Regulating Behaviour through Agreement: A Magical Mystery Tour

Presented by

Prof David Farrier and Dr Andrew Frazer

Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Room: 67.202 (Moot Court)
Time: 12.30-13.30

Abstract

The language and symbolism of agreements and contracts has become widespread within modern regulation. Over the last twenty years it has become stock in trade for governments – through privatisation, public-private partnerships, but increasingly as a way of promoting compliance as consensual. Increasingly, agreements are being used by both governments and private interests to regulate personal and social activities of subjects. Employment contracts are being drafted and construed as giving employers power to regulate the personal lives of their employees. Activity agreements are negotiated by Centrelink with their 'clients' as a way of imposing requirements within a rubric of 'mutual obligation'.  Planning agreements are concluded between local councils and developers seeking council approval.  Conservation and heritage agreements are entered into with government agencies, committing private landholders to manage their land in ways sensitive to conservation. The Director-General of the Department of Community Services can make parent responsibility contracts with the parents of children. This seminar explores the use of agreements as a means of social control, the blurring of public and private domains and interests, and the implications for legal analysis. We are hoping to spark interest in pursuing research on regulation through agreement by members of the Law Faculty and others.

Short Biography

David Farrier is Professor of Law and a member of the Institute for Conservation Biology and Law at the University of Wollongong. He chairs the Editorial Committee of the Australasian Journal of Natural Resources Law and Policy.

Dr Andrew Frazer is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Wollongong. He is currently working on a series of publications addressing new directions in labour law research, including the application of regulation theory, the sociology of law, and institutionalist approaches. These theoretical directions will be progressively developed and applied in specific studies on the role of law in the contemporary labour market.

For further information contact:

Dr Nadirsyah Hosen
Lecturer
Faculty of Law
University of Wollongong
Email: hosen@uow.edu.au
Phone: +61 2 4221 4192
Fax: +61 2 4221 3188