This article examines an issue of fundamental importance to both business and government: the nature of Australian federalism. Federalism in Australia is a concept under attack with pejorative labels such as 'dysfunctional', 'inefficient', 'coercive' and 'opportunistic' increasingly being used...

The last few decades has witnessed the rise of professional sport as a significant and growing commercial industry. As professional sports have grown, so too have the points at which they intersect with the law. However, one area that has largely escaped the attention of practitioners and...

This article examines the duties and responsibilities owed by persons involved with organising and staging major sporting events under Australian workplace health and safety (WHS) laws. While WHS laws focus primarily on the health and safety of workers, they also have a very broad public safety...

There have been comparatively few attempts to apply regulatory scholarship to the regulation of international sport. This is both surprising and regrettable. Surprising because sport inherently is a system of rules and thus, a regulatory system. Without rules there is no sport – just play. And...

This paper examines the public interest underpinning Australian and German media diversity regulation. It finds notwithstanding different historical and constitutional origins, both counties regulation today espouses similar public interest rationales but increasingly is being shaped by the...

This article builds a taxonomy of the different functions performed by the term ‘harmonisation’ in contemporary policy debates. Four broad functions or domains of use are identified – political, policy, process and program – within each of which there are multiple different uses. Based...

Australia’s harmonised occupational health and safety (OHS) regulatory regime was scheduled to commence 1 January 2012. Presently, however, only seven (out of nine) jurisdictions have enacted harmonised laws, most with differences. That the harmonisation initiative has not (yet) delivered on...

OHS harmonisation requires more than just uniform laws; it also requires that those laws are administered and enforced consistently across jurisdictions. This article examines the suite of reforms designed to deliver that consistent regulatory experience (known as the ‘Regulators Harmonisation...

Australia’s new harmonised occupational health and safety (OHS) regulatory regime is scheduled to commence operation on 1 January 2012. The new harmonised regime is the most significant reform to OHS regulation in Australia since the adoption in the 1970s and 80s of the Robens reforms. Yet...

Occupational health and safety (OHS) harmonisation in Australia is on a precipice. While noting that several forces have operated to bring about this situation (including traditional federal/state tensions compounded by the election in a number of States of Conservative governments), this...