The effect of a smoke-free law on restaurant business in South Australia

Background: Despite evidence to the contrary from overseas research, the introduction of smoke-free legislation in South Australia (SA), which required all restaurants to go smoke-free in January 1999, sparked concerns among the hospitality industry about loss of restaurant business. This study aimed to determine whether the law had a detrimental impact on restaurant business in SA.

Methods: Using time series analysis, we compared the ratio of monthly restaurant turnover from restaurants and cafes in SA to (a) total retail turnover in SA (minus restaurants) for the years 1991 to 2001 and (b) Australian restaurant turnover (minus SA, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory) for the years 1991–2000.

Results: There was no decline in the ratio of (a) SA restaurant turnover to SA retail turnover or (b) SA restaurant turnover to Australian restaurant turnover.

Conclusion: The introduction of a smoke-free law applying to restaurants in SA did not adversely affect restaurant business in SA.

Legal bans on pro-suicide web sites : an early retrospective from Australia

There are worldwide concerns that pro-suicide web sites may trigger suicidal behaviors among vulnerable individuals. In 2006, Australia became the first country to criminalize such sites, sparking heated debate. Concerns were expressed that the law casts the criminal net too widely; inappropriately interferes with the autonomy of those who wish to die; and has jurisdictional limitations, with off-shore web sites remaining largely immune. Conversely, proponents point out that the law may limit access to domestic pro-suicide web sites, raise awareness of Internet-related suicide, mobilize community efforts to combat it, and serve as a powerful expression of societal norms about the promotion of suicidal behavior.

Extradition law in Australia

Extradition law concerns the repatriation of international fugitives to the place of their crime. The Australian Extradition Act (passed over 20 years ago) fails to keep pace with aspects of international criminality, particularly political and fiscal offences. It needs reform. This thesis is about reforming Australia's extradition laws.

Strategic enforcement of anti-discrimination law : a new role for Australia's equality commissions

In Australia, anti-discrimination law is enforced by individuals who lodge a discrimination complaint at a statutory equality commission. The equality commission is responsible for handling complaints and attempting to resolve them. In most instances, the equality commission cannot advise or assist the complainant; it must remain neutral. In other countries, the equality commission plays a role in enforcement, principally by providing complainants with assistance to resolve their complaint including funding litigation. The equality commission’s assistance function has been most effective when used strategically as part of a broader enforcement program, rather than on an ad hoc basis. This article discusses equality commission enforcement in the United States of America, Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland and shows how the equality commissions have engaged in strategic enforcement in order to develop the law and secure remedies which benefit the wider community, not only the individual complainant. Based on their experience, it is argued that the Australian equality commissions should play a role in enforcement so that they can tackle discrimination more effectively.

Homicide law reform in Victoria, Australia from provocation to defensive homicide and beyond

Homicide law reform surrounding the partial defences to murder currently animates legal stakeholders in Australia and the United Kingdom, particularly in relation to cases of lethal intimate partner violence. In 2005, the Victorian Government implemented a series of homicide law reforms, central to which was the abolition of the partial defence of provocation and the instatement of an offence of defensive homicide. This article, based on a larger qualitative research study with British, Victorian and New South Wales legal stakeholders, explores experiences and perceptions of reforms in Victoria. An analysis of the impact of homicide law reform, using Hudson's principles of discursiveness and reflectiveness as a framework for analysis, reveals some dissonance between the intent and outcomes of these legal reforms. This study concludes that reforms crafted to counter gender bias in the operation of homicide law have produced mixed results for female victims of intimate partner homicide and related case law.

The aftermath of provocation : homicide law reform in Victoria, New South Wales and England.

Over the past decade, homicide law reform surrounding the partial defences to murder has animated debate among criminological scholars and legal stakeholders in Australia and the United Kingdom. In response to these debates, criminal jurisdictions have conducted reviews of the partial defences to murder and implemented reforms targeted at reducing gender bias in the law which has played out through the operation of the partial defence of provocation. This research examines the different approaches taken to addressing the problem posed by provocation in Victoria, New South Wales and England. In doing so, it explores questions around the need for reform to the law of homicide, the effects of these reforms in practice, and the influential role of sentencing in questions surrounding homicide law reform. Throughout the analysis key frameworks of criminological thought in relation to feminist engagements with the law, the conceptualisation of denial and the influence of law and order politics upon the development of criminal justice policy are applied. By drawing on 81 in-depth interviews conducted with legal stakeholders across the three jurisdictions under study, and an analysis of relevant case law, this research concludes that reforms implemented to counter gender bias in the operation of homicide law have produced mixed results in practice, particularly in connection to the law’s response to three key categories of person in the courtroom: the jealous man, the female victim of homicide, and the battered woman.

The capacity of criminal sanctions to shape the behaviour of offenders : specific deterrence doesn’t work, rehabilitation might and the implications for sentencing

There is a considerable gap between the law and knowledge regarding the efficacy of state-imposed sanctions to achieve several key sentencing objectives. Two sentencing objectives which often carry considerable weight in the sentencing calculus are rehabilitation and specific deterrence, despite the fact that neither has been proven to be attainable. This article examines the empirical data on whether specific deterrence and rehabilitation are attainable, and consequently whether they should be retained or abolished as sentencing objectives.

Nature, extent and antecedents of risk management in accounting, law and biotechnology firms in Australia

This paper provides empirical evidence on the nature and the extent of risks faced by small and medium-sized biotechnology and professional service firms (accounting and law) in Australia, as well as on the style of their adopted risk management methods and approaches. The findings of the study indicate that the top three risks faced by these firms are related to reputation, recruiting and retaining skilled staff, and cost management. The study also finds that more than half of the respondent firms manage risk in an integrated manner. The results of this study provide useful insights into the nature, extent and driving forces of risk management practices in these firms.

Unfair punishment : when criminal record checks lead to discrimination

Applying for a job is stressful enough, but if you have a criminal record, even if it’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for, it can be a nightmare.

Employers in Australia regularly discriminate on the grounds that a person has an irrelevant criminal record and checking criminal records is on the increase. The number of criminal record checks undertaken in Victoria have risen by almost 6,000% since 1993.

It is concerning then that the few laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of irrelevant criminal record lack real teeth.