RegNet Research Paper No. 2014/81

Professionalizing Rule of Law: Issues and Directions

Kristina Simion, Regulatory Institutions Network, Australian National University (ANU); Veronica Taylor, College of Asia and the Pacific (ANU)

Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall ‘rule of law’ has become a routine part of framing and legitimizing multilateral and bilateral interventions in developing and fragile states. Its conceptual and operational use now extends across undertakings as diverse as peacekeeping, security sector reform, transitional justice, human rights advocacy and economic development assistance. As its scale and scope has grown, donor spending on rule of law has totalled billions of dollars and with this has come increased political calls for quick and concrete results. While many observers accept that rule of law is a desirable part of both post-conflict state-building and post-peace economic development and peace-building, the work itself is open to the claim that it is time-consuming.

But in appealing for greater efficiency and efficacy in this field, donors and rule of law organizations have paid comparatively little attention to those who design and implement interventions. This is important because it is necessary to understand how rule of law is conceptualized and put into operation as part of a security or development assistance intervention, since one of the essential elements that determines success in such ‘programmes’ and ‘projects’ is people: the designers, implementers and partners for rule of law interventions in specific settings. This report applies insights from the anthropology of development, the sociology of the professions, and from socio-legal studies of lawyers to frame rule of law both as a practice and a potential emerging profession. We argue that rule of law – as well as being a cluster of conceptual ideas and an ideology underpinning multilateral and bilateral policy interventions in the developing world – can also be viewed as a networked field of practice. We examine how the field of practice is constituted and populated, and how its practitioners see themselves and the challenges they face. The transnational and multilevel nature of rule of law work and its diverse funding sources means that those working in the field lack the geographically bounded self-regulatory capacity of the traditional professions. Thus while ‘professionalization’ in the classic sense may be nascent, we can observe the emergence of communities of practice.

RegNet Research Paper No. 2014/82

A Regulatory Approach to Demand Reduction in the Illegal Wildlife Market

Julie Ayling, Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) ANU

Demand reduction has now been recognised as crucial to prevention of wildlife crime, but ideas for effectively decreasing demand are still in short supply. Two demand reduction strategies currently predominate, consumer education campaigns and legal prohibitions on consumption. But further strategies need to be found urgently, as Earth is losing wildlife at frightening rates. This paper argues for greater regulatory pluralism and a more systematic approach to addressing demand. The complex and multi-layered concept of demand is unpacked and current demand reduction activities by states and non-state actors are discussed. The paper identifies third parties (non-state non-offending actors) in prime positions to intervene to reduce demand and sets out diverse ways in which their capacities could be harnessed as part of a whole-of-society demand reduction response.

RegNet Research Paper No. 2014/83

Better Methods for Delivering Adaptive Regulation in Public Management: An Application to the NDIS

Gemma Carey, Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), ANU and Mark Mathews, Overseas Development Instititute (ODI)

Described as a ‘once in a generation’ reform, the NDIS is the most significant change to Australia’s social protection policies since the creation of Medicare in the 1970s. Passed in 2013 with broad public and political support, the NDIS will provide no-fault insurance cover for Australians who are born with or acquire a severe or profound disability, and more recently, includes people experience forms of mental illness. It is expected to secure improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians living with a disability, their families and their carers. The complexity of the scheme and the subsequent investment required to establish and maintain it makes it the largest and most challenging social policy reform of recent times.

While the potential of the NDIS is significant, its implementation will be challenging. The NDIS confronts two of the largest and unsolved challenges of public administration – the use of ‘quasi’ market arrangements in public service delivery and the ability to build flexibility and learning into public management structures. In this working paper, we outline cutting edge thinking in public management which might aid in the creation and implementation of the regulatory and governance structures of the NDIS, as well as its on-going management.

RegNet Research Paper No. 2014/84

Employers’ Views on the Promotion of Workplace Health and Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study

Melanie Pescud, Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet), ANU; Renee Teal, Health Promotion Evaluation Unit, University of Western Australia; Trevor Shilton, National Heart Foundation WA; Terry Slevin, Cancer Council WA; Melissa Ledger, Cancer Council WA; Pippa Waterworth, Health Promotion Evaluation Unit, University of Western Australia; Michael Rosenberg, Health Promotion Evaluation Unit, University of Western Australia

The evidence surrounding the value of workplace health promotion in positively influencing employees’ health and wellbeing via changes to their health behaviours is growing. The aim of this study was to explore employers’ views on the promotion of workplace health and wellbeing and the factors affecting these views.

Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, 10 focus groups were conducted with employers selected from a range of industries and geographical locations within Western Australia.

Three factors were identified: employers’ conceptualization of workplace health and wellbeing; employers’ descriptions of (un) healthy workers and perceptions surrounding the importance of healthy workers; and employers’ beliefs around the role the workplace should play in influencing health. Progress may be viable in promoting health and wellbeing if a multifaceted approach is employed taking into account the complex factors influencing employers’ views. This could include an education campaign providing information about what constitutes health and wellbeing beyond the scope of occupational health and safety paradigms along with information on the benefits of workplace health and wellbeing aligned with perceptions relating to healthy and unhealthy workers.

All previous papers published in the RegNet Research Paper Series are available for download on the RegNet SSRN page.