Macquarie Law

 

2003
ANNUAL REPORT
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

The Macquarie University Centre for Environmental Law (MU-CEL), in the year 2003, was involved in a variety of activities both in Australia and overseas. In the context of teaching and research there were a number of new initiatives and there were also significant changes in MU-CEL's membership.

Membership Changes

In January 2003, Yee Fen Lim left MU-CEL to return to the Division's Department of Law to pursue her academic initiatives in the IT law area. Ms. Susan Shearing was the successful applicant to replace Yee Fen and joined MU-CEL in February 2003.

Susan taught Local Government Law in MU-CEL's postgraduate program as well as Contracts and Legal Ethics in the undergraduate program in 2003. She is presently involved in a number of exciting MU-CEL research initiatives such as developing a collaborative research and teaching program with Ritsumeikan University in Japan and in the role of Faculty Adviser of MU-CEL's new Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law.

Susan has also assumed primary responsibility for the curriculum revision and teaching of Local Government and Heritage Law. In 2004 she will be co-teaching with Donna Craig a completely new curriculum in the undergraduate and postgraduate foundation unit, Environmental Law/Environmental Law and Ethics.

Zada Lipman, a long-standing member and Associate Director of MU-CEL was on Overseas Study Leave during first semester of 2003. She left MU-CEL in August 2003 to join the Department of Law. It is MU-CEL's intention to replace Zada with a Level A appointment in early 2004.

New Coursework Masters Programmes and Units

Two new MU-CEL postgraduate coursework programmes (Masters degrees, diplomas and certificates) were approved in 2003. In addition to MU-CEL's existing programme in Environment and Local Government Law, the Masters of Environmental Law and Masters of International Environmental Law programmes were added. This provides students with a wider choice and will be more attractive to overseas students who are not interested in local government law preferring a more international focus and degree title.

The Masters of Environmental Law commenced in 2003 and the Masters of International Environmental Law commences in first semester, 2004.

In addition the following new units were recently approved and are taught across most of these programmes: Trade and Environment Law; Comparative Environmental Law; Law, Globalisation and Cultural Transformations; Biodiversity Law; Comparative Indigenous Environmental Law and Management; Environmental Law and Policy Clinic and Marine Environmental Law and Policy.

As well, the Department of Business Law and MU-CEL developed a joint programme (Masters degree, diploma and certificate) in International Trade and Commerce Law. There has been a rapid international student enrolment in this degree that commenced in 2003.

Macquarie University allows articulation between certificate, diploma and degrees and many students avail themselves of this option. Occasionally students transfer among programmes as they become more aware of their academic and professional needs. MU-CEL is undertaking a curriculum review now that there are a variety of programmes to ensure that each of them provides the diversity and academic content necessary for domestic, comparative and international study and to streamline administrative issues such as articulation.

MU-CEL's first joint degree with another Division has been approved and will commence in second semester 2004. The students will be able to undertake a joint programme and be awarded two Masters degrees (Masters of International Environmental Law and Masters of International Relations).

Most of the MIR students are from overseas and this will significantly increase MU-CEL's overseas enrolments.

MU-CEL's Teaching Programme (2003)

Since its inception in the early 1980s, MU-CEL has always undertaken a full teaching load of undergraduate and postgraduate units in fulfillment of its role as a Centre of both teaching and research excellence. Its members assumed a very heavy teaching load in 2003, partly to compensate for Zada Lipman being on OSP during the first semester and because of the needs of the Law Division.

MU-CEL members taught the following undergraduate and postgraduate units in 2003:

First Semester

Unit	Tutor	Programme
Law 510 - Env. Law	D. Craig (Conv)	Undergraduate
Law 811 - Env. Law & Ethics	D. Craig (Conv)	Postgraduate
Law 204 - Contracts	S. Shearing	Undergraduate
Law 828 - Law, Globalis.	M. Jeffery (Conv)	Postgraduate

Second Semester

Unit	Tutor	Programme
Law 500 - Litigation	M. Jeffery (Conv)	Undergraduate
Law 817 - Comp. Env. Law	D. Craig (Conv)	Postgraduate
Law 819 - Comp. Indig	D. Craig (Conv)	Postgraduate
Law 807 - Local Gov.	S. Shearing (Conv)	Postgraduate
Law 518 - Legal Ethics	S. Shearing (Conv)	Undergraduate
Law 818 - Biodiv. Law	M. Jeffery (Conv)	Undergr/Postgr

 

Supervision of PhD Candidates

There has been a marked increase in the number of PhD candidates seeking admission and requesting supervision by MU-CEL members in their areas of expertise. The majority of these students are from overseas and are full fee paying or have obtained scholarships. Four new PhD candidates have been admitted and will commence their studies under the supervision of Professor Michael Jeffery and/or Assoc. Prof. Donna Craig in first semester 2004.

Candidate Country	Candidate Country	Research Focus	Supervisor
Rose Mwbeza	Uganda	Africa/Austr. Comp Environmental Law	D. Craig
Bo Miao	China	Emissions Trading	M. Jeffery
Anna Penteado	Brazil	IPRs, contracts and Indig. Rights	D.Craig
Ely Ouano	Philippines	Sustainable Dev. & Waste Mg't in Asia	Jeffery/ Craig

In addition MU-CEL has the following continuing PhD candidates under the supervision of Michael Jeffery and Donna Craig.

Candidate Country	Candidate Country	Research Focus	Supervisor
Chris Jones	NZ	IPRs, Ethics and Ethical Protocols	D. Craig
Steven Freeland	Australia	Financial Mechanisms and Env. Conditions	Co-Supervisor: D.Craig
David Leary	Australia	Hydrothermal Vents	M. Jeffery

Two additional PhD candidates, one from Indonesia and one from China have applied for admission to the PhD programme, and, if admitted, hope to commence their studies in second semester 2004 under the supervision of Professor Jeffery.

MU-CEL's Annual Budget (2003)

MU-CEL, in addition to being a Macquarie University Centre of Excellence, is a Department within the Division of Law and a budgetary unit of the Division. In 2003, MU-CEL exceeded its budgetary targets as it has every year since its inception. Changes in the income from postgraduate coursework students in 2004 will be more than compensated by the increase in MU-CEL’s annual income for PhD candidates supervised by MU-CEL members.

MU-CEL Member Appointments and Research Activities

Ms. Susan Shearing

Since joining MU-CEL in February of 2003, Susan has been actively involved in curriculum development in the postgraduate programmes. She is developing a research focus on heritage, corporate and commercial environmental law as well as Australian environmental law. She has been instrumental to MU-CEL in the development of its Volunteer Programme and is sharing the responsibilities with Professor Jeffery of establishing MU-CEL's Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law.

Susan attended and represented MU-CEL at the Singapore Conference on Intellectual Property and Biological Resources held in December as well as the Fourth Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation in Sydney in June 2003.

From the moment she joined MU-CEL, Susan has assumed considerable responsibilities and has demonstrated a high degree of academic maturity and leadership. Donna Craig and Michael Jeffery wish to particularly acknowledge her contribution throughout the year.

Associate Professor Donna Craig

• Assoc. Prof. Donna Craig, having served the maximum two terms (six years) as Regional Vice-Chair of the IUCN's Commission on Environmental Law, went on in 2003 to establish and co-convene the Commission's Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Law. She organised their meeting in Fiji in April to develop a global research programme.

• Donna was invited(as the only non-Indigenous member of an international initiative by Indigenous peoples) to define and develop their own appropriate forms of cultural property and to develop knowledge bases and research to support them.
  
  The "Call of the Earth Circle" is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation for three years. In 2003, Donna was invited to convene the part of the organization known as the "Circle of Friends". She attended and acted as facilitator at their second Steering Committee and Circle meetings at the Rockefeller retreat in Bellagio, Italy in December.

• She continues in her role as Member of the Advisory Board of the International Training Centre for Indigenous Peoples based in Nuuk Greenland and has been reappointed as a member of the Editorial Board of the Australian Indigenous Law Reporter.

• Assoc. Prof. Craig in 2003 served as Deputy Chair of the University's Research Grants Sub-committee. The research Policy and Management Committee, in its Minutes, expressed a vote of thanks to Donna for her outstanding service as Deputy Chair and for her role as Acting Chair during Professor O'Reilly's absence on study leave in second semester.

• Throughout 2003, Donna has vigorously pursued her research activities in the areas of intellectual and cultural property, community-based environmental management, regional governance agreements, customary law regimes and water rights.
  
  She has accepted invitations to develop research programmes and policy initiatives by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, Charles Darwin University, the Desert Knowledge Co-operative Research Centre, the Walpiri People, the Combined Aboriginal Nations of Central Australia (CANCA) and the Central Land Council.

Professor Michael Jeffery, QC

• In December 2002, Professor Jeffery was appointed deputy Chair of the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Commission on Environmental Law. This prestigious appointment was made by the world's leading environmental conservation organization comprised of some 140 countries including over 70 States, 100 government agencies, and 750-plus NGOs. More than 10,000 internationally-recognised scientists and experts from more than 180 countries volunteer their services to its six global commissions. Its 1000 staff members in offices around the world are working on over 500 projects.
  
  This appointment places MU-CEL at the forefront of global environmental developments and provides a strong focus for MU-CEL's involvement in cutting-edge research of interest to all of MU-CEL members and students alike.

• In his capacity as Deputy Chair of IUCN-CEL, Michael participated in a Judges Symposium on Environmental Law held in Rome in May 2003. He also attended a Steering Committee meeting in L'viv Ukraine followed by a meeting of Eastern European Judges.

• In March 2003, at the invitation of the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL), Professor Jeffery joined a team of international environmental law experts in Bonn Germany to review and prepare the third version of the Draft Covenant on Environmental Law and Development (Draft Covenant). Michael has since been elected a member of ICEL for a two-year term.

• In April 2003, Michael joined academics representing over 75 universities from around the world for a meeting at the Rockefeller Estate in White Plains, NY to develop the institutional structure for the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, an initiative of IUCN-CEL.
  
  The Academy was formally launched in Shanghai China in November 2003 and will be referred to below.

• Professor Jeffery represented both MU-CEL and IUCN-CEL at the World Jurist Association's 21st Biennial Congress on the Law of the World held in Sydney/Adelaide August 17-23, 2003. Michael presented a paper in Adelaide entitled "The Impact of Trade and Intellectual Property Rights on Biodiversity Conservation; Setting the Boundaries."

• In September 2003, Professor Jeffery attended the World Parks Congress in Durban SA, an event held once every 10 years and attended by over 3,000 experts involved in the conservation of protected areas. Michael was the lead author and presented IUCN-CEL's keynote paper on the governance of protected areas.

• In late November 2003, Michael participated as a trainer in a capacity-building training programme for environmental governmental officials and NGOs from eight of the ten ASEAN nations. The training programme took place in Singapore over four days and was sponsored by MU-CEL, the IUCN, the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law of the National University of Singapore (APCEL) and the Asian Region Centre for Biological Diversity (ARCBC). MU-CEL, which has a Memorandum of Understanding with APCEL, used this opportunity to further its collaborative relationship.

• In December 2003 both Michael and Donna Craig were invited to present papers at an Intellectual Property and Biological Resources Law and Policy Conference held in Singapore. The Conference was co-sponsored by MU-CEL in partnership with IUCN-CEL, the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, the Japan Biodiversity Association (JBA) and the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS).
  
  This important international event was co-organised by the Singapore Academy of Law, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) and the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO). As noted above, Ms. Susan Shearing attended representing MU-CEL.

• In December 2002 Michael was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) of NSW. The EDO is a community legal centre and was established in Sydney in 1984. Michael was re-elected to the EDO Board in December 2003.

• Professor Jeffery is the Editor-in-Chief of MU-CEL's new Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law (see below) and has recently been appointed to serve as a member of the international editorial boards of the Journal of South Pacific Law (University of the South Pacific) and the soon-to-be established, Baltic Environmental Law Quarterly.

Papers and Publications

The following papers were presented and/or published in 2003:

• Jeffery, Michael, "Capacity Building for Sustainable Energy Regimes and Effective Compliance and Enforcement: Foundations in University Education", IUCN Colloquium Conference Proceedings, Shanghai, November, 2003 (also to be published in the inaugural issue of the Annals of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law).

• Jeffery, Michael, "The Impact of Intellectual Property Rights and Trade-Related Issues on Biological Diversity", (Proceedings of an IUCN/IGES/ADB Symposium, ADB Institute, Tokyo Japan), published in IUCN Environmental Law and Policy Paper No. 48, Lye, Lin Heng with Manguiat, Maria Socorro Z. (Eds) (2003), Towards a "Second Generation" in Environmental Laws in the Asian and Pacific Region: Select Trends, IUCN, Gland Switzerland and Cambridge U.K. at p.143.

• Jeffery, Michael, "Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity Conservation Reconciling the Incompatibilities of the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity". Presented at the Intellectual Property and Biological Resources Law and Policy Conference held in Singapore, December 1-3, 2003, Singapore Academy of Law et al. (to be published).

• Jeffery, Michael, "An International Legal Regime for Protected Areas" (Part II), presented at the World Parks Congress, Durban SA, September 2003, published on-line - http://www.iucn.org/themes/law/pdfdocuments/GOV-IUCN-ELP%20Sec%202%20Governance%20Paper040803.pdf and also on MU-CEL website under "Resources and Publications".

• Jeffery, Michael, "The Impact Of Trade And Intellectual Property Rights On Biodiversity Conservation: Setting The Boundaries", presented at the World Jurists Association's Twenty-First Biennial Congress on the Law of the World, Sydney & Adelaide, Australia, 17 - 23 August 2003. Papers available from WJA on CD-ROM. This paper is also available on the MU-CEL website under Resources and Publications.

• Craig, Donna, "Restoration of Industrial Sites under Australian Environmental Laws". Proceedings of an IUCN/IGES/ADB Symposium, ADB Institute, Tokyo Japan), published in IUCN Environmental Law and Policy Paper No. 48, Lye, Lin Heng with Manguiat, Maria Socorro Z. (Eds) (2003), Towards a "Second Generation" in Environmental Laws in the Asian and Pacific Region: Select Trends, IUCN, Gland Switzerland and Cambridge U.K. at p.109.

• Craig, Donna, "Negotiating Indigenous Co-Management: Canadian Comprehensive Land Claims, Agreements and Other Experiences" Presented at Relationships Between Aboriginal People and Land Management Issues - Barriers and Bridges to Successful Partnerships Conference, Institute of Conservation Biology and Law, University of Wollongong, NSW Australia, 30th September - 1st October 2003. To be published in book form.

• Craig, Donna, "Global Sustainable Development: Human Rights, Environmental Rights and Indigenous Peoples". Presented at Australian Human Rights Centre Seminar Series: Human Rights in a Globalising World. AHRC Working Paper 2003/3. Available on-line at http://www.ahrcentre.org/Publications/craig_indi_rts.htm

• Craig, Donna, "Biological Resources, IPRs and International Human Rights: Impacts on Indigenous and Local Communities", Presented at the Intellectual Property and Biological Resources Law and Policy Conference held in Singapore, December 1-3, 2003, Singapore Academy of Law et al. (to be published).

• Craig, Donna, "Governance, Management and Leadership for Sustainable Futures: Setting Directions Workshop", Presented at Desert Knowledge CRC workshop, Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, (13 - 16 October, 2003), Alice Springs.

MU-CEL Volunteer Programme

In early 2003, MU-CEL formally established a Volunteer Program for undergraduate and postgraduate students and other volunteer professionals. We have been overwhelmed by the dedication and high quality work of over thirty current volunteers. We have a growing number of volunteers with extremely diverse backgrounds including students from other universities and overseas law graduates. They assist MU-CEL with the "Journal", organising conferences and workshops, assisting with academic research and participating in research projects.

MU-CEL has been greatly enhanced by the presence and wonderful spirit of our volunteers and it would be difficult to undertake many of our activities without their committed support.

Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law

Citing the need in Australia for a world class "refereed" international and comparative environmental law journal, MU-CEL announced plans in March of 2003 to establish such a journal. An exceptional and prestigious Editorial Board comprised of thirteen leading international environmental lawyers and academics from twelve countries representing all of the major regions of the world has been assembled.

The Journal is supported by its patron, the Honourable Paul Stein AM, recently retired from the NSW Court of Appeal and formerly a judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court. Professor Michael Jeffery will serve as the Journal's Editor-in-Chief and Ms. Susan Shearing as Faculty Advisor. The Journal's first issue will be published in February 2004 and two issues a year are currently planned.

IUCN Academy of Environmental Law

The official launch of the Academy took place on 4 November 2003, followed by the first of the three annual Academy Lectures on Environmental Law, this year delivered by Professor Alexandre Kiss (Strasbourg, France). Professor Kiss, one of the world's preeminent environmental legal specialists, has published widely on many aspects of environmental law, was awarded the Elizabeth Haub Prize in Environmental law and is currently the President of the European Council for Environmental Law.

Participants in the inaugural ceremonies for the Academy include Professors Xie Shenwu and Ye Quyuan, President and Vice-President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Achim Steiner, Director General of IUCN; Professor Nicholas Robinson, Chair of IUCN's Commission on Environmental Law; Professor Charles Okidi (Kenya) and other international figures.

Professor Michael Jeffery and Associate Professor Donna Craig represented Macquarie University and MU-CEL at the inaugural ceremonies.

The official launch of the Academy was followed by the Academy's 2003 Colloquium on The Law of Energy for Sustainable Development. It featured several key lectures by distinguished experts from all regions of the world.

The Honourable Justice Paul Stein AM and Professor Jeffery were invited to present papers and participate in a panel on Building Capacity for Compliance & Enforcement - A Prerequisite to Successful Management of Sustainable Energy Regimes. From September - November 2003, Justice Stein was the Distinguished Visiting Professor of MU-CEL and Macquarie University's Division of Law. He has been a member of MU-CEL's Advisory Board since its designation as a Macquarie University Centre of Excellence in August 2000.

Macquarie University, with the strong support of the Vice-Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Di Yerbury, through MU-CEL and represented by its Director, Professor Jeffery, will be designated a founding member of the Academy.

MU-CEL and the University of Auckland's Centre for Environmental Law have been selected to co-host the 2005 Academy Colloquium in July 2005, with a focus on Sustainable Development and Biodiversity.

International Affiliations

MU-CEL has been busy in the past three years putting in place a series of strategic academic affiliations with leading universities, environmental law centres and other institutions. These important links will facilitate cooperative research, student and faculty exchanges, on-line delivery of units of study and a host of other benefits.

To date Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan; The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (APCEL); and Pace University’s Centre for Environmental Legal Studies. In addition MU-CEL and APCEL have signed a further MOU that includes WWF-India.

In 2003 MOUs were negotiated and signed with the Washington College of Law, American University, Washington DC; the James E. Rogers School of Law at the University of Arizona at Tucson; and the United Nations University/ Institute of Advanced Studies, Tokyo.

In addition, we are pleased to advise that arrangements are in place with several universities and centres to facilitate our students participating in the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic elective that was recently introduced into MU-CEL's postgraduate programmes.

Also in 2003, the Memorandum of Understanding between MU-CEL and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) was extended for a further period of three years.

Professor Malcolm Cooper of APU visited MU-CEL in August 2003 and met with Michael Jeffery, Donna Craig and Susan Shearing. In addition to negotiating an extension of their MOU establishing closer collaborative relations with respect to faculty and student exchanges, agreement was reached on MU-CEL assisting APU in developing an environmental law curriculum at the post graduate level. APU is currently seeking funding with the Japanese government to fund these initiatives.

A direct link to APU and other MU-CEL affiliated institutions can be found on MU-CEL's website under the drop-down menu headed "Visitors & Exchange Programs (Affiliations)".

MU-CEL is looking forward to working closely with APU in the coming months.

Re-design of MU-CEL Website

2003 saw a great deal of energy and initiative expended on the re-design and development of MU-CEL's website in order to provide an easily accessible, user-friendly, world class platform that would accommodate MU-CEL's expanding range of activities both in Australia and abroad. We are indebted to both Craig Jones and his brother Chris Jones for assisting us in both the design and implementation of the site. After logging onto the MU-CEL home page, visitors to the site are provided with a series of drop-down menus providing access to information on academic programmes and units of study, publications, academic and institutional affiliations, and up-to-date news about the activities of MU-CEL members.

As the first port of call for students and colleagues interested in finding out more about MU-CEL, maintaining and further developing this site will remain a priority in the months and years to come.

MU-CEL Visiting Professor Programme

In keeping with the establishment of a Visiting Professor Programme for the Division of Law, funded in part by the Vice-Chancellor's Millennium Grants allocated to the Division of Law, MU-CEL hosted the following distinguished visitors during 2003.

Professor James Salzman of Washington College of Law, American University in Washington D.C. visited Macquarie University as a recipient of a Senior Fulbright Scholarship during the period June 2002 - June 2003. He spent the first six months of his visit with the Commonwealth's Key Centre on Biodiversity and Bioresources (located within Macquarie's Department of Biological Sciences) and then relocated to MU-CEL for the duration of his visit. Professor Salzman undertook research projects with the CSIRO and Sydney Catchment Authority on developing legal and economic frameworks for ecological services. He is continuing his work and his relationship with MU-CEL.

Professors Salzman, Andy Beattie (Director of the Key Centre) and Michael Jeffery were successful in their joint application for a MURG grant to assist in supporting their collaboration with Professor Salzman.

The Honourable Paul Stein AM

As mentioned above, Justice Paul Stein, at the invitation of MU-CEL spent nearly three months at Macquarie as a Visiting Professor of both the Division and MU-CEL. During his time on campus, Justice Stein was most generous with his time and gave guest lectures in a number of units. He also participated extensively in the Division's Mooting Programme. Towards the end of his visit he met with MU-CEL's volunteers as a group and shared his views on the development of environmental law in Australia and in the global context.

Professor Robert Hershey, a distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and Federal Indian Law at the University of Arizona at Tucson was scheduled to visit MU-CEL in April 2003 and assist with the development and delivery of a new postgraduate unit, Law, Globalization and Cultural Transformations. Unfortunately, the very day Professor Hershey was scheduled to fly to Sydney, war broke out in Iraq and his trip had to be postponed. Professor Jeffery, rather than cancel the unit stepped in and taught the course. Professor Hershey plans to visit Macquarie at some time in the near future.

Environmental Taxation Conference - June 2003

The Department of Business Law and the Centre for Environmental Law co-hosted the Fourth Annual Global Conference on Environmental Taxation at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel from 5 - 7 June 2003.

The conference provided an international forum for the exchange of ideas, information and research findings on environmental taxation and attracted 160 delegates from 21 countries.

Susan Shearing and Donna Craig represented MU-CEL at the Conference. Hope Ashiabor, of the Department of Business Law, and the principal organiser of this event, did a superb job and deserves a special note of thanks from all of us for making this conference an outstanding success.

MU-CEL Initiatives Planned for 2004

A number of exciting MU-CEL initiatives are planned. Space does not permit more than a brief reference to three upcoming projects.

• Vice Chancellor’s Development Grant Proposal

MU-CEL PhD candidate, Chris Jones, and Donna Craig have formulated a research project proposal (to be funded by the Vice-Chancellor's Development Fund) to develop ethical cross-cultural research approaches and protocols involving Indigenous peoples. Approximately 5-7% of research at Macquarie University involves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The University guidelines, and those of other research and tertiary institutions, do not always incorporate "best practice", or appropriate cultural practices, especially relating to cross-cultural biodiversity research involving Indigenous peoples as partners or participants. Such research has cultural, scientific and commercial value. The basic themes such as prior informed consent, community identification of research and development needs, access to information and sharing of the profits derived from the intellectual property, are established legal principles as well as ethical principles that must be taken into account.

The proposed project seeks to ensure that this form of research at Macquarie University conforms to Indigenous, international and national best practice and to set new standards in this field.

A wide range of national, international and Indigenous research guidelines, protocols, case studies and experiences will be reviewed to identify useful features and contexts of existing protocols and the gaps and urgent priorities that need to be addressed. This will allow development of a broad database as a resource that can be critiqued by Indigenous participants and their communities and non-indigenous experts and academics participating in the project.

Emphasis will be placed on research approaches and protocols that are applicable to biodiversity related research of potential economic benefit or commercial application. A focus will be on the area of bioprospecting using the existing Macquarie University research project An Ethnopharmacological Study of Medicinal Plants in New South Wales (Jamie, Kohen, Vemulpad).

The project will draw together researchers from across at least 10 disciplines and departments at Macquarie University (Chemistry: Jamie; Biology: Beattie, Kohen; Law: Craig, Jeffery, Jones; Warawara: McDaniel, Widders, Hunter, Jones; Human Geography: Howitt; Politics and International Relations: Tatz; Sociology: Fine; Health & Chiropractic: Vemulpad; Environmental Studies, Tilbury; Philosophy: Mackenzie), as well as their linkages with national and international Indigenous and environmental organisations.

• International Conference on Indigenous Knowledge and Bioprospecting (April 21-24th 2004)

A Conference on Indigenous Knowledge and Bioprospecting, originally planned for February is now scheduled to be held 21 - 24 April 2004. It will be co-hosted by the Association for Baha'i Studies Australia and Macquarie University's Warawara Department of Indigenous Studies, MU-CEL, the Department of Health and Chiropractic, the Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources; the Biology Department and the Chemistry Department. Members of MU-CEL will be involved in several aspects of this important international event including the presentation of papers and participation on expert panels.

• Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre Partnership

Macquarie University, through MU-CEL and other Indigenous centres of interest within the University community has been invited to consider becoming a research partner providing institutional and research capacity to respond in an integrated, adaptive way to the needs of desert communities in inland Australia. Assoc. Prof. Donna Craig has held preliminary discussions to ascertain how MU-CEL can best respond to these needs and will follow-up early in 2004 to further this ground-breaking initiative.

Concluding Remarks

MU-CEL, as Australia's leading Centre for Environmental Law, will continue to focus upon strengthening environmental legal education in the context of its teaching, research and outreach activities and is committed to remain at the forefront of developments in the environmental law field both nationally and internationally.

Its members look forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead.

Respectfully submitted,

“Michael Jeffery”

Professor Michael Jeffery, QC
Director,
Macquarie University Centre for Environmental Law

January 2004

[Back to top]