LAW4801 Research Project

"Productivity is referred to in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) and is a central theme in the Act's objects and design. However, the Act has made little difference to Australia's poor labour productivity performance."

Discuss.

"Corporate theory does not matter".

Do you agree or disagree with this statement? In answering this question, use illustrations from law.

This project calls for research on Australian competition law, and the competition laws of any relevant jurisdictions that may provide helpful insight. The problem is the following:

The increasing use of algorithms by business operators to determine key commercial decisions such as product price is creating an awkward situation for competition law, in Australia and abroad. Among the traditional types of behaviour that are caught by competition law are naked price fixing, and similar anticompetitive arrangements between competitors. But in such situations competition law is generally restricted to conduct involving conscious, human activity. Commentators now refer to a gap in national laws due to the emerging use of algorithms, although there is disagreement around the breadth of the gap, and around what to do about it.

For the purposes of Law 4801, students are called on to identify the precise limits of Australian competition law in this context, explaining what types of algorithm-based conduct can trigger liability, what conduct cannot trigger liability, and any grey areas. Relevant legal provisions and their application should be discussed. Following this diagnosis, students are requested to develop one or more legal solutions that would narrow or close the existing gap in the law. In developing solutions, students are encouraged to consider any foreign case law or foreign legislative initiatives that may be useful. Discussion of any solutions should be supported with reasons and it should be objective and balanced: the paper is a research output as opposed to an advocacy piece. Relevant legal and policy literature should be taken into account, with appropriate and precise attribution. Good research habits should be employed, and assiduous crediting of sources is required. AI tools can be used as search engines, but they often generate unreliable results. On no account can text or analysis for the research paper be produced by an AI tool. Any AI-generated text or analysis will be rejected. Monash academic integrity standards must (obviously) be respected.

Does participation in AUKUS enhance or diminish the sovereignty of its member States, particularly Australia, given the depth of military integration, nuclear-propulsion technology transfer, and long‑term strategic commitments involved?

In November, 2023, Victoria repealed its public intoxication laws, so that being intoxicated in public is no longer a criminal offence. A major stated reason for the repeal of this law was its disproportionate impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Assess the effect of the repeal of these laws on Indigenous people and the criminal justice system. Are police likely to charge with other summary offences instead? Include comparison with other jurisdictions where appropriate.

Non-Refoulement and Developing a Positive Right to Refugee Protection in Australia

Background:

Article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention sets out one of the central protections of the
international refugee law system - the obligation of contracting states to not return refugees back to a country where they may face certain harm. In this unit we examine problems arising from actions such as pushbacks at sea (which directly raise Article 33 issues). These types of actions bring Article 33 into play as a ‘negative’ protection (an obligation on the state to not to something – to not return a refugee).

However, one of the contemporary challenges to refugee protection is ensuring that states give refugees access to territory, to a refugee status procedure and resettlement. That is, positive rights to asylum. Goodwin-Gill, McAdam and Dunlop refer to this in Chapter 5 of your textbook. For instance, where they say ‘States have devised fictions to keep even the physically present alien technically, legally, unadmitted’.
(G Goodwin-Gill, J McAdam and E Dunlop, The Refugee in International Law (OUP, 4 th ed), 247).

Question

Part 1: Discuss the ways in which Australia has implemented ‘fictions’ to keep refugees legally
unadmitted or unable to access resettlement and therefore to refugee protection. An example might be the refusal of the Department of Home Affairs to allow those who come by boat to resettle in Australia. Analyse these examples from the perspective of the non-refoulement principle (such as the concept of constructive refoulement). (Approx. 2000 words)

Part 2: Give your legal opinion as to how a positive right to refugee protection could be developed under international refugee law. (Approx. 2000 words)

*The break up of words for the two parts is just a guide, feel free to adopt your own word count structure (eg. you can also do 3000/1000). You can explain in a footnote or in the introduction that you wish to focus more on Part 1 then 2. Just make sure you do cover both aspects of the question.

The advancement of medical research represents a fundamental public good that yields broad societal benefits. The pursuit of cures, therapeutic interventions, and novel scientific knowledge outweighs any potential adverse consequences associated with research activities. In the context of increasingly complex global health challenges—particularly those arising from emerging pathogens, novel diseases, and conditions of unknown aetiology—it is imperative that regulatory frameworks allow sufficient flexibility. Excessively rigid and onerous regulation risks impeding scientific progress and undermining the timely development of critical medical innovations.

Critically evaluate the above statements in relation to mentally ill patients.

In 2011, Adrian Sterling suggested that an increase in unauthorised use could undermine or even abolish copyright itself. Do you agree/disagree? Discuss the possible need for law reform in Australia regarding copyrighted works and other subject matter generated using artificial intelligence (AI). Critically examine the extent to which AI may be responsible for unauthorised use of copyright.

Critically examine the extent to which coronial inquests are integral to upholding the rule of law in Australia.

To what extent do sentencing practices for adult family violence offenders in Victoria between 2017 and 2024 reflect a gender-informed understanding of coercive control, risk, and victim safety, while remaining consistent with principles of proportionality and individualised justice?

Digital Platforms and Data

In Australia, there has been increasing discussion of whether existing competition law tools are adequate to address the market power of large digital platforms, particularly where that power arises from data accumulation, network effects, and ecosystem integration. Develop a legal analysis evaluating whether the current provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 are sufficient to address these challenges. Support your analysis with evidence and literature, propose any appropriate legal and/or policy reforms, and justify your recommendations.