Legal research at The University of Queensland
Legal researchers at The University of Queensland’s TC Beirne School of Law will benefit from funding of almost $1 million in the latest round of Australian Research Council grants.
Eight academics from the TC Beirne School of Law are among the successful recipients of government funding worth a total of $931,500 for legal research commencing in 2012.
Head of the School of Law, Professor Ross Grantham, who is among the 2012 grant recipients, said the awards were a reflection of the School’s internationally recognised research profile.
"I am delighted to announce that the School as a whole has done exceptionally well and my warmest congratulations are extended to all the academics and staff who contributed to this funding success," he said.
"The ARC funding schemes are highly competitive and this year’s success acknowledges the effort and dedication our academics place in the pursuit of high-quality, innovative legal research which provides benefits for the practice of law, industry and the wider community."
The ARC’s mission is to deliver policy and programs that advance Australian research and innovation globally and benefit the community by delivering cultural, economic, social and environmental benefits to all Australians.
The successful UQ law researchers are:
• Associate Professor Heather Douglas, Dr Francesca Bartlett and Dr Trish Luker were awarded an ARC Discovery Projects grant of $170,000 for their "Australian Feminist Judgments Project: Jurisprudence as Praxis". Working with Professor Rosemary Hunter of the University of Kent, researchers will investigate relationships between feminist theory and practice in Australian judicial decision-making. The research will highlight possibilities, limits and implications of a feminist approach to judging, through analysis of existing decisions and practices and production of a collection of imagined feminist judgments in significant cases.
• Professor Nicholas Aroney’s ARC Discovery Project, "A Federation of Cultures? Innovative Approaches to Multicultural Accommodation" was awarded $181,500 to examine how state and federal governments can better protect and support the values, beliefs and cultural practices of different cultural and religious groups. The project will focus on matters concerning family life, community identity and freedom of conscience within a framework of respect for human rights.
• Associate Professor Robert G Burrell and Ms Kimberlee Weatherall are two of the researchers involved in the Testing trademark law’s image of the consumer project for which a $250,000 ARC Linkage Project grant was awarded. The University of Queensland-administered project is partnered by the Federal Court of Australia, Fosters Group Ltd and I P Australia. The project seeks to put Australian trademark law on a firmer empirical footing by bringing together experts from psychology, law and marketing to test the law’s assumptions against actual consumer responses
• Professor Ross Grantham and Peter McDermott are among researchers awarded a total of $330,000 funding for a project which will revolutionise legal history research. The ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) project, "The Australasian Legal History Library: Creating historical depth in legal data on AustLII" will provide comprehensive legislation and case law from all colonies (subsequently states, territories or New Zealand) up to 1950. Its citator will show how these historical materials are used in current legal decisions.
