Current Grants
This project will locate Australia and several major countries in our region within a highly influential international scholarly debate about appropriate forms of business regulation. It will contribute to domestic policy-making debates about the most effective legal methods for promoting an innovative and productive economy, especially in the areas of corporate and labour law. It will also enable Australian policy makers to participate in international policy reform debates facilitated through international institutions. In particular, it will enhance Australia's capacity to understand and contribute to the establishment of better legal systems in our region, enhancing important trading and strategic relationships.
Approved Drugs, Law and Criminal Procedure in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis, 2010-2012
Professor Tim Lindsey, Associate Professor Pip Nicholson
Australians accused of major drugs offences in Southeast Asia face very serious penalties, including death or life imprisonment. There is, however, a lack of accurate information in Australia regarding how drugs trials are conducted in the region, let alone detailed knowledge of applicable laws and procedure. There is now an acute need for detailed comparative material on criminal laws and judicial processes in Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, so better support can be provided both for Australians facing drug-related charges and for Australian governments in developing policies and strategies in response to the issues these trials create.
ARC Discovery Grant - "Testing Court Reform Projects in Cambodia and Vietnam", 2008-2010
Associate Professor Pip Nicholson, Professor Camille Cameron
Financial assistance for court reform projects in ASEAN countries is among Australia's foreign aid priorities, consuming highly sought-after aid dollars. This research will make recommendations aimed at increasing the efficacy of aid-assisted court reform projects. By paying particular attention to indigenous perspectives of successes and failures of such projects, the research will contribute to Australia's understanding of the legal and judicial contexts in two of its Southeast Asian neighbours. The research will inform Australia's aid investments in Cambodia and Vietnam, the region and internationally. It will enhance Australia's ability to achieve more effective design, implementation and evaluation of court-related aid interventions.
ARC Federation Fellowship - "Islam and Modernity: Syari'ah, Terrorism and Governance in South-East Asia, 2006-2011
Professor Tim Lindsey
The Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Federation Fellowships are innovative and highly prestigious awards designed to develop and retain Australian skills.
The Fellowship aims to achieve a better understanding of Islam and terrorism in Southeast Asia and to strengthen Australian capacity to navigate our regional relationships by (i) supporting themed research and community engagement programs; (ii) building the capacity of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam; and (iii) mentoring young scholars in the field of Islam in Indonesia. The project addresses an area of critical national significance at a time when Islam in our region is of immediate strategic importance.
The main themes to be researched under the Fellowship include:
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Islam and the Challenge of Modernity in Southeast Asia
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Mapping New Approaches to ‘Islamic’ Governance in Southeast Asia
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Militancy and Syari’ah in Southeast Asia
ARC Discovery Grant - "Enforcement of Chinese Employment Law: Regulatory Innovation and Wage Arrears", 2007-2009
Associate Professor Sean Cooney, Dr Sarah Biddulph, Associate Professor Ying Zhu
Australia's security and economic well-being is closely bound up with China. It is in Australia's interests that China develops a sound legal system as the foundation of a prosperous, humane and stable society. The pervasive failure to pay Chinese workers their correct wages tests the capacity and credibility of Chinese law. An assessment of the legal system's response to the wage problem will provide specific insights on securing compliance with the employment law in China, benefiting Australian foreign policy makers, traders, investors and overseas development organisations. It will facilitate collaborative work between China and Australia on strengthening the regulatory capacity of Chinese institutions.
ARC Discovery Grant - "The Media and ASEAN Transitions: Defamation Law, Journalism and Public Debate in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore", 2006-2009
Professor Tim Lindsey, Dr Amanda Whiting, Associate Professor Andrew Kenyon, Dr Tim Marjoribanks
This project will examine defamation law, journalism and public debate in three core members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It will focus on a legal issue, defamation, which is central to the Australian and regional media's potential for improving public and private sector governance, and promoting domestic and regional understanding, at a time when independent media speech has great value in relation to trade, security and development. When risks of transnational defamation liability are increasing, it will assist the Australian media's coverage of three pivotal countries in the region and substantially develop the academic understanding of defamation law's effects on media content.