Workplace and Corporate Law Research Group – Director’s Report for 2010

Director: Associate Professor Anthony Forsyth

Deputy Director: Dr Michelle Welsh

About WCLRG

The Workplace and Corporate Law Research Group (WCLRG) has been in operation since March 2008, having previously operated as the Corporate Law and Accountability Research Group (CLARG) from November 2005.

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.

2010 Director’s Report and Highlights

WCLRG was again very active in running seminars and conferences, carrying out research, and generating high quality publications in the fields of workplace law and corporate law throughout the year.

Research Seminars, Workshops & Conferences

WCLRG was involved in the running of the following events in 2010:

  • Academic Workshop on ‘The Impact of the Coalition’s Employment Legislation 1996-2007’, co-hosted with the Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney, 3 August 2010.
  • Seminar by Professor Gregor Gall, University of Hertfordshire, UK, on 19 August: ‘Neo-liberalism and ‘New Labour’ – Explaining reform and stasis in collective labour law since 1997’.
  • Policy and Research Roundtable on ‘Promoting Cooperative and Productive Workplace Relations’, co-hosted with the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne, on 17 November 2010.
  • Workshop on ‘Collective Bargaining under Australia’s Fair Work Act: Assessing the New Legislation in International Perspective’, co-hosted with RMIT University’s Graduate School of Business and Law on 23-24 November.

WCLRG also sponsored the holding of teaching and research workshops at the Australian Labour Law Association Biennial National Conference on 18 November.

Publications and Research Grants/Projects

WCLRG members generated a considerable number of refereed journal articles in 2010, covering a broad range of aspects of workplace and corporate law research. WCLRG also published two new working papers:

  • Working Paper No 16: Richard Mitchell, ‘Where Are We Going in Labour Law? Some Thoughts on a Field of Scholarship and Policy in Process of Change’ (March 2010).
  • Working Paper No 17: Anthony Forsyth,‘The Impact of ‘Good Faith’ Obligations on Collective Bargaining Practices and Outcomes in Australia, Canada and the USA’ (June2010).

A submission was made to the United Kingdom Law Commission Consultation Paper No. 195 ‘Criminal Liability in Regulatory Contexts’ (2010).

Members of WCLRG were invited to present research seminars at international institutions including theHong Kong Securities and Futures Commission; the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries; the National Centre for Business Law, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; and the British Columbia Labour Relations Board.

Contract research projects were carried out by several WCLRG members in 2010, for external partners such as the National Environmental Law Association of Australia; and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (Mining and Energy Division).

WCLRG also became a partner organisation in an international research project on ‘Voices at Work: Legal Effects on Organisation, Representation and Negotiation’, organised by Professor Tonia Novitz (University of Bristol) and Dr Alan Bogg (Oxford University). This three-year project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust (UK), and involves a network of 50 researchers from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and the UK. WCLRG will host the Australian/NZ workshop for the project in Melbourne on 20-21 July 2012.

Work commenced on an international collaboration with the Boston College Law School on a research project examining:‘Enforcing Directors’ Duties in Australia: A Model for U.S. Corporate Governance?’

Finally, in early 2010 WCLRG Deputy Director, Dr Michelle Welsh, was awarded the Melbourne Law School’s Harold Luntz Graduate Research Thesis Prize for her PhD thesis: ‘Civil Penalties under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Enforcement Role of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’.