Health Law
Overview
Members of the Health Law Research Program conduct research into significant sociolegal issues which involve the interface of law and multiple other disciplines. We perform research into law, theory, policy and practice concerning topics including:
- law at the end of life (guardianship, withdrawal and withholding of medical treatment, euthanasia)
- child abuse and neglect (including mandatory reporting laws)
- health governance
- elder abuse
- ethical issues (including stem cell research)
- tissue transplantation
- negligence.
Our research explores the operation, justifiability and soundness of Australian laws within health-related contexts which involve concerns to promote individual flourishing, social justice, and national benefit.
Several of our research endeavours involve pioneering empirical research into how law operates in practice, generating insights into how law, theory and practice can be developed and enhanced. These research projects aim to respond to significant health-related issues in Australian society, such as population ageing and the provision and withdrawal of medical treatment; child maltreatment and its prevention and early detection; and the management of health care systems.
We publish broadly, in national and international journals and fora. Our members are actively involved in externally-funded, multidisciplinary research with collaborators from academia, industry, government, statutory bodies, and legal and health-related professions. We have a growing cohort of postgraduate students at both Master of Laws level (undertaking a major in Health Law), and completing PhD degrees.
Objectives
Our major objective is to conduct high quality research into important current and emerging sociolegal issues involving human health and the law. We aim to conduct significant, multidisciplinary, multimethod and cross-jurisdictional research, both within and beyond Queensland and Australia.
Related key objectives are to:
- gain external research funding to support our research;
- publish the results of our research, both in scholarly journals, and in other forms accessible to government, professional and public audiences;
- influence the development of sound law, policy and practice in our areas of expertise;
- develop the research capacity of academics in the Health Law Research Program through systematic professional development;
- attract and nurture Higher Degree by Research students (both PhD and SJD), building on our existing HDR supervision record;
- provide high quality postgraduate learning experiences at Master of Laws level (through the Health Law major); and
- build collaborative relationships with other institutions and individuals involved in health law scholarship.
Higher degrees
Masters in Health Law
A major in health law is offered as part of the Master of Laws degree (LW51).
For further information contact:
Mungo Crawford, Administration Officer (Postgraduate Programs)
Phone: +61 7 3138 2305
Email: m2.crawford@qut.edu.au
Students
We welcome new Higher Degree students. Members of the Health Law Research Program are experienced supervisors of PhD students and SJD students.
For details of our research supervisions, both completed students and currently-enrolled students, please consult our staff profiles:
Projects and grants
- Enduring documents - improving the forms, improving the outcomes
- Improving Service Provision by Legal Practitioners to Clients in relation to Enduring Powers of Attorney and Advance Health Directive
- Teachers Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: Towards Evidence-based Reform of Law, Policy and Practice
- Evidence-Based Decision Making to Reform Governance at the District Level: The Case of Nutritional Policies, Programs & Interventions in Bantul & Gunungkidul
- Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment from adults who lack capacity: The role of law in medical practice
People
Members of the Health Law Program have expertise in a range of law and health-related topics, but have particular areas of research interest and activity. Most notably, members have focused their research efforts on the following topics:
- law at the end of life: medical practitioners and the withdrawal and withholding of life-sustaining medical treatment
- child abuse and neglect, and the operation of mandatory reporting laws as a method of identifying cases of serious child maltreatment
- the role of professionals including teachers and nurses in detecting child abuse and neglect
- systems of health governance
- abuse of vulnerable elderly people through unconscionable conduct
- law and educational discrimination against disabled children
- tort law, negligence, consent to treatment and health care
- ethics and health: tissue transplantation and stem cell research
Staff contact details and research records
For the contact details of each member, and for details about their research interests and research records, please consult their individual webpages:
Publications
Program member's publications can be accessed from their individual profiles.
On this page
2011
Books
C Tilse, J Wilson, AL McCawley, L Willmott, B White ‘Enduring Documents: Improving the forms, improving the outcomes’ (2011) (research monograph, 260p)
Articles
A McGee, ‘Ending the life of the act/omission dispute: causation in withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining measures’ (2011) Legal Studies 467-491
A McGee, ‘Defending the sanctity of life principle: A reply to John Keown’ (2011) 18 Journal of Law and Medicine 820-834
A McGee, ‘Omissions, Causation, and Responsibility’ (2011) Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (in press)
S-N Then, ‘Young children as regenerative tissue donors: considering the need for legal reform in light of divergent ethical approaches’ (2011) 19(1) Journal of Law and Medicine 172-195
L Kitipornchai & S-N Then, ‘Cosmetic surgery on children: professional and legal obligations in Australia’ (2011) 40(7) Australian Family Physician 513-516
P Trowse, ‘Surrogacy - Is it more Difficult to Relinquish Genes?’ (2011) 18(3) Journal of Law and Medicine 614-633.
B White, L Willmott, M Ashby, ‘Palliative care, double effect and the law in Australia’ (2011) 41 Internal Medicine Journal 485
B White, L Willmott, P Trowse, M Parker, C Cartwright, ‘The legal role of medical professionals in decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment: Part 1 (New South Wales)’ (2011) 18 Journal of Law and Medicine 498-522
L Willmott, B White, M Parker, C Cartwright, ‘The legal role of medical professionals in decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment: Part 2 (Queensland)’ (2011) 18 Journal of Law and Medicine 523-544
L Willmott, B White, M Parker, C Cartwright, ‘The legal role of medical professionals in decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment: Part 3 (Victoria)’ (2011) 18 Journal of Law and Medicine 773-797
B Mathews, ‘Female genital mutilation: Australian law, policy and practical challenges for doctors’ (2011) 194(3) Medical Journal of Australia 139-141.
B Mathews, ‘Exploring the contested role of mandatory reporting laws in the identification of severe child abuse and neglect’ in M Freeman (ed) Current Legal Issues Volume 14: Law and Childhood Studies, Oxford University Press, Oxford, Chapter 18 (in press)
B Mathews, ‘Teacher Education to Meet the Challenges of Child Sexual Abuse’ (2011) 36(10) Australian Journal of Teacher Education 88-107.
D Bross & B Mathews, ‘The Battered Child Syndrome: Changes in the Law and Child Advocacy’ in R Krugman & J Korbin (eds) C. Henry Kempe: A 50 Year Legacy to the Field of Child Abuse and Neglect, Springer Scientific (in press)
T Cross, B Mathews, L Tonmyr, C Ouimet and D Scott, ‘Exposure to domestic violence as a type of child maltreatment: Child welfare policy responses’ Child Abuse & Neglect (in press)
K Walsh, M Rassafiani, B Mathews, A Farrell and D Butler, ‘Exploratory factor analysis and psychometric evaluation of the Teachers Reporting Attitude Scale for Child Sexual Abuse’ (in press) Journal of Child Sexual Abuse
K Walsh, L Laskey, E McInnes, A Farrell, B Mathews and F Briggs, ‘Locating child protection in preservice teacher education’ (2011) 36(7) Australian Journal of Teacher Education
S Deb, B Mathews and A Mukherjee, ‘Aggression in Sexually Abused Trafficked Girls and Efficacy of Intervention’ (2011) 26(4) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 745-768.
2010
Books
B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law In Australia, Thomson, Sydney.
Articles
P Trowse, ‘Refusal of Medical Treatment - A Child’s Prerogative’ (2010) 10(2) QUT Law and Justice Journal 191-212.
M Tsui, ‘Access to medicine and the dangers of patent linkage’ (2010) 18(3) Journal of Law and Medicine 577-588.
T Cockburn and B Madden, ‘Proof of causation in informed consent cases: Establishing what the patient would have done’ (2010) 18(2) Journal of Law and Medicine 320-332.
J Fraser, K Walsh, M Dunne, B Mathews, S Kilby and L Chen, Factors influencing child abuse and neglect recognition and reporting by nurses: A multivariate analysis (2010) 47(2) International Journal of Nursing Studies 146-153.
B Mathews, 'Female genital mutilation: Australian law, policy and practical challenges' (2010) 194(3) Medical Journal of Australia 139-141.
A McGee, 'Ending the life of the act/omission dispute: causation in withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging measures' Legal Studies (in press).
L de Plevitz, Binang gurri: turning a deaf ear to Indigenous hearing loss, (2010) 10(3) Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin
S-N Then and G Appleby, 'Tissue Transplantation From Children: Difficulties in Navigating the State and Federal Systems' (2010) 33(2) University of New South Wales Law Journal 305-336.
K Walsh, M Rassafiani, B Mathews, A Farrell and D Butler, Teachers' attitudes toward reporting chlid sexual abuse: problems with existing research leading to new scale development (2010) 19(3) Journal of Child Sexual Abuse 310-336.
B White, L Willmott and J Allen, Withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment: criminal responsibility for established medical practice (2010) 17 Journal of Law and Medicine 849-865.
L Willmott, B White and B Mathews, Law, Autonomy and Advance Directives (2010) 18 Journal of Law and Medicine 365.
L Willmott, Advance directives and the promotion of autonomy: A comparative Australian statutory analysis (2010) 17 Journal of Law and Medicine 556.
Book chapters
D Butler, T Cockburn and J Yule, Medical Negligence in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 210-300.
B Mathews, 'Children and consent to medical treatment' in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 114-149.
F McDonald, 'The Legal Framework of the Australian Health System' in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 61-92.
F McDonald, 'The Regulation of Health Professionals' in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 509-555.
B White, F McDonald and L Willmott, Health Law: Scope, Sources and Forces in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 3-22.
B White and L Willmott and S-N Then, Adults who lack capacity: Substituted decision-making in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 150-209.
L Willmott, B White and S-N Then, Withholding and Withdrawal of Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 450-490.
B White and L Willmott, The Doctrine of Double Effect in B White, F McDonald and L Willmott (eds), Health Law in Australia, Thomson, Sydney, 2010, 491-506.
Major reports
B Mathews, K Walsh, D Butler and A Farrell, Teachers reporting child sexual abuse: Towards evidence-based reform of law, policy and practice, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, 2010.
2009
Major reports
D Butler, B Mathews, A Farrell & K Walsh, Teachers' duties to report suspected child abuse and tortious liability (2009) 17 Torts Law Journal 1-23.
L de Plevitz, J Gould and T Smith, Fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Indigenous schoolchildren, (2009) 190(5) Medical Journal of Australia 286-7.
B Mathews, K Walsh, M Rassafiani, D Butler & A Farrell, Teachers reporting suspected child sexual abuse: results of a three-State study (2009) 32(3) University of New South Wales Law Journal 772-813.
B Mathews, C Goddard, B Lonne, S Short & F Briggs, Developments in Australian laws requiring the reporting of suspected child sexual abuse (2009) 34(3) Children Australia 18-23.
B Mathews & H Payne, Responding to child maltreatment, The Lancet, Vol 373, Issue 9671, 1250-1251, 11 April 2009.
B Mathews, H Payne, C Bonnet and D Chadwick, A Way To Restore British Paediatricians Engagement With Child Protection (2009) 94(5) Archives of Disease in Childhood 329-332.
F McDonald, Drugs, Dental Professionals and the Law, in J Downie, K McEwen, M Hadskis and W MacInnis (eds) Dental Law in Canada, 2nd ed (in press, LexisNexis).
SN Then, Regulation of Human Stem Cell Research in Australia (2009) 5(1) Stem Cell Reviews and Reports 1.
SN Then, The Legality of Tissue Transplants for the Benefit of Family Members in the UK and Australia: Implications for Saviour Siblings (2009) 10 Medical Law International 23.
B White and L Willmott, Termination of a minor's pregnancy: critical issues for consent and the criminal law (2009) 17 Journal of Law and Medicine 249.
L Willmott, Advance directives refusing treatment as an expression of autonomy: Do the courts practise what they preach (2009) 38(4) Common Law World Review 295.
2008
Major reports
C Brown, Willmott, L and White B, Surrogacy in Queensland: should altruism be a crime? (2008) 20(1) Bond Law Review 1-29.
D Butler and B Mathews, Education in G Monahan and L Young (Eds) Children and the Law in Australia, 2008, LexisNexis, Sydney, 302-328.
B Mathews, Protecting children from abuse and neglect in G Monahan and L Young (Eds) Children and the Law in Australia, 2008, LexisNexis, Sydney, 204-237.
B Mathews, J Cronan, K Walsh, D Butler & A Farrell, Teachers' Policy-Based Duties To Report Child Sexual Abuse: A Comparative Study (2008) 13(2) ANZJLE 23-37.
B Mathews, J Fraser, K Walsh, M Dunne, S Kilby and L Chen, Queensland nurses' attitudes towards and knowledge of the legislative duty to report child abuse and neglect: Results of a State-wide survey (2008) 16(2) Journal of Law and Medicine 288-304.
B Mathews & D Bross, Mandated reporting is still a policy with reason: empirical evidence and philosophical grounds (2008) 32(5) Child Abuse & Neglect 511-516.
B Mathews and M Kenny, Mandatory reporting legislation in the USA, Canada and Australia: a cross-jurisdictional review of key features, differences and issues (2008) 13 Child Maltreatment 50-63.
F McDonald, Working to Death: The Regulation of Working Hours in Healthcare (2008) 30(1) Law & Policy 108-140.
F McDonald, The Criminalisation of Medical Mistakes in Canada: A Review (2008) 16 Health Law Journal 1-26.
F McDonald, C Simpson and F O'Brien, Including Organisational Ethics in Policy Review Processes in Healthcare Institutions: A View from Canada (2008) 20:2 HEC Forum 137-153.
M Smith, Reviewing Regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology in New South Wales: The Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2007 (NSW) (2008) 16 Journal of Law and Medicine 120-31.
L Willmott and B White, Solicitors and enduring documents: current practice and best practice (2008) 16(3) Journal of Law and Medicine 466-487.
