Australian legal regime on animal based bio-medical research

This thesis, by using evaluative criteria based on overseas law, scientific evidence, philosophy and ethics, concluded that the Australian legal regime regarding animal based bio-medical research for human benefit only partly met one of that regime's major objectives of adequately protecting research animals during the entire research process.

Privacy law in Australia

This book begins by examining the nature and scope of the right to privacy and the moral basis and status: What is privacy? What interests does it affect and protect? Is there a justification for the right?
It discusses the relevant legal regime in all Australian jurisdictions. It covers the extent to which privacy has been protected under common law and equity and then weaves these principles into the statutory discussion of privacy. It focusses specifically on the most important areas of privacy protection - medical records, communications, criminal investigations and DNA, employment, territory, etc. Finally, it examines how the law may develop in the future.

Legal issues: Disciplinary proceedings for inappropriate prescription of opioid medications by medical practitioners in Australia (2010-2014)

An analysis of 32 cases reported between July 2010 and September 2014 byprofessional disciplinary tribunals in New South Wales and Victoria againstmedical practitioners found guilty of inappropriately prescribing Sch 8 medications(mainly opioids) and Sch 4 drugs (mainly benzodiazepines) demonstrated, among others, a lengthy delay between the occurrence of the miscreant conduct and the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings. The study also raised questions about the appropriateness of utilising common criminal law theories of punishment and deterrence by non-judicial tribunals.

Ethical ramifications of corporatised legal practice

Ethical constraints applying to lawyers are largely found in formal restrictions in legislation - ethical duties arise as a result of a lawyer's service to the public - business ethics - corporatisation and the push for Multi-Disciplinary Practices (MDPs) - duty of confidentiality - avoiding conflicts of interest - the advent of MDP will add further pressures to lawyers juggling competing interests.

O where are you going? O do you imagine? Reproduction and response : a reflexive sociology of scholarship of teaching and learning in practical legal training

My doctoral research studies Australian PLT practitioners’ engagement with scholarship of teaching and learning. I argue that many PLT practitioners are motivated to engage with scholarship of teaching and learning in their work. There are, however, individual and extra-individual impediments.
PLT practitioners are lawyers that teach in institutional practical legal training (“PLT”). Satisfactory completion of mandatory PLT is an eligibility requirement for admission to the Australian legal profession. The PLT requirement is additional to academic legal qualifications. PLT is undertaken at a post-graduate level with, or after, the academic law degree.
My study investigates PLT practitioners’ motivations and capabilities to engage with scholarship of teaching and learning (“SoTL”). I study organisational symbolic support for SoTL in PLT, and organisational allocation of resources to SoTL in PLT.
The study involves individual and extra-individual domains of PLT practitioners’ work. It considers how social structures (e.g. “the juridical”) are inscribed into individuals’ practices (“teaching”) and, conversely, whether practices influence social structures.
My research adopts qualitative methodologies. These involve inter-disciplinary exchanges between law, legal education, practice research, sociology of law, cultural theory, and theory and practice of teaching and learning. My theoretical framework draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s “reflexive sociology”, and Michel de Certeau’s “heterological science”.
I sourced data from documents, and semi-structured interviews with 36 Australian PLT practitioners. Documentary sources include statutory instruments, speeches, reports, practice directions, histories, and scholarly publications.
To analyse the data I adopted Kelle’s characterisation of “theoretical sensitivity”, drawing on “explicit” and “emergent” analysis strategies derived from “grounded theory”. The explicit strategies were based on my theoretical framework. The emergent strategy involved sensitivity to non-explicit concepts and theories that emerged from the data. Computer-aided qualitative data analysis software expedited these methods.
My findings to date question dominant legal structures’ readiness for change, the implications of this for teaching and learning in PLT, and in particular for PLT practitioners’ engagement with SoTL in PLT.
The espoused rationale for mandatory PLT (in statutes) is improvement for the protection of clients, the administration of justice, and to assure quality legal services. The tacit rationale is improved quality of legal education, and experiences, for lawyers-to-be. My thesis argues dominant structures in legal education impede the espoused and tacit objectives, and impede PLT practitioners’ engagement with scholarship of teaching and learning.