About RegNet Program

RegNet is a large research group within the College of Asia and Pacific. It is also a network of institutions, practitioners and academics involved in exploring and understanding critical domains of regulation. Members of the network differ in their approaches to regulation but their work is interconnected. The key motivation driving RegNet is to advance current understanding and approaches to issues such as human security, policing, environment, cyber crime, illicit organisations and markets, intellectual property and the governance of knowledge, development, peacebuilding, human rights, international law, micro foundations of democratic governance, health and occupational health and safety through a regulatory framework that develops evidence-based theory, policy and practice.

RegNet is now moving towards an exciting new research agenda around the themes of development, peace, and security. Echoes of these themes at a local, regional and global level have been emerging for some time in joint projects within RegNet, projects that have explored:

• cyber-crime (Peter Grabosky),


• illicit organisations (Peter Grabosky, Julie Ayling, Roderic Broadhurst and Emma Thomas),


• human rights (Hilary Charlesworth and Renuka Thilagaratnam),


• peace building (John Braithwaite and Hilary Charlesworth),


• participation in environmental decision making (Neil Gunningham),


• trust, hope and democracy (Valerie Braithwaite),


• the governance of knowledge (Peter Drahos and Janet Hope),

While the diverse interests and activities of staff in the early years of RegNet will continue to be expressed through their collaborations and partnerships with outside organizations, the greater integration of the core research program promises more productive use of central resources and creates opportunities for staff to work more closely with each other on projects of mutual interest. The new direction also provides greater depth of supervision for RegNet’s ever growing PhD program.

In the ANU’s quality review released in 2004, RegNet, together with the Law Program in RSSS and the Faculty of Law, was described as ‘the most dynamic and productive group of sociolegal scholars in the world today concerned with the design and dynamics of effective environmental and social regulation.’ The review also noted that the law and society group is ‘internationally recognised as the best centre for the study of regulatory theory and evidence-based studies of regulation in the world. The collection of researchers is unparalleled, as is the high quality of scholarship.’

In 2006, assessors for an international review of RSSS described RegNet as the best research group in the world in the field of sociolegal studies, having ‘not only an influential place in the scholarly arena but also an important place in translating scholarly knowledge for social use.’ Assessors also stated that ‘RegNet is the shining star of this academic subfield [regulation]. RegNet scholars are highly visible throughout the world … and RegNet as an institution is recognized, respected and perhaps envied by regulatory scholars throughout the world.’

For more detail on RegNet's research directions see RegNet's Reports & Reviews

For more detail on RegNet's research projects see RegNet's Centres and Groups

Further Information: A short guide to readings in regulatory theory