
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
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Access scholarly articles, research papers, and legal analysis in the field of federal law through SAGE Journals' Federal Law Review. This publication offers in-depth studies and critical analysis of legal issues pertaining to federal law in Australia. Stay updated with the latest academic research and insights from legal scholars in the field of federal law.
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
2M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>This article begins with a simple question: why are the damages awarded to victims of sexual harassment so much lower than damages awarded for those defamed by false allegations of sexual harassment? This article undertakes a comparative analysis of the underlying rationales for awarding damages in the doctrines of sexual harassment and defamation, tracking the historical reasons why sexual harassment damages have traditionally been so low compared to other doctrines. Then, it directly analyses two cases which awarded some of the highest damages i ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
2M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>This article examines the legal case for banning ‘no cash’ policies at retailers in Australia, with a focus on fostering inclusivity for unbanked individuals and empowering consumers. The analysis explores three potential options for implementing such a prohibition: leveraging anti-discrimination laws, utilizing consumer protection laws or enacting new legislation. From a legal standpoint, the article argues that retailers should be mandated to accept cash when consumers seek to purchase essential goods and services. Drawing upon relevant legal fr ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
2M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>This article tracks the development of liquor laws in the Northern Territory, considering their impacts on Aboriginal justice outcomes and possible areas for reform. Noting the putative trade-off between health and justice outcomes, it examines the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth), the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Act 2012 (Cth) and the 2022–23 Liquor Act 2019 (NT) amendments. Under the most recent Liquor Act amendments, the sale, possession and consumption of alcohol remain restricted in prescribed areas ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
2M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>Key changes to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 (Cth) (‘PPL Act’), which offers minimum wage payments to parents on parental leave, took effect in July 2023. These changes sought to improve the gender equal utilisation of parental leave. This article assesses these changes to that end. The article also explores the regulation of employer-funded parental leave policies, which has been under-researched to date, drawing upon recent Workplace Gender Equality Agency data and interviews with human resource professionals. The data reveals that employer-f ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
2M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>Recent Australian public law scholarship has demonstrated an increasing interest in the theme of constitutional values. In the current paper, I seek to clarify the terms of the debate by defending a distinction between (i) constitutional principles, understood as relatively flexible legal norms which rest on text, structure and history and (ii) extra-legal values. My argument is framed initially through a critical discussion of Rosalind Dixon’s proposal for a ‘functionalist’ approach to constitutional interpretation, which ascribes a central place ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
5M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>Responsive constitutionalism is a theory of constitutionalism that starts from the idea that democracy involves two overlapping commitments — to a relatively thin ‘minimum core’ set of norms and institutions and thicker, more contestable set of rights and deliberative commitments. It then proceeds to affirm a commitment both to legal and political constitutionalism. This article explores the relevance of this theory for Australian constitutionalism and suggests that it in fact has strong resonance with the Australian constitutional tradition. Firs ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
5M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>The Australian Constitution is only partly ‘liberal’ (securing political and economic liberties); another part is ‘socialist without doctrine’ (empowering governments to own and operate vast public capital, while providing social insurance in a market economy). That mixture is common in modern advanced economies but was anomalous in the Anglophone constitutional tradition in 1901. Legislative power over ‘old age and invalid pensions’, ‘railway construction’ and ‘conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
5M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>For many years, historical accounts of Australian Federation ignored the distinctive ideological origins of the Australian Constitution. From the mid 1980s until the 2000s, however, a generation of historians remembered how the Australian drafters built a distinctive constitutional democracy that combined trust in parliament with a direct constitutional role for a plural ‘people’: the people of Australia and the people of the states. Drawing on Chartist and American ideas of popular sovereignty, this system of popular political constitutionalism t ..read more
SAGE Journals » Federal Law Review
5M ago
Federal Law Review, Ahead of Print. <br/>The Australian Constitution was drafted, and the institutions of national government were established, during a period in which the atomism of laissez-faire liberalism was being rejected. Instead, progressive liberals of the era were searching for ways to encourage collective action and social ties, believing that this would, in turn, enhance personal wellbeing. This article contends that a clearer appreciation of the influence of the ‘social’ turn in liberalism upon Australia’s constitutional and institutional development might contribute to a fu ..read more