Berg, L & Millbank, J 2017, 'Constructing the Personal Narratives of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Asylum Claimants' in Sexuality and Equality Law, Routledge, pp. 275-304.
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Booth, T & Carrington, K 2017, 'Victims support in policy and legal process in Australia' in Walklate, S (ed), Handbook of Victims and Victimology, Routledge, Great Britain, pp. 293-307.
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Rosie Batty, 2015 Australian of the Year and prominent advocate for the rights of victims of domestic violence, has lead a remarkable campaign to raise public consciousness in relation to the needs of such victims, particularly the dearth of appropriate services. A significant outcome in September 2015 was the Australian federal government’s announcement of a $300 million funding package directed to improve the services and support available to victims of domestic violence. Nonetheless, victims in Australia continue to occupy both an ambivalent and contested role in policy and law. This chapter looks at the role of victims in both policy and legal settings and argues that despite an apparent expansion of services and entitlements, the politics of victims’ rights remains fraught.
Jackson, E, Millbank, J, Karpin, IA & Stuhmcke, A 2017, 'Learning from Cross-Border Reproduction', Medical Law Review, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 23-46.
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© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved. Drawing upon the preliminary findings of an Australian empirical project on cross-border reproduction (CBR), this article argues that regulators and policymakers could learn from the experiences of those who travel overseas in order to access fertility treatment and surrogacy. It makes four principal observations. First, the distinction between so-called 'altruistic' and 'commercial' gamete donation and surrogacy is increasingly unsustainable and is not experienced as meaningful by many participants in CBR. Secondly, the status of the law in CBR is profoundly equivocal; for participants it is often there and not there at the same time. Thirdly, self-sourced information, from the internet and more specifically social media such as Facebook, is now the principal source of information and peer support for reproductive travellers. Fourthly, and relatedly, domestic reproductive services providers are often sidestepped. If one of the goals of regulation is to minimise the risk of harm to participants, it is not clear that it is currently achieving this aim, and this article argues that any reforms will only work if they are more responsive to the reality of CBR.
Kaye, M, Wangmann, J & Booth, T 2017, 'Preventing personal cross-examination of parties in Family Law proceedings involving family violence', Australian journal of family law, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 94-117.
Millbank, J 2017, 'Exploring the Ineffable in Women's Experiences of Relationality with Their Stored IVF Embryos', Body & Society, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 95-120.
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© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. This article contributes to a more nuanced and contextual approach to women’s decision-making concerning their stored IVF (in vitro fertilisation) embryos through attempting to craft a space for the expression of the complex, and contradictory, emotions attached to these decisions, unhooked from any notion of abstract moral status inhering in the embryo itself. Women struggle to express the confounding nature of the relationship to the stored IVF embryo as something of-the-body but not within the body, neither self nor other, person nor thing. In order to try to address this sense of the ineffable, I draw in this article upon a series of images by German-born American artist, Kiki Smith. The article explores three major themes, each alongside one of Smith’s artworks connecting to an experience of discomfort or confounding unease.
Millbank, J, Kaye, M, Stuhmcke, A, Sibbritt, D, Karpin, I & Wardle, J 2017, 'Complementary health practitioners disciplined for misconduct in Australia 2010-2016', Journal of Law and Medicine, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 788-802.
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This article examines disciplinary proceedings brought against complementary medicine (CM) practitioners in Australia at tribunal level since the inception of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. The article looks at all 32 such cases and identifies trends in the kinds of misconduct established, and the orders imposed.These findings are compared with earlier and more sizable studies of tribunal-level outcomes for disciplinary proceedings against doctors in Australia and New Zealand. While there are some clear comparisons - such as the gender ratio of respondent practitioners and the most common type of misconduct, ie sexual misconduct - there were also notable differences. Specifically, the rate of removal from practice, either by suspension or cancellation of registration, of CM practitioners was found to be significantly higher than that reported in earlier studies of cases against doctors. More research needs to be done to explore the reasons for this apparent disparity.
Millbank, J, Stuhmcke, A & Karpin, IA 2017, 'Embryo Donation and Understanding of Kinship: The Impact of Law and Policy', Human Reproduction, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 133-138.
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© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. STUDY QUESTION What is the impact of law and policy upon the experience of embryo donation for reproductive use? SUMMARY ANSWER Access to, and experience of, embryo donation are influenced by a number of external factors including laws that impose embryo storage limits, those that frame counselling and approval requirements and allow for, or mandate, donor identity disclosure. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY To date only three qualitative studies in Australia and New Zealand have been completed on the experience of embryo donation for reproductive purposes, each with a small cohort of interviewees and divergent findings. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION Embryo donors, recipients, and would-be donors were interviewed between July 2010 and July 2012, with three additional interviews between September 2015 and September 2016, on their experiences of embryo donation. The sampling protocol had the advantage of addressing donation practices across multiple clinical sites under distinct legal frameworks. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS Participants were recruited from five Australian jurisdictions and across 11 clinical sites. Twenty-six participants were interviewed, comprising: 11 people who had donated embryos for the reproductive use of others (nine individuals and one couple), six recipients of donated embryos (four individuals and one couple) and nine individuals who had attempted to donate, or had a strong desire to donate, but had been prevented from doing so. In total, participants reported on 15 completed donation experiences; of which nine had resulted in offspring to the knowledge of the donor. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Donors positively desired donation and did not find the decision difficult. Neither donors nor recipients saw the donation process as akin to adoption. The process and practice of donation varied cons...
Stuhmcke, A 2017, 'Australian Ombudsmen: Drafting a Blueprint for Reform', AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 43-62.
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The ombudsman institution was introduced across all Australian jurisdictions from the
1970s as a central piece of administrative law reform. The original role of the office was to
scrutinise administrative decision making and to promote government accountability
through the resolution of citizen complaints. However, since the 1970s all Australian
governments have undergone significant change. Government has expanded involvement into areas such as whistle blower and disability protection and human rights. Government
also increasingly outsources decision-making to private companies, leading to the
introduction of private industry ombudsmen and the removal of control from the purview
of administrative law transparency mechanisms. This article argues that this transformation
necessitates discussion as to reform of the ombudsman institution and suggests a new
blueprint for such reform
Booth, T 1970, 'Family violence and self-represented perpetrators in court - the differences, gaps and deficiencies of law reform', Crime and Justice in Asia and the Global South, Cairns.
