Inside Commercial Law
Inside Commercial Law is a podcast brought to you by the Melbourne Centre for Commercial Law at the Melbourne Law School. In this series we talk to experts from all aspects of commercial law, policy and regulation to connect you with the latest innovations and best practice in commercial law.
Episodes
Rethinking construction risk: do our contracts help or hinder project success?
In this episode, Matthew Bell is joined by Phillip Greenham and Rebecca Dickson. Phillip and Rebecca bring their wealth of experience in construction law practice and research to our Melbourne Law Masters classroom in the subject ‘Rethinking Construction Contracting Risk’. They give insights into how the subject offers construction professionals and lawyers the opportunity to step back from ‘busin
International construction projects and their law: the only constant is change
In this episode, Matthew Bell speaks with Sharon Vogel and Shona Frame during their week at Melbourne Law School teaching ‘International Construction Law’ in the Melbourne Law Masters, with a special guest appearance by Dr Donald Charrett. They cover a smorgasbord of topics, from Indigenous consultation to security of payment, standard forms to the elusive ‘lex constructionis’, and give tips, from
Tax reform in Australia: an impossible dream?
In this episode, Professor Ali Noroozi gives insights from his decades of practice in tax law and policy into the challenges and possibilities for meaningful tax reform in Australia. This is a particularly acute issue as the Australian government heads towards its 2026 Budget buffeted by the political reality that tax reform inevitably creates ‘winners’ and ‘losers’.Find out more:Melbourne Centre
Building bridges as 'Pracademics' in the Melbourne Law Masters
If you have been wondering whether to enrol in Melbourne Law School's Masters program, this episode is for you. Associate Professor Matthew Bell speaks with the Director of the Melbourne Law Masters program, Professor Andrew Godwin. They not only discuss how the program now spans more than 25 specialist practice areas, from banking to medical law, intellectual property to tax, but also about t
Building an international construction law practice when you come from a land Down Under
In this episode, Matthew Bell speaks with Julian Bailey in London and Kim Rosenberg in Dubai. Julian and Kim both did their legal training and spent their early years in practice in Australia, and have gone on to be partners in leading international firms and to make very substantial contributions to the international construction law community through their writings, teaching and involvement with
International Taxation – a conversation with Professor Peter Harris
In this episode, host Miranda Stewart is joined in conversation by Peter Harris, Professor of Tax Law at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Centre for Tax Law. With a career spanning many years working for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and as a consultant for the Financing for Development Unit of the United Nations, assisting countries to develop and implement taxation policie
Taking (Vander)stock: the challenge of road revenue sources in Australia’s clean energy future
In late 2023, the High Court of Australia struck down the Victorian scheme requiring users of zero and low-emission vehicles (ZLEV) to pay a distance-based charge. It did so on the basis that the scheme imposed a ‘duty of excise’ and therefore impinged on the Commonwealth’s exclusive power under s 90 of the federal Constitution to levy such duties. This has sent the Australian states and territori
International Taxation in the US - A conversation with Professor David Rosenbloom
In this episode of Inside Commercial Law, Professor Miranda Stewart is joined by Professor David Rosenbloom, director of the International Tax Program at New York University School of Law. Professor Rosenbloom is a member of Caplin & Drysdale, a law firm he rejoined in 1981 after serving as international tax counsel and director of the Office of International Tax Affairs in the US Department o
The High Court’s latest take on reliance damages
When can a party sue to recover its costs under a terminated contract? In this episode, Professor Katy Barnett and Trevor Thomas discuss this issue of reliance damages for breach of contract. First, they explore the quirky history of reliance damages in Australian law. They then examine the High Court of Australia’s recent decision in the Cessnock City Council case. Is it the remedy to the bewilde
Advanced Construction Law at Melbourne Law School: exploring the cutting edge of scholarship and practice
In this episode, Dr Matthew Bell is joined by Michael Earwaker and Trevor Thomas in the week they are teaching the Melbourne Law Masters subject 'Advanced Construction Law'. As they explain, the subject is the 'capstone' in our construction law Masters program, giving students the opportunity to explore cutting edge issues and then write about them in a dissertation-length research
A journey through the 'middle end' of construction law and practice
In this podcast, we are joined by Tina Funge and David Ulbrick as they teach the Masters subject 'Managing Legal Risk in Construction' at Melbourne Law School. Tina and Dave tell us how they have developed their practice and scholarship as construction lawyers, give some tips about how to juggle Masters study with everything else going on in their lives, and provide insights into the often
A new draft Australian Standard construction contract AS4000: a missed opportunity?
The AS4000 form of contract for construct-only delivery is one of the most widely used in the Australian construction industry. As it is now 27 years old, though, it doesn't even have a GST clause in it; let alone, provisions dealing with dispute avoidance, security of payment, collaborative contracting, or a raft of other developments which are now part of the contracting landscape. In this p
International Construction Law
In this podcast, Wayne Jocic speaks with Dr Donald Charrett and Sharon Vogel, who teach the Melbourne Law Masters subject ‘International Construction Law’. Donald and Sharon discuss the role of community in international construction law, and speculate about the future of the field.
Construction Delay and Disruption: Illuminating the 'Dark Arts' in a Law Masters Classroom
In this podcast, Matthew Bell speaks with the lecturers of the Melbourne Law Masters subject 'Law of Construction Delay and Disruption', Robert Gemmell and Rebecca Dickson. This is one of the most popular subjects in our program, reflecting not only the importance of the topic to construction procurement in Australia and around the world but also the way in which Robert and Rebecca are abl
Urban planning and construction: from Ozymandias to a (sustainable) brave new world
Every part of our increasingly urbanised cities and the places we live face similar challenges and opportunities when it come achieving sustainable outcomes through infrastructure and the built environment. In this podcast, Jody Williams and Dr Ilsa Kuiper give us insights into how communities can enhance our sustainable future cities in the legal setting. Jody and Ilsa are the teachers of the sub
Does national culture make any difference in construction procurement?
In this episode, we meet Dr Paul Tracey during the week he is teaching the subject 'Global Perspectives on Construction Law' in the Melbourne Law Masters. Paul brings years of project and teaching experience to our classroom, and uses a variety of innovative teaching techniques, including 'rich pictures' and 'object based learning', to engage students from around the world
Melbourne classroom hosts tour of Asia and its construction projects
In this podcast, we meet Dr Arthur McInnis and Paul Starr,
teachers of the Melbourne Law Masters subject 'Construction
Law and Projects in Asia'. With their combined decades of experience in construction project procurement and dispute resolution, they are unrivalled 'tour guides' for our engaged and diverse students who themselves are lawyers and industry professionals from across
Innovation in Infrastructure Procurement
Over the past few years, Major Road Projects Victoria has implemented an innovative procurement strategy, its Program Delivery Approach. In this podcast, Kiri Parr sits down with Matthew Bell to discuss the research which Melbourne Law School has undertaken about the PDA, highlighting how it has transformed the culture and social impact of this important aspect of infrastructure procurement.
The r
