This post has been contributed by Lachlan Robb, former Honours student at Griffith Law School (now PhD Candidate at QUT Law School), Professor Charles Lawson, Professor of Law at Griffith Law School and Law Futures Centre (LFC) member, Professor Catherine Pickering, Professor of Environmental Science at Griffith School of Environment and Dr Edwin Bikundo, Senior Lecturer at Griffith Law School and LFC member.
The Buribunks (Carl Schmitt (2019) ‘The Buribunks: An Essay on the Philosophy of History’ (translated by Laura Petersen and Gert Reifarth) 28 Griffith Law Review 99) lived for their diary and through their diary.
In this analysis we take Schmitt’s satirical parody of academic production and recognition seriously and at face value in order to apply it to Schmitt himself even though — or precisely because — it would presumably be anathema to him.
What would Schmitt, as he lives on in the intellectual archive of the West, look like to a Buribunk?
As a focus we examine scholarly publications stimulated by and generated in the ‘The War on Terror’ epoch, defined as following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in the United States which cited Schmitt’s work. In this analysis we approach this body of scholarship as a serious, diligent Buribunk would by systematically identifying how Schmitt’s work has been used in the literature.
We then apply a mixed-methods approach combining a quantitative analysis with a qualitative account of the details of the discourse, including non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordinations as vectors and tree diagrams and the text analyser Leximancer to visualise the relationship between themes and concepts.
The outcome of applying these methods is to reveal patterns and associations in the uptake of Schmitt’s works (complete with tables, figures and diagrams).
The following figures display relationships and patterns which our analysis revealed in the 67 articles based on similarity in their content.
Vectors display increasing importance of specific types of content, with clusters of vectors close together reflecting clusters of articles with similar content.
Figure A describes the main Schmitt concepts addressed in the articles. Figure B notes the other major theorist which the articles also cited with Schmitt in the 67 articles. Figure C identifies the Schmitt texts (other than the Buribunks) co-cited in the articles.
Our primary conclusion is that Schmitt is no Ferker, dominating the archive, rather his impact is fragmented, spread across disciplines and presented in heterogeneous company.
This post has been contributed by Associate Professor Kate Galloway, member of the Law Futures Centre and Dr Dani Larkin (Bundjalung), Director of the Indigenous Law Centre at University of New South Wales.
The recently released Interim Report of the Parliamentary Committee inquiring into the destruction of the Juukan Gorge Caves, Never Again, makes several recommendations for improvements to the existing patchwork of cultural heritage laws that failed so badly.
The Report contains heart breaking testimony from Traditional Owners.
Their evidence is vital, given the centrality of First Nations people to the question of Indigenous cultural heritage.
In addition to shedding light on the import of the caves’ destruction and cultural heritage more broadly, the Inquiry reveals something about the ad hoc nature of First Nations’ standing before Parliament as experts in their own affairs and those affairs affecting Indigenous communities.
In the case of the Juukan Gorge, it took two exceptional circumstances for the testimony to be made public.
First, the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia had to instigate an inquiry into the matter.
Secondly, the Inquiry had to encourage Traditional Owners to make a submission, before the Parliament would learn of their experiences and the experiences of First Nations people more generally, in the face of inadequate cultural heritage laws.
To be sure, parliamentary inquiries are part of the institutional framework of governance.
Their remit and interest, however, is dependent upon the dynamics of Parliament itself, and of the members comprising each committee.
They do provide an avenue for Parliament to comprehend the experiences of anyone who cares to make a submission, but there are inherent limitations to the system.
Parliamentary inquiries such as this are generally open to public comment.
That means that members of the public who are interested in a matter can make a submission.
Certainly, in this case, the Committee took evidence from several Traditional Owners as well as members of the broader community.
However, even in matters of direct interest to First Nations people, given that a Parliamentary inquiry is a governmental process First Nations people may feel disconnected or mistrustful, reducing the likelihood that they will engage.
Such hesitance highlights that Anglo-Australian institutions are not established to cater for cultural norms outside their own.
Their cultural foundations tend to render them indirectly (and sometimes directly) exclusionary in terms of what experiences are fed back to Parliament.
Therefore, while a committee might seek input from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander individuals who have relevant testimony to offer, this avoids the structural issues with institutions of government.
It is ad hoc, relying instead on a committee inquiring into issues of concern to Indigenous communities and then seeking out such input.
To avoid the ad hoc nature of the remit of Parliamentary committees, and the limits inherent in Parliament itself, we need to rethink our governmental institutions.
To maximise the effectiveness of laws and policy concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we need a respectful institutional framework for listening to and heeding the voices of grassroots First Nations people.
A First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution is one way to provide a solid foundation from which Parliament and its committees might access grassroots Indigenous voices.
A First Nations Voice to Parliament is designed to provide cultural representation through formalised consultative processes to Australian legislative and executive institutions to enhance the engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within Australian governance.
Given the right institutional structure, and protected through Constitutional enshrinement, a First Nations Voice would establish a trusted mechanism for otherwise exclusionary institutions to engage with grassroots voices.
Following a year of Dialogues throughout Australia conducted with First Nations people, the Uluru Statement from the Heart has recommended a First Nations Voice to Parliament, Treaty with First Nations, and Truth-telling as essential components for establishing proper legal relations between the Australian State and First Nations peoples.
For clarity, and following the recommendations of the Uluru Statement, we do not suggest that a First Nations Voice would be implemented without Treaty.
Voice and Treaty are complementary institutions and, along with Truth, Treaty is vital to our collective future.
However, a First Nations Voice provides the first step: a means of structural reform to embed cultural representation more broadly in Australian law-making institutions which in turn creates legislative Treaty and Truth-Telling frameworks.
In addition, and relevant to issues such as Indigenous cultural heritage that have arisen in the case of the destruction of the Juukan Gorge Caves, a First Nations Voice to Parliament would establish an institutional means of keeping Parliament informed about the effectiveness of law and policy and their impact on Indigenous people and communities.
To avoid the political fate of its now-defunct predecessor organisations such as ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission), it is not enough to have a ‘Voice to Parliament’ enacted in legislation alone–such as that currently proposed by the Government.
Voice must instead be constitutionally enshrined.
This would give the entire Australian community the opportunity to support the institution, through a referendum.
It will lend it legitimacy and thus authority in the eyes of the people. Importantly, however, constitutional enshrinement whilst protecting the Voice, will uphold the undiluted power of existing Parliamentary and constitutional structures.
Sixathletesassociated withGriffith have been selected in theUnder 23 (U23),Under 21 (U21)and Under 19 (U19)Australian Rowing Teams to compete at the World Rowing Cup 3 Simulation Regatta in Juneatthe 2000 Sydney Olympics rowing venuein Penrith.
The crews were determined after rowersparticipated in trialsat Lake Barrington, Tasmania, following the 2021 Aon Australian Rowing Championships.
Danica Free after competing in Tasmania
Five currentGriffithstudentsgot the nod, withCormac Kennedy-Leverett(Bachelor of Engineering Hons)selected in the U23 Men’s single scull, Danica Free(Bachelor of Engineering Hons)making the U21 women’s quad scull, Lachlan Wright(Bachelor of Business)selected for the U19 men’s coxless four, Miller Rowe(Bachelor of Business)in the U23 men’s coxed eight and Anna Blackwell(Bachelor of Exercise Science)the U21 women’s coxed eight.
Lachlan Wright and Mackenzie Branch after winning Gold in the U19 Mens Pair in Tasmania. Image Copyright RA Linda Higginson
Mackenzie Branch, who trains withGriffith UniversitySurfers ParadiseRowingClub,was alsoselectedin theU19 men’s coxless four.
The simulation regattais the last of the season,a final chance for junior athletes to post their best performances.
Itwill also feature Australia’s Senior Australian Rowing Team crews, as they prepare for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Recent Griffith graduateMolly Goodman(Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice), whoisbased at theWomen’sNationalTraining Centre in Penrith,hasa nervous wait to confirmherlikely Olympic spot, withselectors to announce the teamin June.
Unfortunately, talented fellow graduateGeorgina Gotch (Bachelor of Business)has suffered a back injury, ruling her out of contention.
Ahead of the official Olympic team announcement,Director Sports Engagement at Griffith,Duncan FreeOAMandHead Rowing Coach at Griffith Sports College,Lincoln Handley,havealreadybeen named as Australian coaches.
Duncan Free OAM
Olympic GoldMedalist(Rowing)Freewill coach theU19 mens coxless four.
“I’ve representedAustraliaa number of times,but this is the first time officially as a coach so it’s going to be a new experience for me, sittingon the other side of the fenceand I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
“It’s a bit of astrange feeling because when you push your crew off the bank and they row up to the start line youalmostfeel a little bit useless because there’s nothing more you can do.
“Itis up to the athlete to perform at that point although you still get nervous for them.”
Free says being selectedfor the simulation regatta is an excellent training opportunity.
“I think it’s a great experience for our younger ones to compete against ourOlympic athletes,” he added.
“We are actually trying to get theNew Zealandrowers to come over as well, given the travel bubble opening up.
“It would be wonderful if theNZrowing team, whether it be theOlympic or the under aged teams, could join us becausetheyare quite strong in rowing and have been for the last couple ofOlympic cycles.
“Ialsothink given the circumstance of not being able to go and race overseas(due to Covid)it would be a wonderful experience.”
“The regatta will provide our pathway teams the chance to compete against our top elite crews as they prepare to take on the world in Tokyo,” Rowing Australia Deputy Performance Director, Jaime Fernandez, said.
Griffith University Surfers Paradise Rowing Club coach Lincoln Handley
Lincoln Handleyagrees the simulation regatta will be a wonderful opportunity for Griffith’syoungathletes.
“It’s a great result for the club, the program, and the dedication of our volunteer coaches,” he said.
“The success of the club at the recent national championships reflects the supportive and collegiate culture we have been working so hard on.
“In lots of ways the challenges of 2020 enabled us to better prepare our athletes with more flexible university and work schedules. They were able to train harder and longer which has been reflected in this year’s team selection.
“If we can continue to enable a study / training / life balance for this group, we could see some great results down the track from these talented athletes.”
Handley’s AustralianParalympicrowershave onelastevent beforeOlympicselections are announced.
“The Para athletes I have worked with train exceptionally hard for the challenges they face,” he added.
“They are a refreshing group to work with as they push their own boundaries at every opportunity and keep things very much in perspective for me. All athletes challenge my thinking in someway,but the para group have me out of the box a lot.”
The Universityhasenjoyed anaming rights partnership with Griffith University Surfers Paradise Rowing Club for around 15 years.
Current Griffith students selected for the Simulation Regatta Cormac Kennedy-Leverett, Danica Free and Lachlan Wright arealsomembers of the club.Bond University student Mackenzie Branch trains alongside them at the club.
“This a is keypartnershipfor Griffith whichprovides a supportivepathway for school rowers that wish to continue to compete and develop in the sport,” Duncan Free said.
Griffith Sports College currently supportsmore than600 athletes juggling what can be a challenging combination of study and elite sport commitments.
Griffith student Jenna Robertson is producing an opera about devastating bushfires that ripped through the Gold Coast hinterland in 2019.
The Doctor of Musical Arts candidate was evacuated from her home at Lower Beechmont and came close to losing everything in the blaze — a traumatic experience she is now exploring through music.
Written for solo soprano, chamber orchestra and chorus, Spirit Orphan was inspired by Jenna’s night alone in an evacuation centre after the fire.
“I’m an artist, an opera singer and performance maker and I make works that help us make sense of the world, something that is needed now, more than ever,” she said.
“My home in Lower Beechmont remains, thanks to our incredible firefighters, and the memories of the fires and evacuations are still fresh.
“I allowed all of those emotions to flow into this project.”
The stories of residents of Beechmont and Lower Beechmont, who shared their memories of the fires with Jenna, will be woven into the opera.
“Before the pandemic, I was often away travelling for work and I didn’t know anybody on the mountain,” she said.
“Talking with community helped me to make new friends, find meaning in our shared experience and inspired this new opera, which is all about belonging and healing.”
The creative collaboration involves Griffith University students and alumni, including creative writing doctoral candidate Alexandra Dunn, who is helping write the libretto, and film alumnus Salvador Cantellano, who is documenting the project.
“There are so many Griffith connections, it’s wonderful to be able to tap into that network of creatives,” she said.
The Scottish-Australian soprano has performed across Australia and has just embarked on her doctorate at the Queensland Conservatorium.
Jenna’s PhD will explore the creation of new, experimental work and Spirit Orphan will inform the research.
“Making a new opera is like building a house – it can take years,” she said.
“It’s a big project, but I have a life-long passion for music that keeps me going.
“This is my way of contributing to the evolution of opera.”
An excerpt from the production will be debuted to audiences as part of the Brisbane Musical Festival later this month, and a short film about the project will debut at the Gold Coast Film Festival on 17 April.
Spirit Orphan is being produced with the support of Opera Queensland, HOTA, World Science Festival Brisbane, Queensland Music Festival, Brisbane Music Festival and the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund.
The economic value of mangroves is being highlighted with new researchand anappthat projects carbon emissionsglobally.
In a first, the researchers compiledglobal data sets to projectbaselineglobal carbon emissions from different drivers of mangrove loss.
The team, led by Griffith University, focused on the five key drivers of carbon emissions from mangrove loss: clearing of the coast;urbanisation; aquaculture and agriculture; erosion; and extreme climatic events.
The results indicatedthe regions in need of policy actions to address emissions arising from mangrove loss and the drivers that could be managed to prevent them.
The Mangrove Carbon appallows users to explore the contribution of mangrove protection to mitigating carbon emissions.
Dr Chris Brown and Dr Fernanda Adame from Griffith’s Australian Rivers Institute and the Global Wetlands Project said the environmental and economic benefits of mangrove forests around the world should no longer go unnoticed.
“Mangroves accumulate three to 10 times more carbon than most ecosystems on the planet,” Dr Brown said.
Dr Fernanda Adame.
“Our projections help nations value mangrove conservation, identify what actions are needed to reduce emissions and set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“For example, if mangroves are beingclearedfor aquaculturecreating1 million tons of CO2 every year, thiswould be the baseline amount of carbon emissions.If we manage aquaculture so that instead of deforesting new mangroves we fixedabandoned aquaculture ponds, wewouldavoid the emission of 10 million tons in the next 10 years.
“This project allows nations to value mangroves, predict potential carbon emission from mangrove loss and place a value on these to help meet targets set under the Paris Climate Agreement.”
The research, published inGlobal Change Biology, highlighted that Australia was doing relatively well compared with other regions of the world, but extreme climate events were a major cause of emissions.
Dr Chris Brown.
Overseas, emissions from mangrove loss were concentrated in five regions of the world,southeast and south Asia due to agriculture and aquaculture, and the Caribbean, west Myanmar and North Brazil due to erosion and clearing.
“We compiled the latest global data sets, and we not only estimated how much carbon there is in these places but how much carbon we would lose if we continued to destroy or degrade the forest,” Dr Adame said.
“There are many drivers of mangrovedeforestationand this has been mapped globally. What we know is that there are some related to climate – like erosion and tropical storms – and there are some that are directly related to human activity – likeurbanisationand aquaculture.
“One of the most important topicsat the momentis climate sequestration, not for only climate change but for the first time in history we are seeing a value of mangroves that can be marketable.
“Sothis is quite novel in that we are starting to incorporate the value of blue carbon in the economy, and this research will help get this market moving.”
The research‘Future carbon emissions from mangrove forest loss’has been published inGlobal Change Biology.
If you thought all boomerangs were used solely for throwing and — hopefully – returning then think again, because new research by a team of Griffith University archaeologists suggests that Aboriginal Australians employed the traditional curved wooden objects for so many more purposes.
PhD candidate Eva Martellotta at the Australian Museum.
The team from Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE) analysed microscopic traces on the surfaces of 100 boomerangs from across each state and territory curated by the Australian Museum in Sydney.
The findings constitute the firsttraceologicalidentification of hardwood boomerangs being used for shaping stone tools in various Aboriginal Australian contexts and have been published inJournal of Archaeological Science — Reports.
PhD candidate EvaMartellottaworked with ARCHE’s Dr Michelle Langley (also Forensics & Archaeology, School of Environment and Science), Professor Adam Brumm and Dr Jayne Wilkins to examine microscopic marks on the surface of the boomerangs using a traceological method.
By using this method, the researchers were able to more clearly see what tasks the boomerangs were used for by Aboriginal Australians in the past.
“Not all boomerangs come back. Most are used for hunting and fighting purposes, whereas the returning ones are often children’s toys or used for games and learning purposes,” MsMartellottasaid.
“We found specific marks related to the shaping of stone tools. These marks are not new in archaeology — they are also identified on bone fragments in archaeologicalsites in Europe. Here, the Neanderthals used them to modify the shape of stone tools, starting 500,000 years ago.
“Our findings constitute the firsttraceologicalidentification of hardwood boomerangs being used forshaping stone tools in various Aboriginal Australian contexts, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
“Ethnographic evidence show that boomerangs were also used for making fire, for playing music, and asdigging sticks. This research emphasises the multipurpose nature of daily tools—like boomerangs—inAboriginal culture.
“It isproofthat new information could beunearthedfrom old museumcollections, information that could help answer archaeological and anthropological questions.”
The research ‘New data from old collections: Retouch-induced marks on Australian hardwood boomerangs’ has been published inJournal of Archaeological Science — Reports.
Griffith Master of Suicidology student Dameyon Bonson is on a mission to reduce suicide rates in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQSB community.
Dameyon is a gay Aboriginal (Mangarayi) and Torres Strait Islander (Mabuiag) male who started a social enterprise called Black Rainbow while working in remote Indigenous communities in suicide prevention.
Black Rainbow is pushing for a national health standard or policy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQSB people and Dameyon plans to use his Master of Suicidology at the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP) to help inform such standards.
“I was working across the Kimberley region in suicide prevention and became frustrated with what I saw, as the programs available did not appear to be having an impact on reducing rates of suicide,” Dameyon said.
“I thought if I wanted to participate in the prevention of suicide, I need to understand suicide.”
“With my final year dissertation, I will look at the suicidality in men of the Northern Territory and their understanding of it.
“Due to the lack of data regarding suicidality in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LBGTIQSB community, my studies and research will inform Black Rainbow’s public health approach and universal-like interventions.
Dameyon Bonson.
“This approach will be specific to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LBGTIQSB community.”
This year marks 20 years of suicide research and prevention at Griffith University.
In its first iterations, Black Rainbow involved two social media accounts and was created to bring positive visibility to community members who may have been feeling isolated.
“For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQSB community, our lives are at the intersection of two significant health determinants, particularly for suicide risk: racism and homophobia,” Dameyon said.
“We are yet to see an investment from the suicide prevention leadership in this country commensurate with this need.
“Whether they were in a remote community, the suburbs inner-city in their bedrooms, we wanted them to know they were not alone, and social media was a great way to achieve this, connecting with people all over the country.”
Black Rainbow is run by volunteers and provides support to a niche group of people that belong to not just one, but two at-risk groups — those who are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and identify as LGBTIQSB.
While keeping a large focus on suicide prevention, the organisation has also branched out more broadly to help foster the health and wellbeing of the people they support, from research into how COVID-19 impacted the community, to a Futures Fund, which provides financial support for a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LBGTIQSB individuals excelling in their field and need a helping hand.
“As Black Rainbow has evolved, our directions and activities are shaped by the community and our own personal lived experiences,” Dameyon said.
“The work we are currently doing is what we view as essential work to support positive wellbeing of the people we work with.”
Dameyon was also recently listed in Vogue as one of the 20 people who changed the world in 2020.
LGBTIQSB stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Sistergirl and Brotherboy, with Sistergirl and Brotherboy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander terms for transgender.
Griffith’s rugby sevens team secured the Queensland regional Aon University Sevens title over the weekend, winning on overall points despite losing to Bond University in the grand final game of the second local tournament.
Points were gathered from play at both regional rounds, with Griffith taking out the earlier Aon tournament at Easts Rugby Club on March 27-28.
The second round was held over two days at Surfers Paradise and featured Bond University, University of Queensland (UQ) and Griffith plus a new combined Queensland side, after University of Adelaide and Melbourne University joined the NSW regional competition to avoid possible border closure issues.
Kahli Henwood in flight against UQ. Image by Stephen Tremain
Co-captain Kiri Lingman said while the result against Bond was disappointing, the on-field action was some of the tournament’s best so far.
“It was probably the best game of the tournament and it ended up being really close at 21-15,” she said.
“I think we scored the same number of tries but we just didn’t convert our kicks.
“We made a few too many errors and they have a lot of speed, so they pretty much just picked it up and went with it.”
Lingman said the altered tournament format played out better than teams expected.
“Organisers did a good job and had pretty much the same number of games as we normally would have,” she added.
“It was basically the same standard though the fourth team was a combined team.
“Bond, UQ and Griffith are probably three of the strongest teams for Aon in the country anyway and to have a combined team that was just as competitive was a pretty good thing for us, especially to be prepping for this national tournament.”
Griffith congratulate Bond players on their finals win. Image by Stephen Tremain
Coach Moana Virtue said she was very proud of the Griffith team for accomplishing their goal of winning the Queensland regional Aon title.
“We had to strip everything back and start from scratch this year and really work at key areas of our whole game, so to see it pay off has been rewarding,” she said.
“We were disappointed to lose the weekend’s grand final, but Bond were too good for us.”
Tournament action
Griffith defeated the combined Queensland side 24-17 to kick off the second regional tournament.
Fresh off a win against UQ, Bond then beat Griffith 17-12 despite a late surge from the Griffith girls.
Georgina Friedrichs offloads a pass against UQ.
In what was described as an ‘abrasive encounter’ Griffith then smashed UQ 26-10. Tries were scored by Georgina Friedrichs, Ivana Lolesio and Kahli Henwood in the first half and Ivania Wong shortly after returning from half time.
In the round’s semi-final matchups, Griffith easily dispatched with UQ 26 nil, running in four tries with scores to Ivana Lolesio, Alana Grace, Terri-Anne Egan and Chantay Ratu.
Awarded overall regional winners on points, Griffith will now prepare for the first of two national finals tournaments to be held on May 1 and 2.
“I think we’re one of the fittest teams out there but we start really slow in the game and while we probably are the best finishers in the entire competition we’re sometimes just leaving it a bit too late,” Lingman said.
“UTS ended up taking out their (NSW) regional tournament and watching them on the livestream (showed) they were pretty sharp, so I think they’ll definitely be the NSW team to beat.”
“We use every training and game as a learning opportunity and always want to be better so that’s exactly what we’ll be doing over the next three weeks till Nationals in Sydney,” Moana Virtue added.
This post has been contributed by Professor Brett Freudenberg, member of the Law Futures Centre.
In April 2021, Griffith University secured $100,000 in federal funding to continue the Griffith Tax Clinic.
This is the third year of funding, which in part represents the ability of the tax clinic to continue to deliver services to the community despite the pandemic.
Due to restrictions about human movement and interaction because of Covid-19, many universities had to either cancel their work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences or move them to a remote online platform (Sandhu and de Wolf, 2020).
Within four weeks in 2020, the Griffith Tax Clinic was able to alter its operations to be fully online allowing law and business students to continue their WIL experience.
The Griffith Tax Clinic allows unrepresented taxpayers to gain assistance from tax students under the supervision of experienced tax practitioners.
The objectives of the tax clinic are to provide greater access to justice for unrepresented taxpayers (including micro and small businesses); a rich learning environment for students; an avenue to identify systematic problems in the tax system, as well as to improve community tax literacy.
For over seven months in 2020, the Griffith Tax Clinic was able to operate online through Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft Teams for video conference calling, including the ability to share screens and record, including the ability to invite clients to the video conference call.
Student tax advisors were divided into two teams of three, and each team would have two client meetings per day, taking on different roles in each meeting, being interview leader, note taker and observer/researcher.
The tax agent would attend and supervise each of the meetings. In this way, clients could be assisted with their tax issues, including completing their tax returns as well as objections against the Australian Taxation Office.
But what did this online environment mean for the law and business students involved in terms of developing their skills and confidence, in particular their professional identity? Pretti, Etmanski and Durston (2020) note how the notions of socialisation and meaningful work are essential for WIL students when working remotely. Looking at the literature about employees generally, remote working can raise concerns about the feeling of isolation due to a loss of communication (Bartel et al., 2012; Charalampous et al., 2019).
This potential remoteness is important as WIL can offer ‘students first-hand knowledge of people and the community and introduces them to the complexity of the world beyond the classroom’ (Miller 1997, at p 16).
WIL has the potential to enhance professional identity and knowledge, which can provide career direction, as well as students’ suitability and understanding of the skills required for their chosen profession (Patrick, Peach, and Pocknee, 2009).
Research was undertaken to consider students’ perceived development of their professional identity at the Griffith Tax Clinic when it moved to be fully online. This development was compared to prior student cohorts that participated face-to-face.
The results demonstrate that there was professional identity development for both cohorts, with the online students indicating stronger growth in a number of dimensions.
However, when looking at the online students’ comments there was a sense they wished they had the on-campus experience, even though they appreciated the valuable online learning experience.
I would not change anything. I would have loved if we had an opportunity to run the Clinic from the campus instead of online, however there is not much we could do. Being a part of this team was an amazing experience even if we had to do it online!
Part of this appears to be the difficulty for students to lead the client meetings due to the technology, or that in the online environment the tax agent might dominate the meeting more given that it was his screen being shared with the client.
This can be compared to the physical on-campus environment where generally it is the computer on the student’s desk that is used to navigate the client through any online software (even though under direction of the tax agent).
I know it was tough being online and all, but I just wish there was more opportunity to lead conversations and guide the tax return process.
When considering the professional identity development of domestic and international students, the domestic online end scores are higher than the domestic on-campus students.
For international students, the online cohort is weaker than the on-campus international students in two of the three measures.
It may have been the case that the domestic students dominated in the online environment due to higher English conversation skills, and that the online environment allowed more opportunity for shy international students to ‘hide’ and wait for someone to step in.
This ability to fall into the background appeared to have adverse influence on the development of their professional identity.
Looking at the results it appears that an important part of developing professional identity, is the socialisation that can occur at the tax clinic, and the feedback and observation, whether it be from the tax agent supervisor, fellow tax clinic student advisers or their clients.
All three sources of socialisation and mentoring appear to assist. It could be that the online environment may limit this interaction with the supervision, student and clients.
For example there were generally less client meetings per day with the online clinic compared to the on-campus.
Also, the online environment may mean some more experienced and confident students dominate.
It appears that having low confidence can potentially impede a student’s learning experience in the challenging environment of a WIL experience, particularly if they do not have the motivation and perseverance.
Overall, the results indicate that students gained a lot from still being able to assist clients at the Griffith Tax Clinic in the online environment.
However, the online environment can lack the social interaction that can be so important for students in gaining valuable feedback and being able to observe what it means to be a professional.
While technology assisted Griffith law and business students to continue to assist the community at the Griffith Tax Clinic it appears that socialisation is an important part of developing students’ professional identity.
Given the recent funding announcement, the Griffith Tax Clinic looks forward to be able to continue to assist those vulnerable in the community.
Read a paper about the Griffith Tax Clinic or go online to apply for assistance from the clinic.
The results from a recent study conducted by CQUniversity Australia and Griffith University have shown clear public support among Australians for the constitutional enshrinement of a First Nations Voice.
The Australian Constitutional Values Survey 2021 measured public attitudes towards establishing an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Lead researcher Dr Jacob Deem from CQUniversity said the survey results indicated substantial support for a First Nations Voice to Parliament: 62 per cent of respondents were in favour of some form of First Nations Voice, and only one in eight respondents (12.4 per cent) were against the idea.
There was also a clear preference for enshrining the Voice in the Constitution, rather than a simply legislated model.
“More than 50 per cent of respondents were expressly in favour of a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to Parliament” (as opposed to 26 per cent in favour of a legislated Voice).”
Asked to explain why they were in favour of or against the Voice, most respondents engaged with the issue on moral and emotive grounds.
“Some respondents viewed the Voice as being an important mechanism for giving First Nations peoples a say or for listening to their perspectives, while others viewed a constitutional Voice as a way of recognising the special status of First Nations peoples as the traditional owners of the land.”
Dr Deem said that low support for a Voice that was simply legislated, without providing Constitutional recognition, showed that Australians want to be included in establishing the Voice.
“A majority of Australians view the Voice as the right course of action, and they want to be a part of that step in Australian history. Compared to constitutional reform, a purely legislative Voice would deny Australians a significant chance to participate in the change,” said Dr Deem.
Foundation lead researcher, Griffith University’s Professor A J Brown said there was clear scope and clear need for political leadership to make both the Voice and Indigenous constitutional recognition a success.
Professor Brown said the results showed major room for more public education and engagement about the Voice.
“After the majority who support, the next largest group of respondents are the ‘undecided’, accounting for around 30 percent.”
“These ‘undecided’ Australians are significant because rather than indicating disinterest or apathy, more than half said they simply did not know enough or needed more details.”
“In particular, many undecided respondents wanted to know how representatives would be chosen and what benefits the Voice would bring for First Nations peoples — underscoring that once the Government’s current Voice Co-Design process is complete, many citizens will be ready to support the plan, especially if a constitutional recognition process then gives them not just reason but need to engage.”
Dr Deem added that The Uluru Statement is expressed as an invitation to walk with First Nations peoples on a journey towards recognition, which includes the constitutional enshrinement of a Voice to Parliament as a crucial step.
“The results of the Australian Constitutional Values Survey 2021 demonstrate that many Australians have taken up this invitation, supporting a constitutionally enshrined Voice.”
The Australian Constitutional Values Survey 2021 surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1511 Australian respondents aged 18-65 plus between 9-18 February 2021. It was founded by Griffith University in 2008 and has been conducted at regular intervals since.
