Australia’s financial consumer law was recently described by the Australian Law Reform Commission as “a tangled mess” and a “confusing maze” that is “no longer fit for purpose”. A new approach is needed. In this episode, BLS Chair Dr Pamela Hanrahan and Executive member John Keeves talk to Professor Lauren Willis, Centennial Chair of Consumer Law at Loyola Law School in California and a world-renowned expert on consumer regulation, about an alternative performance-based approach to law design.

Recorded 6 March 2025

In this episode, BLS Chair Dr Pamela Hanrahan and Executive member John Keeves meet two people at the centre of Australia’s coordinated response to cyber threat. Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness CSC, the National Cyber Security Coordinator and Hamish Hansford, the Deputy Secretary for Cyber & Infrastructure Security in the Department of Home Affairs discuss the national strategy for cyber resilience and the Cyber Security Act 2024 (Cth).

In this special episode, BLS Executive members Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves meet Mette Morsing, Professor of Business Sustainability and Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Professor Morsing is in Australia as the 2024 Gourlay Visting Professor of ethics in business and talks about how the disciplines of law and management work together in responding to climate change.

With the Senate Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence due to report in September, BLS Chair Professor Pamela Hanrahan and BLS Executive member John Keeves discuss recent developments and likely futures in AI regulation with Peter Leonard, Principal of Data Synergies Pty Ltd and UNSW Business School Professor of Practice.

The Australian Law Reform Commission was charged in 2020 with untangling the mess that is Australia’s financial services law, without altering the policy settings. In this episode, BLS Executive members Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves discuss the Final Report with Christopher Ash and Ellie Filkin from the ALRC to unpack the Report’s 58 recommendations. We explore what needs to change in our approach to legislating for business regulation in future, to avoid unnecessary complexity and support the rule of law.

In this episode, Professor Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves discuss the climate disclosure bill introduced into Parliament in March with Tim Stutt, Australian head of ESG at Herbert Smith Freehills and Ben Fleming from Sullivan and Cromwell. The discussion shows how far we still are from achieving a global consensus on this important reform.

In this episode, Olga Ganopolsky of the BLS Privacy Committee and Michael Rivette of the Victorian Bar join BLS Executive Members Professor Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves to discuss current issues in privacy, covering how Australia shapes up internationally, rule of law concerns and privacy class actions.

The fourteenth edition of the BLS Report explores the challenge of attributing fault to large corporations and other entities where power and decision-making are diffused.

BLS Executive members Professor Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves are joined by Professor Elise Bant FAAL from the University of Western Australia, to discuss her new edited book exploring the conceptions and conditions of corporate blameworthiness in law. We unpack the theory of “systems intentionality” as a basis for determining the mindset of a corporation.

The thirteenth edition of the BLS Report explores the broader context of the PJC’s current review of aspects of Australia’s insolvency regimes, and the possibilities for change.

BLS Executive members Professor Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves are joined by two guests whom are perfectly positioned to provide insight into this topic, Chair of the BLS’ Insolvency & Restructuring committee Chris Pearce and committee member Dr Jason Harris, Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Sydney.

In the final episode for 2022, BLS Executive members John Keeves and Pamela Hanrahan chat with ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court about ASIC’s enforcement approach. The conversation covers ASIC’s use of court proceedings and ‘why not litigate’, the Star proceedings and ongoing enforcement actions on DDO, and the proposed unfair conduct laws.