Workplace and Corporate Law Research Group
Directors’Report for 2013
Co-Directors: Associate ProfessorMichelle Welsh and Dr Carolyn Sutherland
About WCLRG
The Workplace and Corporate Law Research Group (WCLRG) has been in operation since March 2008.WCLRG provides a focus for collaborative research within the department in the fields of workplace relations and employment law, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and the intersections between labour law and corporate law. It also fosters the development of research projects in these areas between the department's academics and external research partners.
2013Directors’Report and Highlights
During 2013 WCLRG was again active in running seminars and conferences, carrying out research, and generating high quality publications in the fields of workplace law and corporate law.
WCLRG hosted two academic visitors in residence: Associate Professor Colin Fenwick, International Labour Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland and Professor Joan Loughrey, University of Leeds, School of Law. On the 9 May 2013, Professor Loughrey presented a seminar on"Market Norms, Enforcement and the Failure of Accountability." Associate Professor Fenwickand WCLRG member Shelley Marshall presented a workshop on their research on 23 September 2013, “Labour Law as a Policy Instrument for Development”.
WCLRG members also presented their research to members of the Faculty of Business and Economics: Karen Streckfuss gave a seminar on “Minimum periods of engagement for secondary school casuals employed in the retail industry”; and Chris Arup presented the findings from his ARC-funded research on restraints of trade.
Many members of the group presented at international conferences and forums including a panel discussion on the topic ‘The Evolution of Labour Law in the Asia-Pacific Region: Methodological and Comparative Perspectives’ at the Labour Law Research Network conference in Barcelona; a seminar on the topic ‘Considerations of Fairness and Conflicts of Interest in the Regulation of Financial Markets’ at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada; a presentation at the Labour Law and Development Conference, International Labour Organisation, Geneva; a seminar for the Australian Labour Lawyers Association in Sydney on recent developments in TCF Supply Chain Regulation and a seminar examining ‘The Public Interest and Issues of Fairness in the Regulation of Financial Markets’ at the Warwick Law School in the United Kingdom.
Awards
Two of WCLRG’s members completed their PhDs during 2013. Phillip Lipton’s thesis addressed the topic: 'The development of the separate legal entity and limited liability concepts in company law: an evolutionary perspective'; Carolyn Sutherland’s thesis focussed on: ‘Complexity and Simplicity in Australian Enterprise Agreements: A Content Analysis of Agreements in the Higher Education and Fast Food Sectors, 1993–2011’. Both Carolyn and Phillip were awarded Department of Business Law and Taxation Awards for Doctoral Thesis Excellence and Carolyn was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence in 2013. These awards recognise the quality and scope of their PhD research.
Michelle Welsh was awarded the Monash University Faculty of Business and Economics Early Career Researcher Award for 2013 for her research and leadership in the field of corporate law.
Media
A number of our members were active in the media. Shelley Marshall was interviewed on ABC Radio National on 26 April 2013 in relation to Bangladesh clothing factory deaths; and on Radio Australia about the PT Weda Bay Nickel Report on 8 October 2013.
Anne O’Rourke published an opinion piece in The Age on 13 November 2013 titled ‘Abortion law strikes right balance on referrals.’
Research Grants and Projects
WCLRG members received two large grants in 2013. Shelley Marshall, in partnership with Professor Simon Deakin, Cambridge University and the International Labour Organisation, received a grant from the UK Economic and Social Research Council, ESRC for £700,000. The project will examine labour law, development and poverty alleviation in low and middle-income countries. Along with collaborators from the Melbourne Law School, Michelle Welsh received an ARC Discovery Grant of $403,000 for a project titled ‘‘Phoenix Activity: Regulating Fraudulent Use of the Corporate Form’. This project will run from 2014 to 2016.
For more information about current WCLRG projects covering a broad range of workplace and corporate law issues, see our website at: