RegNet Annual Report 2021

It is our pleasure to share our successes, initiatives, engagement and innovative contributions enabled by our dynamic community in the RegNet Annual Report 2021. View or download the PDF or check out the flipbook and brochure version of the report.

Message from the Director

Over the last twenty years, RegNet has committed to understanding and anticipating the major societal challenges of our time, offering robust research and nuanced analysis to help make sense of them. The events of the last two years highlight the critical importance of RegNet’s mission to produce innovative work that supports effective regulation and equitable governance.

2021 was an exciting year for RegNet. In addition to important scholarly publications, our experts provided timely evidence-informed commentaries in media outlets and public forums. Members of the Menzies Centre for Health Governance delivered a valuable assessment of Australian COVID policy responses and their impact on health equity. Our Justice and Technoscience Lab (JusTech) reported findings on how people have adapted to changing regulatory conditions over the course of the pandemic.

RegNet continued its external engagement with Dr Virginia Marshall’s participation at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (UNCCC COP26) in Glasgow as a delegate for the Pacific and Knowledge Holder, nominated by the Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation–Australia. Closer to home, the Centre for Restorative Justice, in partnership with the ANU Centre for Social Research & Methods, convened a public symposium on sexual assault survivor-initiated restorative justice.

We also celebrated many significant achievements this year. Professor Sharon Friel won a prestigious Australian Laureate Fellowship to support pioneering research on governing for planetary health equity. Distinguished Professor Hilary Charlesworth became the first Australian woman elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and Distinguished Professor John Braithwaite received the 2021 Peter Baume Award, the highest accolade for ANU staff.

We were delighted to see the RegNet community grow in 2021. Associate Professor Lia Kent rejoined the School, winning a highly competitive Australian Research Council Future Fellowship for her project, Local responses to missing persons and post-conflict peacebuilding. We also welcomed Dr Benjamin Herscovitch, Dr Emma Nyhan and Dr Depi Susilawati on board.

Despite periods of lockdown, colleagues collaborated to advance a diverse portfolio of work. The uncertainty prompted us toreflect on the meaning of connection and disconnection. Although the global pandemic disconnected us in ways we could not imagine, we found new ways to connect. These reflections formed the basis of our annual conversation series event, which we held as three webinars in October.

2021 wasn’t simply an opportunity to find new connections; we deepened them as well. With Hilary Charlesworth’s election to the ICJ, Professor Anthea Roberts took over as Director of the International Centre for Governance and Justice. She has already brought together different strands of RegNet work in new and creative ways. We look forward to sharing more about the centre’s next phase in 2022.

Beyond research, we expanded the School’s educational offerings. We welcomed another cohort of students into the Graduate Certificate of Regulation and Governance and launched two new programs, the Master of Regulation and Governance and a specialisation in Contemporary Regulation as part of ANU Master of Public Policy degree. We also developed a Graduate Certificate of Crime and Regulation and partnered with the ANU College of Science to create the Graduate Certificate of Nuclear Technology Regulation, both of which are accepting students for 2022.

Our activities received generous support from key Australian funding agencies and government departments, including several competitive external grants and three awards from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific’s Asia Pacific Innovation Program (APIP). Of course, funding alone does not keep the RegNet ship afloat. Our wonderful professional staff worked hard as a team–often behind the scenes–to ensure things ran smoothly.

We are excited to share our achievements over the last year in this annual report and invite you to look at our plans for the coming years. You can stay up to date in real time by joining our mailing list, following us on Twitter or visiting us in person.

Thank you for your ongoing interest in the work of RegNet. We wish you well in the year ahead.