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This chapter explores the common assumption that work experience undertaken by students as a part of their tertiary education is better regulated and of higher quality than ‘open market’ opportunities. It considers the educationally focused regulation of internships in Australia, England and France and contributes a ‘law in practice’ analysis of the effect of the existing regulatory regime on work integrated learning practice within Australian universities. Informed by data gathered in a series of 68 interviews conducted with individuals from 15 universities, the chapter considers how Australian universities are responding to, implementing, or overlooking the formal regulatory framework regarding work experience placements. This analysis contributes unique insights into how Universities are acting as regulators in the broad sense of the word and allows preliminary conclusions about the efficacy of educationally focussed regulation to be drawn.

This concluding chapter assesses the extent to which international and regional labour standards currently apply to internships (or traineeships), as well as the potential for the creation of new standards that might regulate the quality of these arrangements and extend appropriate labour and social rights to interns or trainees. We briefly review the different types of state regulation that have been developed or applied around the world, and examine the role that non-state regulators (such as employers, trade unions, educational institutions and professional associations) can and do play. We conclude by outlining some principles that can usefully guide the regulation of internships and help respond to the policy challenges explored throughout this book.

The purpose of this book is to bring together experts from around the world in labour law, employment relations and labour economics to explain what we know about the use and value of internships (or traineeships as they are sometimes called), and to discuss how they are or should be regulated. This introduction offers some preliminary explanations for the growth of internships, and highlights some of the ways in which both scholars and policy makers have sought to analyse and respond to that development. It explains how the rest of the book is structured and briefly summarises the contributions in it. The introduction concludes by saying something about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had so far on internships and what it might mean for their use in the future.

Background: COVID-19 can result in a severe viral pneumonia, with high reported mortality rates in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. There is controversy as to whether established therapeutic approaches to acute respiratory distress syndrome are optimal in this condition, and numerous novel therapies have been used, often outside the context of randomised trials. In addition, longer term quality of life outcomes associated with COVID-19 are as yet unknown. The aim of this case series is to describe demographic, physiological and outcome data of patients with COVID-19 admitted to our intensive care units who were treated according to evidence-based guidelines for acute respiratory distress syndrome.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of all patients admitted to intensive care units in our institution with COVID-19 between March and June, 2020. Physiological and laboratory data were recorded at baseline and daily until intensive care discharge or death. Quality of life was assessed at a virtual post-intensive care follow-up clinic around 10 weeks after ICU discharge.Results: 45 patients with COVID-19 were included, 37 (82.2%) of whom were male, with a mean age of 55 years. 42 (93.3%) of this cohort met criteria for acute respiratory distress syndrome at time of admission. Clinical management was consistent with evidence based institutional guidelines introduced for acute respiratory distress syndrome. Median length of intensive care stay was 14 days. The intensive care mortality rate was 8.9%. Functional and psychological morbidity post intensive care was significant: 45.2% of respondents had at least moderate impairment of mobility and 35.5% described at least moderate symptoms of anxiety or depression at the time of follow up.Conclusions : This case series demonstrates low mortality in a cohort of patients treated according to an established evidence-based approach for acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, COVID-19 survivors have a marked functional and psychological morbidity impacting quality of life following ICU admission. The therapeutic goal in the future will be to achieve similar survival outcomes while minimizing the significant morbidity associated with COVID-19 related critical care admission.

We live in an age of uncertainty in which the two seeming constants are continuing change and growth in bodies of knowledge. These factors affect all fields of life, including the study and practice of the law. In 1998 Sumitra Vignaendra determined that the vast majority of law students went on to work in a legal capacity of some kind. While there is no more recent data available regarding the number of law graduates who go on to practise in law, anecdotal evidence suggests that many law students do intend to engage in practice as a lawyer, and graduate destination surveys imply that this ambition is realised for many. But the ever-changing nature of law means legal learning for those entering the profession cannot stop at graduation; practising lawyers must constantly update and expand their knowledge. Law graduates must, therefore, be properly equipped for a lifelong process of learning.

While the importance of equipping graduates with professional skills is often recognised, both academics and students acknowledge that the process of teaching and learning skills at law school can be difficult. In this article the authors will reaffirm the continuing importance of skills teaching in Australian law schools and argue these difficulties are not insurmountable. We briefly explore our own experiences in teaching professional skills in a tertiary context, using a situational learning methodology (where students put themselves in the position of practising lawyers), and discuss some of the lessons we have learned in the process of adapting and refining our approach to this perennially challenging issue.

The last two decades have seen growing debate in many countries about the appropriateness of displaying religious symbols in the public sphere. Much discussion has focussed on the wearing of religiously inspired dress and in particular Islamic dress. The latest chapter in this saga are attempts to ban in public the burqa and niqab, clothing worn by some Muslim women which covers the face.

Many pedagogical and practical advantages of engaging students in experiential situational learning such as simulated practice involving teamwork are discussed in educational literature and are confirmed anecdotally by educators. However, many academics who implement situational learning methodologies encounter difficulties, particularly in relation to managing students who are working together, group assessment, and the assessment of skills rather than substantive knowledge acquisition. This article considers some of the common problems encountered with situational learning as discussed in the literature and as identified through research conducted in courses using this methodology. This discussion is then used to suggest tools and concepts in preparation which can be used to avoid or manage some of the common problems with situational learning, and ensure that legal simulations operate as successfully as possible from both student and teacher perspectives.

Amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) have been proposed which would introduce a new prohibition on discrimination on the ground of religious appearance and dress in the state. However, there remains no prohibition on discrimination based on religious belief or practice. This paper examines the reasons for this curious state of affairs, and considers its consequences for religious groups in South Australia. The legislation regarding religious discrimination in other jurisdictions is considered, as are alternative means that members of religious groups in South Australia may seek protection from discrimination against them. In particular, the link between the characteristics of religion and race are considered, and the different protections offered to religious and racial groups under anti-discrimination legislation is analysed.

[Extract] It is perhaps a conceit of law teachers to think that their area of law poses special challenges for educative purposes. In this paper, I suggest that administrative law does present some particular problems for students, although I am sure that the issues are not completely unique to this legal fi eld. In any case, my experiences over some years have led me to explore some educational theory and practice that may be of broader interest to law teachers, and not only those involved with administrative law