Recently, the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt announced the establishment of the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Scheme. The scheme aims to provide further assurance and confidence to patients and health professionals in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and will be backdated to the start of the national vaccine…
Autonomy, Vulnerability, and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
In the third seminar of our QUT Global Law, Science and Technology series for 2021, co-hosted by the Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR), Professor Margaret Isabel Hall (Adjunct Professor, ACHLR) looked critically at the problematic construction and application of “autonomy” and “vulnerability” and considered the difference…
Mental Health and Human Rights public lecture
The Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) and HEAL (Health, Ethics and Law) hosted a free keynote presentation and panel discussion on Monday 17 May, 2021. Abstract Australian mental health legislation is increasingly influenced by human rights considerations and international obligations. This is particularly so for the…
Qld voluntary assisted dying Bill deals with institutions’ objections
The Queensland Law Reform Commission’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill is the first in Australia to address objections by institutions, and has been welcomed by Professors Ben White and Lindy Willmott from QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research. Ben and Lindy (pictured above) authored the original VAD Bill…
Understanding Gun Violence in America
David M. Studdert, Professor of Law and Medicine at Stanford University, was guest speaker at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research 8th Annual Public Oration. David explored gun violence in the United States, where approximately 40,000 Americans are killed by gunshot wounds each year. David discussed whether…
Patient Rights and Healthcare Decision-making after COVID-19: Transformations and Future Directions
In the fifth instalment of our QUT Global Law, Science and Technology Seminar Series, co-hosted by the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Thaddeus Mason Pope discussed how COVID-19 has spurred a renewed focus on protecting patient rights and tackling bigger perennial issues at the intersection of technology…
Preparing for, and protecting communities from, respiratory exposure to volcanic ash
Fiona McDonald, Co-Director of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, has had her work with the HIVE (Health Interventions in Volcanic Eruptions) Consortium cited in the October 2020 supplement to the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization’s Disasters – Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas…
Procedural fairness in mental health review tribunals
Dr Sam Boyle and Professor Tamara Walsh from UQ conducted a study into the decision-making of the Queensland Mental Health Review Tribunal. They conducted group interviews with 36 lawyers and advocates for people with matters before the tribunal. The first paper arising from this study has just been…
Face masks and the two critical public health principles at the heart of the confusion
Why are some governments and agencies willing to recommend mask use when others aren’t, and why are recommendations changing? Fiona McDonald, Co-Director of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, together with Professor Claire Horwell from Durham University, has co-written an article for The Conversation UK on face…
Queensland Parliamentary Committee endorses Willmott and White recommendations for voluntary assisted dying reform
A Queensland Parliamentary Committee recently handed down its Report on Voluntary Assisted Dying. Recommendation One of that report was that the Queensland Government should introduce legislation to legalise voluntary assisted dying based on draft legislation submitted to the Committee by Professors Lindy Willmott and Ben White. The Chair…