012, the Australian Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department published a Discussion Paper which explored the prospect of codifying or otherwise reforming the Australian law of contract. There is little reason to think that the codification of the Australian law of contract is likely to be embarked upon in the foreseeable future. At the same time, recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in codification in Britain. This paper examines the experience of contract codification efforts in Australia with a view to identifying a number of cautionary lessons. It focuses on two challenges inherent in contract codification which have been given too little attention by the proponents of reform in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores concessions made by Australian authorities concerning Japanese immigration during the era of the White Australia Policy in the early twentieth century. Australia's Immigration Restriction Act was introduced in December 1901. As the major piece of legislation in the White Australia Policy, the act made it virtually impossible for non-Europeans to migrate to Australia. However, Japanese people enjoyed a special position among non-Europeans under the White Australia Policy thanks to Japan's growing international status as a civilised power at the time, as well as its sustained diplomatic pressure on Australia. While the Commonwealth was determined to exclude Japanese permanent settlers, it sought ways to render the policy of exclusion less offensive to the Japanese. In the early 1900s, two minor modifications to the Immigration Restriction Act were implemented in order to relax the restrictions imposed on Japanese citizens. Moreover, in the application of Commonwealth immigration laws, Japanese people received far more lenient treatment than other non-Europeans and were afforded respect and extra courtesies by Australian officials. Nevertheless, these concessions Australia made to Japanese citizens were minor, and the Commonwealth government maintained its basic policy of excluding Japanese permanent settlers from Australia. This paper shows that, despite continued diplomatic efforts, Japan was fundamentally unable to change pre-war Australia's basic policy regarding the exclusion of Japanese permanent settlers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the concept of mandatory reporting in adult safeguarding in the jurisdictions of Australia, Canada, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Design/methodology/approach: A rapid realist evaluation of the literature on this topic was carried out in order to answer the question: "what works, for whom and in what circumstances?" Particular attention was paid to Context(s), Mechanism(s) and Outcome(s) configurations of adult safeguarding reporting systems and processes. Findings: The evaluation found a range of arguments for and against mandatory reporting and international variations on the scope and powers of mandatory reporting. Research limitations/implications: This review was undertaken in late 2018 so subsequent policy and practice developments will be missing from the evaluation. The evaluation focussed on five jurisdictions therefore, the findings are not necessarily translatable to other contexts. Practical implications: Some jurisdictions have introduced mandatory reporting and others are considering doing so. The potential advantages and challenges of introducing mandatory reporting are highlighted. Social implications: The introduction of mandatory reporting may offer professionals increased powers to prevent and reduce the abuse of adults, but this could also change the dynamic of relationships within families, and between families and professionals. Originality/value: This paper provides an accessible discussion of mandatory reporting across Ireland and internationally which to date has been lacking from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian and Indian legal systems share much in common given their shared colonial history. However, despite the similarities, both jurisdictions have adopted vastly different approaches in protecting their people under the auspices of constitutional guarantees and the protection of fundamental human rights. This paper will discuss how each jurisdiction protects the fundamental human rights and basic freedoms under their respective constitutions and whether these protections are adequate. The few constitutional guarantees that exist in Australia will be contrasted to the robust fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. It will be concluded that India sets a stronger example than Australia when it comes to constitutional rights and guarantees for three main reasons; first, the different vision of the constitutional framers of India and Australia; second, India's Constitution is easier to amend and therefore better placed to evolve and reflect changing societal norms; and finally, the divergent approaches of the Judiciary illustrate the broader interpretation of the scope of constitutional rights by the Indian judiciary. India and Australia can learn much from each other and the ways in which each country protects fundamental rights and basic freedoms are no exception to this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition from secondary school to postschool life, education, and employment can be difficult for young people who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). This population's postschool outcomes, particularly in employment, continue to lag behind those of the general population. The transition education, planning, and practices that these students experience while at secondary school are important to their achievement of optimal postschool outcomes. This paper reviews recent literature relating to the postschool transition of young people who are DHH, including studies that have investigated specific transition practices and student characteristics and their associations with positive postschool outcomes. Taking into consideration evidence-based best practices for students with disability in general and students who are DHH in particular, the authors propose a model of targeted transition planning and practice for adolescents who are DHH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background While inclusive research has become an important stream in research with people with intellectual disabilities, there is a tension between the possibly empowering research process and the strength of the research itself to make social change happen. In this paper, we explore the contribution of two inclusive qualitative research studies in Australia and the Republic of Ireland to change in policy and legislation. Materials and methods Both studies used qualitative methods including life stories and focus groups to explore the issue of sexuality and relationships. In both studies, people with intellectual disabilities were actively involved in undertaking the research. Results Both studies revealed that it was difficult for people with intellectual disabilities to express their sexuality openly or to form adult relationships. Conclusions Both studies were used by people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters to promote change in which they had a heard voice. Accessible Abstract This paper is about how people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters can use research which they have done to change policies and laws that affect them. When people with intellectual disabilities are doing research it is called inclusive research.We write about two research studies which were about the sexual lives and relationships of people with intellectual disabilities. One research study was in Australia and one was in the Republic of Ireland.In the Australian study, Living Safer Sexual Lives, 25 people with intellectual disabilities told their life stories and talked about sexuality and relationships.In the Irish study people with intellectual disabilities told life stories and talked with other people with intellectual disabilities about their sexuality and relationships in groups. These are called focus groups.In this paper we explore 4 questions that arose from these studies. Question 1. What impact does doing research have on the people who are involved in it? People with intellectual disabilities in Australia were members of the group that guided the research. They were partners in its design, in deciding what questions should be asked about sexuality and relationships., and thinking about what was found out. They became involved in making films about the study. They learned a lot about research, sexuality and relationships and became members of a government committee to change policy about sexuality and people with disabilities. In Ireland people with intellectual disabilities involved in doing the research talked together about their lives. They then talked with 16 groups of people with intellectual disabilities about their relationships and sexuality. They learned about research and about sexuality and developed plays about their experiences., Question 2. To what extent can inclusive research change policy and practice? In Australia the research led to a change in government policy about sexuality and people with disabilities. The new policy clearly stated people with disabilities had rights to relationships and to a sexual life. It set out rights and responsibilities for people with intellectual disabilities and service providers about relationships and sexuality. It took a long time to get a change in policy and people with intellectual disabilities were part of the getting the change to happen. In Ireland there is a law which says that it is illegal to have some forms of sex with people with intellectual disabilities. From the research people with intellectual disabilities became involved in talking with government about changing this law so that it gives them more rights to a sexual life. The law has not changed yet but the voices of people with intellectual disabilities are now being heard., Question 3 When does research shift into being advocacy? How does this happen? People with intellectual disabilities in both studies became advocates to get change to happen. Partly this was because they had become more 'expert' about sexuality and relationships and the policy and law. They were angry at what they had found out in the research and wanted to get change to happen., Question 4 What added value does including people with intellectual disabilities as researchers give to the research? People with intellectual disabilities had knowledge and experience that made it possible for the research in both Australia and Ireland to happen. They were important in how the research was done and what was done with it after it was finished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly outlines the many achievements of Professor Maureen Brunt, who was elected Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia in 2006. It describes both her academic career, and her major contributions to competition law in Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The national ethical guidelines relevant to assisted reproductive technology (ART) have recently been reviewed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The review process paid particular attention to the issue of non-medical sex selection, although ultimately, the updated ethical guidelines maintain the pre-consultation position of a prohibition on non-medical sex selection. Whilst this recent review process provided a public forum for debate and discussion of this ethically contentious issue, the Victorian case of JS and LS v Patient Review Panel (Health and Privacy) [2011] VCAT 856 provides a rare instance where the prohibition on non-medical sex selection has been explored by a court or tribunal in Australia. This paper analyses the reasoning in that decision, focusing specifically on how the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal applied the statutory framework relevant to ART and its comparison to other uses of embryo selection technologies. The Tribunal relied heavily upon the welfare-of-the-child principle under the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic). The Tribunal also compared non-medical sex selection with saviour sibling selection (that is, where a child is purposely conceived as a matched tissue donor for an existing child of the family). Our analysis leads us to conclude that the Tribunal’s reasoning fails to adequately justify the denial of the applicants’ request to utilize ART services to select the sex of their prospective child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasizes the need for greater protection of religious freedom in law to address the increasing conflict between law and religion in Australia. Topics covered include role of Christianity in the origins of common law and the legal system brought about by the colonists who arrived in Western Australia, relationship between law and religion during the foundation years of the colony, and contemporary attitudes to religion in Australia.

In this paper, we argue that the statement 'Whoever owns the fuel owns the fire' implies a duty on landowners to manage fuel on their land to reduce the likelihood of bushfires, however started, from spreading to neighbouring properties. However, the notion 'Whoever owns the fuel owns the fire' has not been analysed from a legal perspective. This paper reviews Australian law to identify who is legally responsible for fire that starts on privately owned land. We argue that the correct interpretation of existing Australian law is: 'Whoever owns the ignition owns the fire' - that is, liability to pay for losses caused by bushfire has always fallen on those that intentionally start a fire, not on the owner of the fuel that sustains the fire. That legal conclusion could have dramatic implications for fire management policies. It will be shown that liability for starting a prescribed burn is clear-cut whereas liability for allowing accumulated fuel loads to contribute to the spread of fire is almost unheard of. As a result, we argue that the law is pushing landowners in a direction away from the policy direction adopted by all Australian governments. After identifying the current legal position, we recommend changes to align the law with the national policy direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Law is a powerful influence on people and place. Law both creates and is created by the relationship between people and place, although it rarely acknowledges this. Law frequently operates as if space does not matter. Law and legal processes, therefore, deserve greater attention from geographers. Legal geography is an emerging field of inquiry that facilitates much-needed attention to the interrelationships among the environment, people and social institutions, including formal laws but also informal rules, norms and lore. Legal geographers seek to make the invisible visible: to bring the law into the frame of geography, and space and place into focus for the law. Both critical and applied in approach, legal geography offers descriptive, analytical and normative insight into economics, justice, property, power, geopolitics, governance and scale. As such it can enrich most areas of geographic inquiry as well as contribute to current policy debates about the regulation of space and place. Legal geography is a way for enlarged appreciations of relationality, materiality, multiscalarity and agency to be used to interrogate and reform the law. This introduction to a special 'themed paper' section of Geographical Research provides a window on legal geography scholarship, including its history, contribution and ambition. The papers in the collection explore issues grounded in the legal geographies paradigm, variously analysing matters empirically detailed while engaging in broader, theoretical debates and using both Australian and international case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine and contrast director duties in health and safety in the UK and Australian jurisdictions, the former influencing the latter's health and safety regime until Australia introduced a new more progressive regime. Design/methodology/approach – The authors are practitioners who have combined desk based research with professional knowledge of how the law in both jurisdictions is applied. The approach was a comparative study of the underlying principles behind the enforcement regimes. Findings – The paper found that the UK position could be strengthened but whilst the new Australian position could be a preferable development, it is too early to tell whether or not the Australian model would be more effective. Research limitations/implications – Research was desk-based only. Practical implications – Practitioners in both jurisdictions should consider potential developments in the area of director duties, particularly in the UK where Section 37 could arguably be strengthened. Originality/value – This is the first comparison of the UK and Australian jurisdictions in respect of health and safety and examines an alternative to the consent, connivance and neglect model used in the UK to attach culpability to directors and officers. It also examines the possibility of introducing due diligence in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional change is fundamental to regime transformation, and a necessary part of moving toward integrated water management. However, insight into the role of institutional change processes in such transitions is currently limited. A more nuanced understanding of institutional frameworks is necessary, both to advance understanding of institutional change in the context of transitions toward improved water management and to inform strategies for guiding such processes. To this end, we examine two contemporary cases of transformative change in Australia's urban water sector, exploring the evolution of institutional change in each city. This paper offers insights into regime transformation, providing guidance on types of institutional structures and the ways structure-change initiatives can be sequenced to support a transition. The results reveal the importance of regulation in embedding regime change and suggest that engagement with structural frameworks should begin early in transition processes to ensure the timely introduction of supporting regulation. Our findings also highlight the inextricable link between culture-based and structure-based change initiatives, and the importance of using a diverse range of institutional change mechanisms in a mutually reinforcing way to provide a strong foundation for change. These findings provide a foundation for further scholarly examination of institutional change mechanisms, while also serving to inform the strategic activities of transition-oriented organizations and actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of an analysis of a collection of Statutory Declaration forms completed by teachers seeking exemption from dismissal under theNSW Married Women (Lecturers and Teachers) Act(1932–1947). Most sought exemption on hardship grounds, recording details of their husbands’ inability or unwillingness to provide them with ‘adequate’ support. The collection offers insight into the gendered finances of a particular group during the 1930s Depression, revealing some complex interdependencies—such as the need to support extended kin—and offering insights into the role of the state in the making of the family as a social and economic unit. The bureaucratic apparatus of regulation and standardised paperwork operated materially and discursively to distinguish the exceptional (salaried married women) from the more desirable or legitimate order of gendered responsibilities (financially dependent wives). Finally, the forms are strikingly silent about the professional teaching work of the women. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background and aims Following calls for restrictions and bans on alcohol advertising, and in light of the tobacco industry's challenge to Australia's tobacco plain packaging measure, a tobacco control measure finding support in the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, this paper considers what role, if any, an international alcohol marketing code might have in preventing or reducing the risk of challenges to domestic alcohol marketing restrictions under trade rules. Methods Narrative review of international trade and health instruments and international trade court judgements regarding alcohol products and marketing restrictions. Findings The experience of European trade courts in the litigation of similar measures suggests that World Trade Organization rules have sufficient flexibility to support the implementation of alcohol marketing restrictions. However, the experience also highlights the possibility that public health measures have disproportionate and unjustifiable trade effects and that the ability of a public health measure to withstand a challenge under trade rules will turn on its particular design and implementation. Conclusion Measures implemented pursuant to international public health instruments are not immune to trade law challenges. Close collaboration between health policymakers, trade officials and lawyers, from as early as the research stage in the development of a measure to ensure a robust evidence base, will ensure the best chance of regulatory survival for an international marketing code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The regulatory approach to insider trading (IT) in Australia is premised on a "blend" of fairness and efficiency which has generated an important controversy. The study aims to investigate this controversy by critically analysing the way the policy maker and judiciary have been striving to accomplish the regulatory goals based on this blend. Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on existing primary and secondary legal resources. Findings – Regulation of insider trading (IT) with an appropriate enforcement mechanism has become an important issue in Australia. As part of this, a range of legal studies have unveiled significant difficulties in successfully prosecuting insiders which largely reflect a serious disappointment with the operation of the IT law. Whilst the output of this research motivates and enhances a broad scholarly debate on the credibility of the current regime in combating IT and in generating a strong form of deterrent against prospective insiders, there has been a dearth of intellectual inquiries (to the best of the author's knowledge) backed up by a reliable assessment about the merits of the law, and especially about the issue of how the courts are applying a "blend" of the two policy rationales: market fairness and market efficiency in resolving particular circumstances. It is submitted that this paper will contribute to filling this gap in the legal literature and the wider academic deliberation on the quality and effectiveness of the IT regime. Originality/value – This paper is the original work of the author and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to enter the current debate over the future of the South Australian Legislative Council by critiquing recent reform proposals and then outlining some modest suggestions for reform. The paper contends that a number of recent reform proposals are explicitly partisan and seek to enlarge the role of large parties and majority government. On the contrary others would ban political parties. The paper contends that whilst the Legislative Council exhibits many of the characteristics of an effective and useful upper house, reform of four areas would enable its review function to be improved. These areas include: the size of the Council; the term lengths of members; the method for resolving deadlocks; and the method for replacing retiring members. The paper then critically examines the proposal to ban political parties; and argues instead that instituting the Robson Rotation system would promote freedom of association and freedom of choice by voters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Medicine Registration Act was passed through Victorian parliament in 2000, based on policy research that suggested the need for statutory registration as a means for protecting public health and safety. This paper reports on the implementation and the effect of this policy. By examining registration, complaints and prosecution data from the Chinese Medicine Registration Board as well as comparing the complaints data between 2003 and 2007 across all Victorian registration boards, this paper considers the extent to which the policy research and the policy intent were justified. Based on the experience of the Chinese Medicine Registration Board, the paper points to issues that should be further considered as Chinese medicine moves into the national registration scheme in July 2012. INSET: What is known about the topic?. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Australian context, the out-of-home care of children and respite service for older adults are segregated. Yet internationally there has been a shift toward intergenerational programs that purposefully bring together younger and older people for mutual benefits. This paper examines the enablers of, supports for, and constraints of introducing intergenerational care programs (IGC) within the Australian legislation and regulations of child-care and aged-care programs. In doing so, program design features, workforce strategies, and built environment are considered. The literature indicates that the meshing of standards into IGC programs provides an opportunity to make intergenerational care an attractive model for respite to caregivers and recipients of care, while providing intergenerational contact for younger families. Such a program is likely to be cost effective with economies-of-scale workforce efficiencies. Future research will involve a needs assessment of potential consumers to explore the possible demand for intergenerational care programs within Australia before conducting a trial of different intergenerational care programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper draws on the work of Antonio Gramsci and Karl Polanyi in analyzing the consequences of legal regimes that regulate genetically modified foods. Against the tide of neoliberalism, a binding, precautionary agreement over trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has emerged through the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. This Protocol exemplifies what Polanyi termed the ‘self-protection of society,’ the second phase of his double movement. The Protocol's final form was a product of European governments’ responses to public concerns over the potential environmental and health impacts of GMOs in an unregulated global economy. This ‘self-protective’ turn has been manifest at regional and national scales, including in Australia. Drawing on Gramsci, I argue that this unlikely turn emerged in the context of shifting public opinion, effective anti-GMO activism, and alternative discursive framings. It took hold with European publics and governments, generating the relations of force needed to become the hegemonic framing of GMOs globally. The objectives of this paper are thus to demonstrate how a double movement has occurred in the regulation of GMOs and to use Gramsci's relations of force to explain how this double movement has nonetheless failed to challenge the underlying neoliberal basis of GMO agriculture as it exists today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: The disclosure of information that identifies deceased organ donors and/or organ transplant recipients by organ donation agencies and transplant centres is regulated in Australia by state and territory legislation, yet a significant number of donor family members and transplant recipients independently establish contact with each other. Aim: To describe and synthesize Australian laws and guidelines on the disclosure of identifying information. Method: Legislation and guidelines relevant to organ donation and transplantation were obtained following a search of government and DonateLife network websites. Information about the regulation of identity disclosure was extracted and synthesised using a process guided by Walt and Gilson's (1994) policy analysis framework. Findings: Nineteen documents were examined. Six guidelines refer to and were consistent with current legislation. Four documents did not address identity disclosure. All jurisdictions prohibit healthcare professionals from disclosing identifying information. In three states, the prohibition extends to all members of the public including donor family members and transplant recipients. Conclusion: Restrictions on identity disclosure have implications for public promotion of donation and transplantation where sharing of stories and images of organ donors and transplant recipients is common. Further research is required to understand the perspective of donor family members, transplant recipients, and healthcare professionals impacted by the current laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This paper presents updated prevalence estimates of awareness, ever‐use, and current use of nicotine vaping products (NVPs) from 14 International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC Project) countries that have varying regulations governing NVP sales and marketing. Design, Setting, Participants and Measurements: A cross‐sectional analysis of adult (≥ 18 years) current smokers and ex‐smokers from 14 countries participating in the ITC Project. Data from the most recent survey questionnaire for each country were included, which spanned the period 2013–17. Countries were categorized into four groups based on regulations governing NVP sales and marketing (allowable or not), and level of enforcement (strict or weak where NVPs are not permitted to be sold): (1) most restrictive policies (MRPs), not legal to be sold or marketed with strict enforcement: Australia, Brazil, Uruguay; (2) restrictive policies (RPs), not approved for sale or marketing with weak enforcement: Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand; (3) less restrictive policies (LRPs), legal to be sold and marketed with regulations: England, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, United States; and (4) no regulatory policies (NRPs), Bangladesh, China, Zambia. Countries were also grouped by World Bank Income Classifications. Country‐specific weighted logistic regression models estimated adjusted NVP prevalence estimates for: awareness, ever/current use, and frequency of use (daily versus non‐daily). Findings NVP awareness and use were lowest in NRP countries. Generally, ever‐ and current use of NVPs were lower in MRP countries (ever‐use = 7.1–48.9%; current use = 0.3–3.5%) relative to LRP countries (ever‐use = 38.9–66.6%; current use = 5.5–17.2%) and RP countries (ever‐use = 10.0–62.4%; current use = 1.4–15.5%). NVP use was highest among high‐income countries, followed by upper–middle‐income countries, and then by lower–middle‐income countries. Conclusions: With a few exceptions, awareness and use of nicotine vaping products varied by the strength of national regulations governing nicotine vaping product sales/marketing, and by country income. In countries with no regulatory policies, use rates were very low, suggesting that there was little availability, marketing and/or interest in nicotine vaping products in these countries where smoking populations are predominantly poorer. The higher awareness and use of nicotine vaping products in high income countries with moderately (e.g. Canada, New Zealand) and less (e.g. England, United States) restrictive policies, is likely due to the greater availability and affordability of nicotine vaping products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2012, the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department issued a discussion paper which flagged the possibility of codifying or otherwise reforming the Australian law of contract. Half a decade later, it seems distinctly improbable that the initiative will yield anything of substance. The result is that would-be reformers of the Australian law of contract might well feel frustrated at the uncertainty as to how the cause of reform ought to be prosecuted. The object of this article is to offer up some suggestions in this regard. It seeks to identify some practical steps which might be taken by way of reform of the Australian law of contract. It seeks in particular to identify those reforms which are sufficiently uncontroversial as to attract support on the part of government. The article also grapples with the question of whether the more radical options set out in the 2012 discussion paper - including the prospect of codification - were ever suitable responses to the challenges facing the Australian law of contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent commentary on future research directions for legal geography highlights the need for studies that are historically grounded and focused on human-environment interactions in rural settings. As a current, controversial land use in Australia, unconventional gas ( UG) development provides an ideal lens through which researchers can investigate these themes. Utilising emerging international literature and current Australian examples, this paper surveys major trends in the Australian literature relating to UG, before exploring some of the ways in which Australian legal geographers might contribute constructively to community debates around this resource. Seeking to encourage further analysis, this paper contributes to this developing literature by focusing on two key areas: the various legal actors involved in UG development in Australia (including their regulatory choices, spatial interpretations, expertise, and influence) and the implications for legal geography where attempts are made to establish 'social licence' through contractual arrangements between industry and individual landholders. This article also delves into the place of Indigenous Australians in relation to UG extraction and the questions this resource raises about land use conflicts in Australia more generally - offering suggestions for comparative international studies and further critique at the domestic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper grapples with contestations about the place of dogs in Australian urban public space. On the one hand, urban Australia is characterized by high levels of dog ownership and intense family-style human–dog relations, yet, on the other, in public space dogs and their humans are subject to strict regulation and a regime of spatial segregation. Increased urban surveillance, privatization and control, coupled with regulation based on the figure of the dog-as-problem, have intensified disputation over the place of dogs in the city. Birke, Bryld, and Lykke (2004) suggest the notion of ‘animaling’ as a tactic for shifting perspective from animal essences – dangerous dogs and dog breeds, for example – towards a study of the material-semiotic performativity of human/animal relationships. This paper takes up this notion to explore the multiple ways in which dogs, humans and various human–dog conjunctions and relations ‘animal’ the city and shape public space. As a transgressive queer(y)ing of the border work that constitutes the human/animal dualism, ‘animaling’ is also useful for thinking about the affinities, partial connections and agencies that co-constitute human–dog relations and urban spatialities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A key challenge for gender theory and practice is to explain the circumstances in which homophobia either intensifies or declines. In addition to the important theoretical implications of such an explanation, being able to clearly delineate the mechanisms that drive the ebb and flow of homophobia raises the prospect that one day it might be possible to eradicate this important antisocial problem. But understanding the underlying drivers entails the development of a satisfactory body of theory to explain the existence of homophobia-a body of theory that may well be called on to explain different homophobias in different cultural settings that span the gender spectrum. As discussed, various proposals have been made for alternative terminologies and associated candidate theories that are intended to explain homophobia better. However, none seems to have articulated a sufficiently compelling case to be considered definitive, while others simply fail to accord with everyday homophobic experiences. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, to propose a set of criteria that need to be satisfied if a theory is going to provide a robust explanation for the ebb and flow of homophobia(s). Second, to explore whether gender taboos offer a coherent theoretical basis for explaining the existence of, and the power behind homophobia. Finally, the analysis looks to shifting gender relations as a possible explanation for the ebb and flow of homophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debt agreement option under bankruptcy law was introduced in Australia in 1996. Since its introduction, it has undergone significant review, and two sets of amendments have been crafted to meet issues as they have been raised. Its popularity is reflected in the increasing proportion of debt agreements compared with the other two debt relief options available under bankruptcy legislation, bankruptcy and the personal insolvency agreement. A review of the debt agreement scheme has recently been undertaken, but the government has yet to respond to its recommendations. Meanwhile, the work of comparative bankruptcy scholars has found new impetus from the treatment of consumer debtors during the Global Financial Crisis. At the same time, at the international level, there is growing interest in developing general principles for the treatment of personal insolvency, despite the acknowledged diversity of approach to personal insolvency at the national level. This paper examines the debt agreement framework and how it fits within the comparative bankruptcy literature and the developing international principles for the treatment of personal insolvency. Copyright © 2014 INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his practice of intellectual history Ian Hunter has highlighted the productivity of a contextual approach to the institutions and discourses of philosophy, religion, law, and government. Deploying such an approach, his essay for this journal on the humanities in post-1960s Australia invites us to reconsider the terms in which the contemporary humanities have accounted for the world around us and in us. In drawing attention to some other examples of the way in which Hunter has applied this method, this paper explores the implications of a contextualisation of legal judgements that express ethical preferences which efface their historical conditioning. The paper suggests that such an approach might be productively applied in the work of understanding other kinds of legal judgements and policy settings that are commonly marked by a high degree of political agitation, such as contemporary immigration policy and border controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the place of executive power within the Commonwealth Constitution in light of historical and recent developments. It summarises, in particular, the scope of executive power and the extent to which it is informed and constrained by its federal constitutional setting. It also considers the role of the traditional prerogatives of the Crown in defining the content of executive power, and of non-statutory executive power generally, and executive power under the constitutions of the various States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences and perspectives of bicycle advocates in regional areas of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Globally, cycling presents opportunities for affordable and sustainable transport and healthy lifestyles. Developing a global cycling system depends upon deliberative visions of a better future. Yet, urban cycling advocacy is engaged in a ‘permanent provocation’ with motoring. Regional/rural advocacy contrasts against urban advocacy. Research, based on data collected in 2013–2014, explored the practice of cycling advocacy in regional areas, the formation of regional advocate identities and advocates’ visions for the future. Alternative geographic imaginaries for cycling are presented. Radical societal change is not expected by regional bicycle advocates but an embodied sensibility presents ‘re-wilding’ as an emerging post-colonial discursive position to embrace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research is crucial to advancing knowledge about dementia, yet the burden of the disease currently outpaces research activity. Research often excludes people with dementia and other cognitive impairments because researchers and ethics committees are concerned about issues related to capacity, consent, and substitute decision-making. In Australia, participation in research by people with cognitive impairment is governed by a national ethics statement and a patchwork of state and territorial laws that have widely varying rules. We contend that this legislative variation precludes a consistent approach to research governance and participation and hinders research that seeks to include people with impaired capacity. In this paper, we present key ethical principles, provide a comprehensive review of applicable legal rules in Australian states and territories, and highlight significant differences and ambiguities. Our analysis includes recommendations for reform to improve clarity and consistency in the law and reduce barriers that may exclude persons with dementia from participating in ethically approved research. Our recommendations seek to advance the national decision-making principles recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission, which emphasize the rights of all adults to make their own decisions and for those with impaired capacity to have access to appropriate supports to help them make decisions that affect their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the world's mental health acts, including all Australian legislation, allow for the coercive detention and treatment of people with mental illnesses if they are deemed likely to harm themselves or others. Numerous authors have argued that legislated powers to impose coercive treatment in psychiatric illness should pivot on the presence or absence of capacity not likely harm, but no Australian act uses this criterion. In this paper, I add a novel element to these arguments by comparing the use of the harm to others justification for coercive treatment in mental illness with its use in illness due to infectious disease, and suggest a double standard applies. People with mental illness are subjected to coercive treatments at levels of risk to others far, far lower than would precipitate coercive treatment in people with influenza. In effect, this element of mental health legislation represents an example of sanism-state-sanctioned discrimination against people with mental illnesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic practice in Australia and around the world attracts a high level of public and judicial scrutiny. The way in which the forensic psychologist conducts him or herself in ethically challenging situations is important not only to the reputation of the individual practitioner, but to the profession more widely. This paper outlines some of the ethical issues that commonly arise in forensic psychology practice and discusses these in relation to the recently published Australian Psychological Society (2007) Code of Ethics. Four ethically challenging scenarios are described and discussed in terms of how the Code might be used to offer guidance to psychologists about how they might best respond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues on the success of any new criminal regime in discouraging serious cartel conduct in Australia, including support from the government, business sector and general public. It provides insights into the impetus for the criminalization initiative of the country on cartel conduct and discusses practical consequences for the effectiveness of the future regime. The author also highlights the need for caution in assuming the success of the anti-cartel law enforcement.