bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Developing Students’ Sense of Autonomy, Competence and Purpose Through a Clinical Component in Ethics Teaching
Authors: Cody Anna 
Published: June 2021

ABSTRACT This article examines empirical research which surveyed 69 legal ethics students, and analyses the impact of a short clinical experience on students’ confidence in their later legal studies. It connects the importance of providing meaningful experiences to law students in their degree program in order to build their sense of purpose and intrinsic motivation. While an entire clinical course would be expected to impact positively on students’ confidence and sense of purpose, it is a new finding that even a short clinical experience can have this effect. Building in experiences which reinforce students’ sense of purpose and competence has the potential to support students’ intrinsic motivation for law students studying law. This has flow on impacts for students’ mental health and ability to successfully complete their studies.
Australia’s Tax Law Policy of the Past and that of the Post Digital Revolution
Authors: Villios Sylvia , Blissenden Michael , Kenny Paul 
Published: June 2021

Tax policy advocates have long suggested an optimal tax system would be the most efficient tax regime but until recently it has been unobtainable. Technological developments increase the feasibility of this tax. The first half of this article explains how Australian tax policy has developed to date by looking at government commissioned and sanctioned reviews of the tax system. What becomes apparent is that reform measures aimed at achieving the tax policy goals of efficiency, equity and simplicity often involve a lowering of tax rates and a comprehensive tax base system. The second half then explores the changes that have made the prospects of an optimal tax system more feasible and explores how evolving policy advice has moved in the direction of optimal tax theory. It is argued that this may involve proposals for reform centered on a less comprehensive tax base, increased tax rates as well as other departures from the traditional tax reform discussion
Editorial
Authors: Wade John , Cooper Graeme 
Published: June 2021

For over a century, writers have commented on the apparent difficulty that certain insights (called “interdisciplinary” insights) have encountered when attempting to infuse law school culture or curriculum. Habit, complacency, physical isolation, economics and academic culture have assisted in preserving law school ghettos. For example, visiting professors of education are quietly aghast at the amateur theories which underlie the law school learning environment. Teaching and learning practices stumble along with occasional fad additives. Learning in law schools remains (with rare exceptions) strangely devoid of sophisticated conceptual categories or connection to orthodox educational theories. This volume contains two articles by welcome “outsiders” — John Biggs and Paul Ramsden. These two writers have graciously crossed normal interdisciplinary language barriers. Perhaps one day more resources, energy, humour and risk-taking will be directed towards translating orthodox educational theories and categories into the formal and informal learning environments of law schools. [Full Editorial]
A Case Study of the 'Offices Project (Teacher-less, Cooperative Learning Groups) at Griffith University: Implementing Educational Theory
Authors: Dick B , Godden L , Healy K , Brun MJ Le 
Published: June 2021

Although articles which discuss new ways to teach and assess students in law programmes are not uncommon in law journals in Australia today, few papers attempt to describe how innovations can be introduced into law curricula. Reputable journals in law or education simply, and rightly, refuse to publish work which lacks a sound educational basis. To achieve an appropriate balance of description, prescription, and theory in academic writing can be difficult. Nevertheless, some law teachers are eager to hear about the implementation of new methods of teaching as they consider introducing similar reforms into their courses by building upon the knowledge and expertise — as well as the mistakes — of the original designers. In this article, we discuss recent developments in the use of teacher-less, cooperative learning groups by focusing on the “Offices” project, which was introduced and developed by Le Brun into the Griffith University Law curricula in 1992. A framework, outlining the educational theory and rationale that provided the foundation for the conception and ongoing design of Offices, is presented. We, then, review the use of Offices in order to provide some practical guidance to individuals who wish to introduce similar learning opportunities.
Book Review: Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology
Authors: Joughin Gordon 
Published: June 2021

[Extract] Diana Laurillard’s Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology is an important book. At a time when questions of quality are coming to the fore in higher education, this book directly addresses how technology can be used to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. As in most fields of university teaching, legal educators are making increasing use of technology not only to overcome logistical problems, but to actually teach more students better. In my own country of Australia, workshops for law teachers now invariably include a component on the use of technology, and in this year alone two national legal education conferences have been held to consider educational technology and computer assisted legal education. This experience is no doubt echoed worldwide. Since much technology is applied in a theoretical vacuum, any work which promises a coherent educational framework for the use of technology is likely to represent a valuable contribution. Rethinking University Teaching consists of three distinct but tightly integrated parts in which Laurillard first establishes the underlying elements of student learning and hence of teaching, analyses a range of media according to these elements, and then, again on the basis of these elements, presents a systematic approach to media design.
Cultural Cringe or Lessons for Australian Legal Education?
Authors: Goldring John 
Published: June 2021

[Extract] Australia is now developing its own tradition of legal education, as well as its own variant of the common law. Legal education in Australia originated in the demand by the practising legal professions in the various colonies for academic credentials which would increase their status, rather than in more scholarly aspirations. For this reason it has long been different from English legal education, though both focussed on a body of knowledge centred around rules, practices and institutions which had clearly English origins and retained them until quite recently Should Australians (and specifically, Australian law teachers) be interested in two books which examine and provide examples of legal scholarship in England? Perhaps the most striking thing about the two books on English Law Schools is that in both I found only three mentions of teaching method, as distinct from matters of curriculum or scholarship. The clearest reference is in Michael Chesterman’s essay “Legal Explorations in Different Lands”. Chesterman was until recently Dean of Law at the University of NSW, the first Australian law school to question traditional curriculum or teaching methods. He compares the challenge posed respectively by Warwick and UNSW to established traditions; that of Warwick lay in the content of its curriculum, that of UNSW in its methods of teaching. Twining, in his Hamlyn Lectures, refers to instruction in skills (in which he has been a pioneer) as part of an argument that the English Law School curriculum might become more comprehensive, and Wilson, in his rather depressing concluding essay, “Enriching the Study of Law”, mentions it in a similar context.
Governing Depression in Australian Legal Education: Power, Psychology and Advanced Liberal Government
Authors: Ball Matthew 
Published: June 2021

[Extract] This volume contains eight articles within the General Issue, Volume 22(1) and three articles within the Special Topic Issue on the Teaching-Research nexus, Volume 22(2). We are pleased that Lynden Griggs of the University of Tasmania has written a foreword for the Special Topic Issue, and readers are referred to that foreword for an overview of the contents.
South African Double Tax Treaties: Royalty Reform in the Light of the Australian Experience
Authors: Wills Michelle 
Published: June 2021

This article examines the royalty provisions of South Africa’s double taxation agreements in the light of certain emerging issues relating to the tax treatment of the transfer of technology worldwide. The experience of both Australian and United States tax practices in these areas is drawn upon, as well as the provisions of the 1992 OECD Model Tax Convention, in an attempt to make suggestions for the reform of South Africa’s international tax policies at this crucial stage in its development.
Taxing the Family Unit : Income Splitting for all?
Authors: Cooper Tony 
Published: June 2021

There is a contradiction in the family income splitting debate. Such measures are seen and represented as being a way of providing tax relief to families, whilst it is not acknowledged that Australia presently has a discriminatory system of family income splitting, based not on need but on access to business or property income. This article examines arguments for family income splitting. It canvasses the proposition that families could be better assisted, not by extending income splitting, but instead by reducing the current tax-avoidance practices and using the improved revenues to fund tax expenditures and/or social security relief for all taxpayers.
Ten years of the Revenue Law Journal : A Diary of Tax Reform
Authors: Bentley Duncan 
Published: June 2021

Ten years ago the Revenue Law Journal was launched as a bold experiment by a new law school. The aim was for it to be a thoughtful and provocative academic journal. It was to provide a forum for insightful comment on the tax system and in depth analysis of topical issues. That it has succeeded is shown in its wide distribution to readers around the world. This article traces the development of the tax reform arguments over the last ten years through the editorial pages of the Journal.
VAT/GST : The UK Experience Revisited
Authors: James Simon 
Published: June 2021

This article reviews the experience of the UK with VAT over nearly three decades. There are several aspects that might be relevant to the way GST develops in Australia. One is that Australia might expect opposition to the new tax to diminish substantially as it becomes part of the fiscal furniture. Another is that GST might prove to have fewer disadvantages than some commentators have suggested and there might be pressure for an increase in GST in the future. A further aspect is that, with respect to legal issues, it might allow development of the purposive approach in tax matters.
Japan’s Consumption Tax : Settled in to Stay
Authors: Beyer Vicki 
Published: June 2021

Now in its second decade, Japan’s consumption tax remains unpopular and controversial at home while hailed internationally for its functional structure.(1) The tax is fundamentally a value-added tax levied on the domestic sale or lease of goods or services. Exports are tax-free while imports are taxed when they enter the country. Although the tax base has narrowed since its adoption, through the expansion of the exemptions, it remains a broad-based tax, levied at a single rate of 5%. Small businesses are exempt from the tax. Those businesses that pay and collect the tax may use a simplified accounting structure to calculate input credits and thereby arrive at the amount of tax to be paid. The single low rate and the simplified accounting structure are features designed to promote equity and efficiency. They have not, however, improved the domestic acceptability of the tax.
Part IVA and Anti-Avoidance - Where are we now?
Authors: Edmonds R F 
Published: June 2021

Part IVA has produced many articles. This article discusses the current interpretation of elements of Part IVA. It focuses on the meaning of a Scheme, the tax benefit obtained in connection with the Scheme, and the dominant purpose in entering into a Scheme. It is timely, given the spate of recent cases.
The GST Rulings System – Is it Failing?
Authors: O'Rourke Kevin 
Published: June 2021

There is confusion and concern over the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rulings system. This article first identifies the criteria that should be used to evaluate a GST rulings system. It uses those criteria to evaluate the protection afforded by GST rulings and analyses some of the major issues arising in relation to GST private and public rulings. Of particular concern is the right to challenge GST rulings. The article concludes with useful recommendations. ‘Beyond the everyday world, both counsel have explained to us, lies the world of value added tax (VAT), a kind of fiscal theme park in which factual and legal realities are suspended or inverted.’ Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc v Customs and Excise Commissioners [2001] STC 1476 (CA) at [54] per Sedley LJ.
International Taxation of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)
Authors: Fernandez Prafula , Pope Jeff 
Published: June 2021

MNEs are likely to continue to grow because of factors such as globalisation and electronic commerce. Many countries are reforming their international tax systems in order to attract MNEs into their jurisdictions to do business within their borders and also to promote overseas growth of their resident corporations. Issues such as taxation of electronic commerce, transfer pricing and harmful tax competition need to be addressed. Practical solutions for the future can include: a model convention for the taxation of MNEs; unitary accounting for MNEs; a multilateral treaty; or a global system of registration of MNEs.
Influence from the Shadows : the OECD, The Shape of Domestic Tax Policy and Lessons for Federal Systems
Authors: Bentley Duncan 
Published: June 2021

Over the years, the OECD has quietly taken centre stage in international tax policy development. The influence of the OECD is evident in the shape of Australian international tax policy. More recently, Australia has discovered that it can, in turn, have some influence in the direction taken by the OECD. This article examines some aspects of these influences. At a different level, the federal/state relationship is becoming tenser in the face of increasing tax competition. The second part of this article explores whether there are any lessons for federal tax systems that can be drawn from the way the OECD and similar organizations have helped the development of international tax policy. It is argued that an independent facilitator of tax policy, legislation and administration may prove beneficial.
Industry Partnerships and Targeted Amnesties at Ingrained Evasion - A New Approach to an Old Tax Problem?
Authors: Sawyer Adrian 
Published: June 2021

The New Zealand Government proposed in August 2004 a ‘radically’ new approach to address evasion in industries which is perceived to be ingrained, namely targeted amnesties. With a general election and other ‘more pressing’ issues, the proposal has not been significantly advanced. This paper provides further guidance for implementing a modified targeted amnesty concept, including a proposal from the author to consider incorporating targeted amnesties within the existing Industry Partnerships program that the IRD has been developing since late 2001. Although the Government’s proposal addresses concerns with evasion that is ingrained in some industry groups it makes no direct links between the targeted amnesties proposal with the IRD’s Industry Partnership program. Clearly, to raise expectations that amnesties would only be targeted to industry partners would run counter to one of the core concepts for tax administration in New Zealand – the protection of the integrity of the tax system including taxpayer perceptions of that integrity.
The Impact of Swiss Principles of Mutual Assistance on Financial and Fiscal Crimes
Authors: Chaikin David 
Published: June 2021

Contrary to what is generally believed, Switzerland can not refuse assistance to a foreign country on the ground of bank secrecy. Switzerland’s international cooperation in criminal cases is circumscribed by its principles of mutual assistance. These principles act as firewalls in protecting fiscal secrets and incidentally limit more effective co-operation in dealing with international financial crimes. They also apply to administrative assistance and reduce the ability of foreign regulators to obtain important information to supervise their markets. Except in the case of tax fraud, Switzerland will not provide any international assistance in fiscal crimes. The Swiss principles of mutual assistance can not be circumvented by using Switzerland’s double taxation arrangements. The situation is exacerbated by the very broad Swiss anti-economic espionage laws which seriously impede investigatory activity of foreign governments and their agents in Switzerland.
The small business CGT concessions: Evidence from the perspective of the tax practitioner
Authors: Sadiq Kerrie , Marsden Stephen 
Published: June 2021

On 21 September 1999 Division 152 was inserted into the Income Tax Assessment Act (1997) (ITAA 1997). Division 152 contains the small business CGT concessions, which enables eligible small business taxpayers to reduce the amount of tax payable on capital gains arising from certain CGT events that occur after 11:45 am on 21 September 1999. One of the principal objectives of the legislation is to provide a concessionary regime for small business owners who do not have the same ability to access the concessionary superannuation regime generally available to employees. When announcing the introduction of the concessions the then Federal Treasurer, Mr Peter Costello, specifically stated that the objective of Division 152 was to provide ‘small business people with access to funds for retirement or expansion’. The purpose of this article is to: one, assess the extent to which small business taxpayers understand the CGT small business concessions, particularly when considering the sale of their business; two, determine which of the four small business CGT concessions are most commonly adopted and/or recommended by tax practitioners to clients; and three, to determine whether the superannuation changes in relation to the capping of the concessional superannuation thresholds have had an impact on the use of the small business retirement concession.
Uluru Statement from the Heart: Australian Public Law Pluralism
Authors: Larkin Dani , Galloway Kate 
Published: June 2021

It is now over a year since the declaration of the Uluru Statement From the Heart (the ‘Uluru Statement’). Following an exhaustive series of dialogues with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community throughout Australia, the Uluru Statement offers an Indigenous-led legal, political, and cultural solution for bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within our system of governance. Its three pillars are Voice, treaty, and truth-telling. In this comment we provide an overview of the Uluru Statement and its importance in Australia’s legal landscape. We do so as a background to our key contention that the Uluru Statement is a central pillar in a truly pluralistic Australian public law. Regardless of its political reception — at the time of writing the Australian government has rejected it out of hand — the Uluru Statement represents a milestone of Australian law offering a vital opportunity to integrate Indigenous law into an otherwise settler legal system.
A Mini-public of Academics: Experimenting with Deliberative Democracy and Indigenous Cultural Competency in Legal Education
Authors: Wood Asmi , Levy Ron 
Published: June 2021

In this short article we report on a novel consultation event held in 2017. Fifty-two Indigenous and non-Indigenous legal academics convened in Melbourne to draft and promulgate standards to be followed by law schools across Australia for promoting Indigenous cultural competency. The consultation took the general form of a mini-public. A mini-public is a decision-making body whose members are randomly selected from – but demographically representative of – a broader public. Public decision-making by mini-publics is now routine. Yet ours was a distinctive variation, in that the mini-public purported to represent not the whole public of a jurisdiction, but only a particular professional class within it – in this case legal academics in Australia. We convened this mini-public of legal academics in order to give greater legitimacy to the promulgated guidelines for cultural competency in law school curricula. The article explores the content of the consultation, centring on its suggestions for improved breadth, content and quality of legal teaching, as it touches the lives of Indigenous people. Most of all, however, the article assesses the unique use of a mini-public to represent an unusually small and highly formally educated public. We generally rely here on our own qualitative observations about the novel consultative process and its methods.
Dealing with the ‘Wicked’ Problem of Race and the Law: A Critical Journey for Students (and Academics)
Authors: Burns Marcelle , Nielsen Jennifer 
Published: June 2021

In 2014, we co-facilitated the specialist elective ‘Race and the Law’ as an LLB summer school intensive. Our pedagogical design was informed by Indigenous philosophy and knowledge (Watson, 2014; Morgan, 2012; Moreton-Robinson, 2007) and by Critical Race and Whiteness Theory (Delgado & Stefanic, 2012; Goldberg, 2001; Moreton-Robinson, 2009). Our aim was to prompt students to think critically about the ongoing significance of race to law (and law to race), how systems of race structure social relations, the capacity of mainstream law to operate as a racialised system of power, and whiteness as a position of privilege. We also sought to empower students by engaging them in a reflexive praxis through which they could develop self-awareness of the significance of race and respond to its influence in their personal and professional lives. As Liptsitz argues, there is a ‘possessive investment in whiteness’ because of the close relationship between white supremacy and the accumulation of assets, or what he calls the ‘wages of whiteness’ (Lipsitz, 2006). This ‘possessive investment’ became evident in our class discussion once we turned attention to an examination of special measures, affirmative action and other mechanisms that aim to equalise opportunities and alleviate the material inequities mediated by race – that is, the wicked problem, racism. In this paper, we share our reflections on our success in using theory as a practice to challenge the wicked problem of racism in the law classroom, and within the law curriculum. In addition, we reflect on the value of team teaching in this complex and dynamic teaching space and the significance to legal institutions and the profession of engaging law students in critical learning on race and whiteness.