News and Insights

Normally, state elections pass amiably. They matter to the MPs, ministers and senior public servants concerned. But they cast few ripples. This year is different. State governments matter now, in ways they have not for decades.

Four entrepreneurially minded students have taken home $10,000 after winning the 2020 #TransformLaw KWM Prize with their pro bono digital marketplace concept ‘Elysian’.

Navies around the world are investing in uncrewed maritime vehicles (UMVs). These devices will not be operating in a legal vacuum. The law of the sea – part of the international legal system – sets parameters for how these devices must be designed and what they can be used for.

An update to the Geneva Convention Commentary has renewed interest in Common Article 1 and sparked healthy debate.

To understand the law behind this, we need to think about two things. The first is the strict rules against electoral donations by property developers. The second is the investigatory power and processes that can be brought to bear.

Two members of the Law School’s esteemed alumni community were among those recognised with 2020 University of Queensland Alumni Awards.

Following efforts by UQ Law researchers, The Conversation has made changes to ensure authors who are contributing Indigenous knowledge are acknowledged. 

Dr Rebecca Ananian-Welsh discusses the impact of national security and espionage laws on freedom of the press in Australia with Sarah Kendall for the first episode in the New Frontiers of Research series.

Pro Bono lawyers are finding new ways to connect with clients due to COVID-19 according to the Law School’s new UQ Pro Bono Centre Director Mandy Shircore.

A team from The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and University College London is examining how domestic and sexual violence survivors are being impacted by Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

The Queensland government has reformed law governing “biodiscovery” - the taking, analysing and using of native biological material. It should serve as a model for other states to follow.

Video and wrap-up - On Monday 24 August 2020 the ALRC and UQ hosted a webinar with a panel of experts discussing the potential for a future ALRC inquiry into press freedom. 

By Rain Liivoja, Eve Massingham, Tim McFarland and Simon McKenzie

Australia was once the model for press freedom in the Asia-Pacific. In 2019, Australia dropped five places in the World Press Freedom Index and widespread calls for law reform prompted two parliamentary inquiries into press freedom; the first of those inquiries has now reported.

There is a theory that despite all the commotion, religious freedom faces no significant threat in Western democracies like Australia. Therefore, the argument goes, we do not need a federal Religious Discrimination Act.

A University of Queensland Law School academic has partnered with a local community legal centre to develop Queensland’s first human rights case law database.

University of Queensland Arts/Law graduate Briana Collins is determined to change the world through her work with the Queensland Environmental Defenders Office (EDO).

Countries around the world are working to develop increasingly autonomous weapon systems and the question of whether, and how, to regulate their development and use is proving very difficult to answer.

Legal professionals, journalists and researchers now have access to a new-and-improved version of the Deaths in Custody Project – the first comprehensive national database of its kind.

With sport so integrated into society, it would be strange if political or religious speech didn’t seep into elite sport. From national anthems to gestures like “taking a knee”, sporting events are suffused with sociopolitical expression.