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Law & society
News about legal, social and ethical issues based on peer-reviewed studies or expert analysis
Latest news
24 October 2023
What happens when technology learns to read our minds?
Advancements in neurotechnology could be at a turning point, but the new technology threatens to breach even the privacy of our brains. Looking at a recent case on this issue in the Supreme Court in Chile, Sydney Law School research addresses the need for Australia to protect our human rights and to reconsider many areas of law.
24 October 2023
Professor Ben Saul appointed to the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) has announced the appointment of Professor Ben Saul from the Sydney Law School as Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism. From 1 November 2023, Professor Saul's appointment will focus on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
23 October 2023
Archaeologists, Barkindji custodians excavate dingo burial
A collaboration between a local Indigenous group and archaeologists has unearthed ancestral dingo remains, as Dr Amy Way and colleagues describe in The Conversation.
12 October 2023
Emerging labour market requires new regulation
New protections are needed to account for the emergence of the gig economy and the rise of labour hire operators, and to allow these new and evolving forms of business to maintain their social licence to operate, writes Associate Professor Chris F Wright in his submission to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee Inquiry on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023.
09 October 2023
Your car is watching you. The implications are profound and immediate
The rapid rise of smart vehicles has brought to the fore the often-overlooked issue of privacy breaches by car manufacturers, writes Professor Uri Gal from the University of Sydney Business School in The Canberra Times.
05 October 2023
Gendered discrimination and disrespect 'all too common' in legal profession
A new report, Designing Gender Equality into the Future of The Law examines the experience of women in the law including discrimination, harassment and overwork.
26 September 2023
How to manage exam season: take breaks and breathe
Associate Professor Paul Ginns' research shows that rest and relaxation maximises academic performance, even during exams. He explains why in The Conversation.
21 September 2023
Museum's teaching program wins international prize
The University of Sydney's Chau Chak Wing Museum has won the 2023 University Museums and Collections Prize for its object-based learning (OBL) program.
13 September 2023
Australia faces solar waste crisis
Australia is world leading in its uptake of residential rooftop solar, installing new solar panels at ten times the global average rate. This means, on a per capita basis, the solar waste problem facing Australia is far greater than that experienced in any other country. New research from the Sydney Law School aims to re-orientate renewable energy laws.
12 September 2023
Collaborate or compete? The perils of returning to the office
A benefit of working in the office is that it can spur workers to put in more effort, as they are able to observe their colleagues working (and working hard) more easily.
08 September 2023
How Australia can achieve net zero
The University's Net Zero Initiative has released a portfolio of "ready-to-go" solutions and technology to address key issues in the transformation towards net zero.
04 September 2023
Parents worst affected by COVID-19 lockdown
A University of Sydney study of the second longest lockdown worldwide found that mothers, in particular, were the loneliest demographic and suffered the largest physical and mental health declines as a result. The research was published in Nature Human Behaviour.
30 August 2023
What you need to know about the 14 October Voice referendum
Amid the political debate, the logistics of the referendum has received less attention. Constitutional law expert Professor Emerita Anne Twomey breaks down what to expect on the day and afterwards.
21 August 2023
Universities can help fix governments hooked on consultants
There is no question that we need a more active, creative, and capable public service. To do that, education and research in the area needs urgent attention, writes Professor Duncan Ivison.
31 July 2023
Sexual consent education program wins $1.1 million research boost
Professor Lee Wallace and Dr Victoria Rawlings from the University of Sydney's Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre (SSSHARC) to support Consent Labs with school programs that seek to prevent sexual and gendered violence.
26 July 2023
Crime scene motel project
Ordinary suburban motels, utterly banal and unremarkable to most. However, what goes on behind their closed doors intrigued Sydney Law School criminologist and artist, Carolyn McKay. Presenting a new art installation of neon signs based on her research into crimes in motel rooms.
03 July 2023
PwC scandal a symptom of a narrow mindset that governs Australia's tax matters
The trickle-down economics mantra is still so entrenched in our tax mindset that not even the critics have entertained challenging its assumptions, writes Dr Mattia Anesa, Associate Professor Paul Spee and Associate Professor Fabio James Petani in The Canberra Times.
28 June 2023
Re-imagining Australia using a multilingual lens
'Opening the Multilingual Archives of Australia' project hopes to mobilise under-utilised non-English resources from over 50 languages to highlight the multilingual nature of Australian history.
27 June 2023
Is Australia ready for future mind-reading technologies?
Recent advancements using artificial intelligence to extract meaningful thoughts from brain waves have concerned human rights and privacy advocates, who say technology is developing at a rate faster than the law. It is the first paper that considers whether Australia is prepared for the potential applications of neurotechnologies.
09 June 2023
The government has an opportunity to address wage theft issues
A new labour agreement for temporary skilled workers in aged care is a promising step towards enforcing Australia's minimum wage laws because it provides for union induction of temporary migrant workers, writes Associate Professor Stephen Clibborn in the Sydney Morning Herald.