Business Commons^™

Star Or Black Hole? Australia And The International Transfers Of Anti-Terrorism Policy, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper investigates the role that Australia is playing in the international transfer or diffusion of anti-terrorism policy. It is widely believed that those Western states that actually have been the target of homeland terrorist attacks, in particular the United States and Britain, have led the way in enacting harsh national security and counter-terrorism legislation. It is further assumed that other states have followed the lead of these vanguards in adopting and implementing their own legislative response to terrorist threats to national security. There is some merit in this view. In the wake of the September 11 attacks of 2001 …

Public Interest Litigation: Making The Case In Australia, Andrea Durbach, Luke Mcnamara, Simon Rice, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

Litigation is widely and appropriately recognised as an important component of the public interest advocacy 'toolkit'. Yet, little attention has been paid in Australian research and scholarship to an important question: under what circumstances is public interest litigation (PIL) an effective way to bring about progressive social change? Informed by a review of the international literature on PIL, the authors of this article argue for the importance of drawing on Australia's rich history with PIL to develop a solid empirical evidence base which can inform future decision about the strategic employment of PIL in campaigns to address the concerns and …

Knowing What You Need To Know About Needs Assessment, Nicholas Marosszeky, Mark Rix, Alan Owen

Mark Rix

This paper reviews the scientific literature on needs assessment of individuals living in the community. Providing an overview of the field with a focus on capturing useful information for planning health interventions in the community, this paper will highlight:

• The current policy context that underpins the importance of needs assessment in health care;

• Key papers and basic theoretical concepts that can guide a coherent approach to community care needs assessment, including Bradshaw, 1972 and Stevens & Gabbay, 1991;

• The development of semi-structured interviews in mental health as a focus for designing new tools - with the Camberwell Assessment of Need …

Liberty, National Security And The Big Society, Alison Green, Nick Johns, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

The Big Society agenda of the UK Coalition Government has had a significant impact on welfare policy as well as the terms of the debate about how welfare should be provided for and regulated. The ripples have travelled far beyond the UK and similar discussions are occurring in different national contexts. One such has been Australia, where commentators and policymakers are considering the ramifications of a Big Society approach for domestic social policy (Cox 2010). This debate no longer focuses on the ‘New Public Management’ agenda with its emphasis on outsourcing to third and private sector providers and the creation …

Counter-Terrorism And Information: The Nsi Act, Fair Trials And Open, Accountable Government, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper investigates Australia’s National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act 2004 (Cth) (hereafter, the NSI Act) focusing on its provisions for protecting national security information. The investigation highlights the broad and encompassing definitions of ‘national security’ and ‘information’ used in the Act and considers the measures it prescribes for the protection of so-called ‘security sensitive’ information in Federal civil and criminal proceedings. The paper then examines the implications of the definitions and measures for a suspect’s prospects of receiving a fair trial in terrorism cases. Here, the paper highlights the serious restrictions the Act places on a legally-aided …

The Australian National Security State And The Third Sector: Who Is Really Protecting Australia's National Security?, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper will consider the implications of the Australian Government’s recent national security and anti-terrorism legislation for its relations with Australian citizens and with third sector organisations, like those comprising the community legal sector, that seek to promote and defend citizens’ civil, political and social rights. The series of bills enacted by the Australian Parliament since September 11 2001, the culmination of which has been the Anti-Terrorism (No. 2) 2005 Bill, removes many of the freedoms and rights that Australians have for many years been able to take for granted. The 2005 Bill’s detention and control orders, for example, degrade …

Australia's Anti-Terrorism Legislation: The National Security State And The Community Legal Sector, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper considers the implications for the community legal sector of the Australian Government’s recent national security and anti-terrorism legislation. Critics of the legislation have deep concerns that, by giving the police and intelligence services considerable new powers in the areas of arbitrary arrest and detention, it will lead to the significant erosion of rights and freedoms that Australians have long been able to take for granted. Other concerns with the legislation relate to the use of force, sedition, and legal representation for those held in preventative detention. In addition, the legislation has no adequate protection against the intelligence services …

Performance Contracts, Corporate Governance And The Third Sector: The Case Of The Nsw Community Legal Sector, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper will investigate the effects of performance contracts on the governance of third sector organisations to which governments have outsourced responsibility for delivery of important human and welfare services. As governments have retreated from direct delivery of such services under the impetus of the New Public Management (NPM) reform agenda, they increasingly have had to rely on third sector organisations to play the role of service providers. From a public administration point of view, dominance of the purchaser/provider funding and regulatory model has been one of the most significant results. Under this model, performance contracts or so-called ‘service agreements’ …

Australia And The 'War Against Terrorism': Terrorism, National Security And Human Rights, Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This paper considers whether in the ‘war against terrorism’ national security is eroded or strengthened by weakening or removing the human rights of the individuals who constitute the polity. It starts with the view that national security is, at its most fundamental, founded upon the security and liberty of the person from criminal and violent acts, including terrorist attacks. Such attacks, and the individuals and groups who perpetrate them, constitute a grave threat to the peace and security of nations the world over and thus endanger the security and liberty of the individuals who make up their populations. Governments are …

With Reckless Abandon: Haneef And Ul-Haque In Australia's 'War On Terror', Mark Rix

Mark Rix

This brief paper considers the political and social implications of the manner in which Australia has prosecuted the so-called ‘war on terror’. It does this by investigating relevant aspects of Australia’s anti-terrorism legislation and the performance of Australian security and law enforcement agencies, namely, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Focusing on the Haneef and Ul-Haque cases, the paper will consider how the political climate created by the former Federal Government’s legislative approach to the war on terror has influenced the performance of these organisations. By focusing on these two cases, the paper …