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From preschool and postgraduate educators to government departments and agencies, Minter Ellison provides comprehensive legal advice to education sector clients. We advise governing bodies, vice chancellors and other senior executives, senior government officials and principals on matters ranging from high-level strategic issues through to the day-by-day challenges of running education systems, universities, private higher education providers and schools. Governance, protection of valuable intellectual property, termination of employment for poor performance or misconduct, building disputes, OHS issues, industrial relations and strategy, defence of discrimination claims, insurance and risk management, PPP and other funding mechanisms, and teacher/academic and student discipline are all areas where we have significant experience. In Australia, our advice to primary and secondary schools spans government and non-government systems and individual schools. Our higher education group has advised universities and other educational institutions since the early 1930s. Through this experience, we have developed a thorough knowledge of the enabling and associated legislation governing universities and the wider education sector. We routinely advise on: strategic advice on funding, intellectual property and research arrangements, information technology and telecommunications, regulatory, legislative and compliance, human resources and industrial relations, dispute resolution, property, planning and environment, construction, and taxation matters. We also advise on overseas arrangements and students.
All universities have procedures for handling complaints of student misconduct which, generally, are intended to provide a final determination of the complaint within the university. But, if the student is dissatisfied with the outcome they can pursue the matter in the courts and anti-discrimination commissions and/or refer the matter to a state ombudsman. In this first of two articles on managing student grievances that arise from student misconduct matters, we examine how a complaint of student misconduct might be handled by a university, the potential risks involved and how to minimise those risks.
In this edition of Higher Education Focus, we look at:
As Australian universities continue to look offshore for development opportunities, they must be mindful of legislation prohibiting the provision of benefits to foreign public officials. Depending on the institution's scope of operations it may need to comply not only with Australian legislation, but also with US and UK anti-bribery regimes, which have wide-ranging extra-territorial effect.
Recent and pending reforms in export controls, sanctions and anti-bribery, have brought into focus a range of obligations for the higher education sector. A variety of activities that universities commonly engage in raise potential areas of risk and exposure under these regimes. Adequate and up to date compliance measures will be increasingly important in managing these risks.
Creative Commons licences can facilitate open access to copyright materials while allowing the copyright owner to expressly reserve some rights. We explain what is meant by 'Creative Commons', why it is important, its potential value to the higher education sector and some of the issues that may arise in using 'Creative Commons' licenses.
On Tuesday, 29 November 2011, as part of its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2011-12, the Federal Government announced a package of changes intended to raise A$11.5 billion in new revenue and savings.
The exposure of the higher education sector to Australia's international sanctions was highlighted in mid-2010 when a student determined to be the daughter of a Burmese general was deported. Although, in that case, the university itself bore little responsibility under the Australian sanctions in place at that time, the case brings into focus a range of obligations for universities in this area.
The NSW Government has made good on one of its election promises by repealing Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Planning Act) and introducing two new planning approval regimes for state significant development (SSD) and state significant infrastructure (SSI). The legislation commenced on 1 October 2011 and a summary of the new approval process for building projects is outlined below.
Higher Education institutions sometimes find themselves in the difficult position of having to manage situations where the actions of former or current students cause existing employees or students to fear physical or mental harm.
Public universities in Australia are endorsed as charitable institutions, and many of their subsidiaries and other related entities (such as incorporated co-operative research centres) are also structured as not for profit entities and/or charities. All of these entities will be affected by legislative reforms to the not for profit and charitable sector which the federal government announced earlier this year.
In what is a major policy shift, the House of Representatives has passed a Bill to deregulate the allocation of undergraduate student places at universities. The Higher Education Support Amendment (Demand Driven Funding System & Other Measures) Bill 2011 (the Bill) was introduced into the Senate and read for a second time on 4 July 2011
Reputation is critical to a university's success. Attacks on reputation can come from a range of sources. The rise of social media and mobile networks can expose universities to serious reputational risk and undermine the public's perception of them as places of serious research and education.
Following the introduction of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Bill 2011 (Bill) and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2011 (Transitional Bill) into the Commonwealth Parliament (as reported in our news alert of 23 March 2011), the Senate referred the Bill and the Transitional Bill to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Committee (Committee).
On 1 January 2011, the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) was consigned to history and replaced by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA). Other than the Competition and Consumer (Australian Consumer Law) Amendment Regulations 2010 coming in to force in the same form as released in draft, 1 January 2011 came and went without the world of consumer protection law going into meltdown.
On 22 June 2011 the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Bill 2011 (Cth) (Bill) was introduced into the Australian Senate. The Bill introduces an exemption from patent infringement for experimental activities and is aimed at giving researchers "greater certainty about where they have freedom to operate around patented technology".
As you will be aware, 1 January 2012 is the go live date for OHS harmonisation. A new OHS Act, Regulation and Codes of Practice will commence in the Commonwealth and in each State and Territory at this time. The new package of OHS legislation will be based on model legislation, so will be substantially similar in each jurisdiction.
Jackie Mortensen and Joanna Green examine the impact upon suppliers and consumers of the largest changes to the Trade Practices Act since its inception.
Tertiary institutions will have to adapt to recent changes in pre-litigation proceedings and dispute resolution requirements, according to Michelle Power and Philip Stefanovski.
The grounds for grievance disputes have been redefined by the new Fair Work Act, culminating in a rise of 'adverse action' claims. Gareth Jolly, Harriet Eager and Jessica Fletcher explain how such claims are likely to affect universities.
If universities want to ensure that they own inventions developed by academic staff in the course of their employment, they need to review their IP arrangements and take immediate steps to ensure that they have properly secured those rights.
More than six months after the transfer of business laws commenced under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), it is clear that the new laws may affect universities' industrial instrument coverage.
The Victorian Parliament has enacted legislation to rationalise and modernise university governance.
Academics are often called to give evidence as expert witnesses and use the name of their employer institution in doing so. This article demonstrates that an expert's role is not necessarily straightforward.
In 2009 the Queensland Parliament enacted new legislation regarding access to information and privacy. The new legislation applies to public higher education institutions in Queensland.