Commerce, Innovation & Technology
Commercial, innovation and technology legal research addresses the significant, growing areas of case law and legislative regulation in the globalised business world today.
In the decade since the financial meltdown, the commercial world has reformed and there has been significant recovery and, in response, there have been changes to literally hundreds of laws, rules and regulations which govern how businesses operate.
The Australian and international commercial courts and arbitration centres are amongst the busiest judicatures, handing down determinations that affect business daily. Innovation, technology and economic growth pose a challenge to traditional models of corporate and commercial law which emphasise efficient use of existing resources and so it is current and future legal research in these areas that will provide new answers.
Our commercial, innovation and technology research seeks to understand and comment on these primary and secondary sources of law across seven legal notabilia;
- Intellectual Property Law.
- Bankruptcy & Insolvency Law.
- Corporate & Commercial Law and Governance.
- Technology Law & Regulation.
- Tax and Superannuation Law.
- Corporate Social Responsibility.
- International Trade Law.
Our research units and groups working in this area
- Regulation of Corporate, Insolvency and Taxation (ROCIT), a successor of one of the first research units in the school, BILS (Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law Scholarship)
- Research Unit on Military Law and Ethics (RUMLAE)
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Lead researchers in this area are currently focused on
- Regulation and commercialisation of technology including internet law, digital technology, governance of online environments, digital identity, copyright and privacy and outer space (Professor Melissa de Zwart)
- Personal bankruptcy, debtors and their administrators; corporate insolvency and the environment; secured creditors treatment in insolvency (Professor Christopher Symes)
- Corporate law, governance and superannuation sectors (Professor Suzanne Le Mire)
- Block chain technology regulation and personal property security laws (Associate Professor David Brown)
- Confidential information (Professor Andrew Stewart)
- Tax planning laws, tax avoidance, tax policy and the role, powers and accountability of the Commissioner of Taxation. (Dr Sylvia Villios)
- Fiduciary duties and governance by company directors (Dr Beth Nosworthy)
- Society’s voice in international trade laws (Dr Rebecca LaForgia)
- Government contracting in a military operational commercial law and government contracting in military context and legal regulation of new and evolving forms of online misuse such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking, sexting, revenge porn and hacking (Dr Colette Langos)
- Modelling corporate governance for all businesses including banking (Dr Franc de Zwart)
- Comparative doctrines in commercial law that protect consumers and small businesses (Jessica Viven-Wilksch)
- Tax planning and anti-avoidance, taxation of trusts, and the impact of administrative review on tax law (Domenic Carbone)
- Smart contracts, sports contracts, employment contracts and cyberbullying (Dr Mark Giancaspro)
Interested in undertaking a postgraduate research degree with us?
We offer exciting opportunities for researchers at the honours, masters and PhD levels. Our research degrees are open to graduates of law and business graduates (with some possible further legal study required). If you are interested in commercial law or innovation and technology law, consider furthering your research career with us.