Innovation stifled by law: real or imaginary? This presentation will ask whether innovation is stifled by law. It will consider the role of the General Medical Council in regulating innovative treatment, and consider other barriers to patients accessing innovation treatment. 2017 Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Seminar Series – Liability and Innovation - The Effect of Disciplinary Proceedings.

Philip Bates (Chair), Dr David Morgan ,Katharine Philp, Professor Eleanor Milligan, Claire Bassingthwaighte , Helen Mees discuss The Effect of Disciplinary Proceedings and Innovation. 2017 Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Seminar Series – Liability and Innovation.

Can health legislation save the world? The untapped potential of law in health development. Professor Roger Magnusson will provide a brief overview of the reporten titled Advancing the Right to Health: the Vital Role of Law and argue that health law and health lawyers have a great deal to contribute to health development. If governments used public health laws more effectively to manage health risks and to protect the health of their populations, the impacts could be transformative. 2017 Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR) Public lecture.

Human Rights Meets Global Pharma. 5th Annual Public Oration.The Hon. Michael Kirby discusses his recent work on the High Level Panel (HLP), established by outgoing United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on access to essential healthcare.

Cannabis Law Reform in Australia: Panaceas, Promise and Pitfalls. Professor Freckelton explores current movements towards legalisation of medicinal cannabis in Australia. He will discuss the report of the Victorian Law Reform Commission which prompted the pioneering Access to Medicinal Cannabis Act 2016 (Vic).

Launch of the End of Life Law in Australia website. The website is an initiative of the Australian Centre for Health Law Research. It is designed to be used by patients, families, health and legal practitioners, the media, policymakers and the broader community to access information about Australian laws relating to death, dying and decision-making at the end of life. This website provides you with a broad introduction to these laws, and updates on recent developments in the field.

The Legalisation of Medical Assistance in Dying - Lessons from Canada. In this talk Professor Downie will discuss the recent reforms to Canadian assisted dying laws (MAiD) and the path to reform. She will also offer some reflections on lessons that Australians might take from the Canadian experience as they contemplate moving along the path to allowing assisted dying.

Developments in end-of-life practice under Belgian law. In this presentation, data from various sources will be used to show major developments in end-of-life practice since the euthanasia law was enacted in Belgium (in 2002). This is not restricted to the incidence and practice of euthanasia itself, but also to other end-of-life practices as well as developments in palliative and end-of-life care.

Under a medico-legal cloud: identifying doctors at highest risk of claims and complaints. The topic of this public lecture was "Identifying doctors at highest risk of claims and complaints". For individual doctors, medico-legal claims and patient complaints may feel like random events. But at the population level, clear patterns emerge. Associate Professor Marie Bismark is a public health physician and health lawyer, who leads the Law and Public Health Group at the University of Melbourne School of Global and Population Health. Her research focuses on the role of patient voice in improving the quality and safety of healthcare.

Conscientious Objection and Value Pluralism in Medicine. Where doctor and patient values conflict, most countries allow for the doctor to practice conscientious objection: to refuse to carry out legal, medically indicated procedures that conflict with the doctor's own values. Professor Savulescu will argue that there should be better protections for patients from doctors' personal values and there should be more severe restrictions on the right to conscientious objection.