Asian Law Centre
The Asian Law Centre (ALC) commenced activities in 1985 and is the first and largest Australian centre devoted to the development of our understanding of Asian law and legal systems.
News and Events

Allen Clayton-Greene
- The Hon. Justice Susan Kenny (Chair)
Judge, Federal Court of Australia
- Mr Joel Backwell
Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
- Mr Peter Gray QC
Barrister, Owen Dixon Chambers West
- Ms Natasha Kassam
Lowy Institute
- Mr Cheng Lim
Partner, King & Wood Mallesons
- Ms Lynden Mullen
Senior Policy Officer, Economic Development and International, Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Mr John Siddham
International Development Consultant
- Mr Rick Wallace
Journalist, The Australian

Radhika Agarwal

Xiaoxuan Chen

Faye Chan

Adam Eldridge-Imamura

Lina Chen Chen Lee

Saika Sabir

Emilia Sterjova

Nguyen Vu Thu Trang

Tresnawati

Phapit Triratpan
Past Graduate Researchers
Name | Supervisor(s) | Research Topics | Year of Completion |
---|---|---|---|
Ms Dina Afrianty |
Tim Lindsey
Michael Leigh |
PhD (Asia Institute)
Responses of Local Women's NGOs to Sharia Implementation in Post-Conflict Aceh: Case Studies of Women's Network for Policy Reform (JPUK) | 2010 |
Mr Khalid Al-Azri | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Development, Culture and the Dilemma of Equality in 'Modern' Omani Society: The Practice of Kafa'a in Marriage and Talaq | 2008 |
Ms Elsie Alcordo |
Michael Tilbury
Pip Nicholson |
SJD (Law) First World Convention and Third World Corruption: The OECED Convention on Bribery in International Business Transactions and the Philippines | 2007 |
Ms Adrienne Anderson |
Michelle Foster Susan Kneebone |
PhD (Law) The Political Dimensions of Intimate Partner Violence in Refugee Law | 2023 |
Ms Dewi Apsari |
Tim Lindsey Jeremy Gans |
PhD (Law) International Extradition between Indonesia and Australia | 2019 |
Mr Rifqi Sjarief Assegaf |
Tim Lindsey Simon Butt (University of Sydney) |
PhD (Law) Criminal Sentencing in Indonesia: Disparity, Disproportionality and Biases | 2021 |
Ms Maria Bhatti | Tim Lindsey |
LLM Taxation of Islamic Finance in Australia | 2012 |
Ms Sarah Biddulph |
Michael Dutton (Arts) Pip Nicholson |
PhD (Law)
Controlling Detention for Investigation: Legal Accountability of the Chinese Public Security Organs | 2004 |
Ms Anisa Buckley |
Abdullah Saeed (Asia Institute) Tim Lindsey Andrea Whittaker (Monash) |
PhD (Arts) Muslim Women, Law and the Challenges of Securing a 'Complete' Divorce: The Australian Experience | 2017 |
Mr Matthew Busch | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Indonesia as a Weak State? Bank Restructuring after the Asian Financial Crisis | 2020 |
Mr Simon Butt | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law)
Judicial Review in Indonesia: Between Civil Law and Accountability? A Study of Constitutional Court Decisions 2003 – 2005 | 2007 |
Mr Ryad Chairil | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law)
The Indonesian Mineral Regime: A Model for the Future - Learning From Other Countries in Implementing Change | 2003 |
Mr Yeow Choy Choong |
Tim Lindsey
Michael Tilbury |
PhD (Law)
Summary Disposition in the New Procedural Landscape: Proposals for Reform in Malaysia | 2003 |
Ms Melissa Crouch |
Tim Lindsey Amanda Whiting |
PhD (Law) The regulation of Religious Diversity: The Legal Boundaries of Religious Activity in the Context of Muslim-Christian Relations in Post-Suharto Indonesia | 2011 |
Mr Budi Darmono | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law)
Adat and Land Law in a Plural System: A Study of Forestry Regulations and Indonesian 'Legal Development' | 2004 |
Mr Darshan Datar |
Adrienne Stone Farrah Ahmed Chantal Morton | Defining Religion in a Comparative Setting: Exploring the Impact of Judicial Trivialization of Religion | 2023 |
Ms Alice de Jonge | Tim Lindsey |
SJD (Law)
Media and Markets in Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China: Maintaining Corporate Standards in China's H-Share Market | 2007 |
Mr Peter Dirou |
Tim Lindsey Shaun McVeigh Sundhya Pahuja |
PhD (Law) Food Security, Law and Development: Insights from the Indonesian Development Experience | 2014 |
Mr Hai Ha Do |
Pip Nicholson Sean Cooney |
PhD (Law) The Dynamics of Legal Transplantation: Regulating Industrial Conflicts in Post-Doi Moi Vietnam | 2017 |
Ms Amelia Fauzia |
Sander Adelaar
Arief Budiman Michael Leigh |
PhD (Asia Institute)
Religious Philanthropy for Social Change: A Case Study of Zakat in Modern Indonesia | 2008 |
Mr Stewart Fenwick |
Tim Lindsey Abdullah Saeed (Asia Institute) |
PhD (Law) Is Rawlsian Liberalism Compatible with Islamic Thought? A Case Study of Religious Freedom in Post-Soeharto Indonesia | 2015 |
Mr Hailegabriel Gedecho Feyissa |
Pip Nicholson Jenny Beard Farrah Ahmed |
PhD (Law) The Ethiopian Civil Code: A Conceptual Historical Approach to Legal Transfer in the Age of (African) Legal Modernity | 2018 |
Associate Professor Andrew Godwin |
Sarah Biddulph Sean Cooney |
PhD (Law) The Relevance of Traditional Proprietary Rights to the Reform of Rural Land Rights in China | 2019 |
Mr Andrew Godwin | Sarah Biddulph |
LLM (Law) The Emerging Theory Underpinning the Development of Mortgage Law in China | 2001 |
Ms Carolyn Graydon |
Tim Lindsey Dianne Otto |
PhD (Law) Valuing Women in Timor Leste: The Need to Address Domestic Violence by Reforming Customary Law Approaches while Improving State Justice | 2016 |
Ms Susi Dwi Harijanti |
Cheryl Saunders Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) The Indonesian Ombudsman System and Good Governance 2000-2005 | 2011 |
Ms Erica Harper | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Constructing a Legal System in East Timor: Challenges to Introducing International Legal Norms and Principles into Post-conflict States Under UN Administration | 2007 |
Mr Thomas Harré |
Susan Kneebone Bernadette McSherry |
PhD (Law) Human Trafficking for Forced Labour under Transnational Criminal Law: Responses to the Abuse of Migrant Workers in Southeast Asian Fisheries | 2018 |
Mrs Nurhidayah Muhammad Hashim |
Tim Lindsey Abdullah Saeed |
PhD (Law) Maintenance for Children after Divorce in Syaria and Civil Practice in Malaysia: What Malaysia can Learn from Australia's Child Support Scheme | 2013 |
Ms Nur Hidayah |
Tim Lindsey Abdullah Saeed |
PhD (Law) Feminising Islam in Contemporary Indonesia: The Role of Progressive Muslim Women's Organisations | 2012 |
Mr Hui Jing |
Matthew Harding Sarah Biddulph |
PhD (Law) The Unique Governance Structure of Chinese Charitable Trusts | 2020 |
Mr Denny Indrayana |
Cheryl Saunders Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Indonesian Constitutional Reform 1999-2002: An Evaluation of Constitution-Making in Transition | 2005 |
Ms Balawyn Jones |
Tim Lindsey Amanda Whiting |
PhD (Law) Reaching Out From the Ocean: Women's Experiences Navigating the Anti-Domestic Violence Law in Aceh, Indonesia | 2022 |
Mr Sunseop Jung | Malcolm Smith |
PhD (Law) Comparative Study on the Legal Aspects of Financial Derivatives | 2002 |
Ms Josi Khatarina | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Decentralisation, Law, and the Failure of Palm Oil Licensing | 2020 |
Mr Joseph Kikonyogo |
Tania Voon Pip Nicholson |
PhD (Law) Africa and the Ailing Promise of the Doha Development Agenda in the WTO Negotiations on Agriculture | 2016 |
Dr Jeremy Kingsley |
Tim Lindsey
Abdullah Saeed |
PhD (Law) Tuan Guru, community and conflict in Lombok, Indonesia | 2010 |
Mr Jonathan Kolieb |
Gerry Simpson Sean Cooney Christine Parker |
PhD (Law) Corporate Peacebuilding and the Law: Regulating the Private Sector for Conflict Transformation | 2017 |
Mr Guoqing (Michael) Liu |
Michael Bryan Sarah Biddulph |
PhD (Law) The Role of Equity in Trusts Law: The Legislation and Application of the Chinese Trust Law | 2009 |
Ms Sally Low |
Pip Nicholson David Chandler |
PhD (Law) Courts, Codes and Power: The Making of Law in Colonised Cambodia | 2017 |
Mr Imran Lum |
Tim Lindsey Abdullah Saeed (Asia Institute) |
PhD (Law and Asia Institute) Negotiating the Prohibition of Riba: Australian and British Muslim Attitudes Towards Conventional and Islamic Banking | 2014 |
Mr Nan (Damon) Luo |
Richard Garnett Sarah Biddulph |
PhD (Law) Developing a Model for Uniform Conflict of Laws Rules for Commercial Contracts within Greater China: Necessity and Possibilities | 2019 |
Mr Tim Mann |
Tim Lindsey Jenny Beard |
PhD (Law) Cause Lawyering in a Fragile Democracy: The Indonesian Foundation of Legal Aid Institutes (YLBHI) | 2022 |
Ms Trischa Mann |
Kylie Smith (Melbourne Graduate School of Education) Amanda Whiting | From Court to College: The Institutionalisation of Judicial Education During Its First Decade in Victoria, 2005–2015 | 2018 |
Mr Jimmy Mao |
Sean Cooney Richard Mitchell (Monash University) Chris Arup (Monash University) |
PhD (Monash University) The Evolution of China's Pension Programs: Limited Coverage and Regulatory Responsiveness | 2012 |
Ms Kate McGregor |
Tim Lindsey Charles Coppel (Arts) |
PhD (Arts)
The Military and History in Indonesia | 2002 |
Mr Michael McKenzie (ANU) |
Veronica Taylor Tim Lindsey |
PhD (ANU) Rethinking International: Crime, Policy and Politics in Australia-Indonesian Relations | 2015 |
Ms Jessica Melvin |
Tim Lindsey Kate McGregor (Arts) Steven Welch (Arts) |
PhD (Law) The 1965 Mass Killings in Aceh | 2014 |
Mr Minh Nut Duong | Pip Nicholson |
LLM by thesis (Law) Commercial Dispute Resolution in the Vietnamese Economic Court | 2009 |
Ms Lilis Mulyani | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Reforming Group Legal Personhood in Indonesian Land Law: Towards Equitable Land Rights for Traditional Customary Communities | 2021 |
Mr Jason Sze Chieh Ng |
Amanda Whiting Associate Kate McGregor (Arts) |
PhD (Arts) Red Shadow: Malayan Communist Memoirs as Parallel Histories of Malaysia | 2019 |
Ms Wendy Ng |
Sean Cooney Caron Beaton-Wells |
PhD (Law) Stepping Through the Looking Glass: China's Anti-Monopoly Law on its Own Terms | 2014 |
Mr Nguyen Hien Quan |
Tim Lindsey
Pip Nicholson |
PhD (Law)
Social Structures and Relational Contracts in the Vietnamese Market: Toward A Contract Law Theory | 2006 |
Ms Nina Nurmila |
Abdullah Saeed
Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Asia Institute)
Marriages in Contemporary Indonesia: 'Women's Perspectives' | 2006 |
Ms Pip Nicholson | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Vietnamese Court Development Since 1945 | 2001 |
Ms Helen Pausacker |
Tim Lindsey Abdullah Saeed |
PhD (Law) Morality and the Nation: Law, Pornography and Indonesia's Islamic Defenders Front | 2013 |
Ms Pham Lan Phuong |
Pip Nicholson Sarah Biddulph |
PhD (Law) Between Rhetoric and Reality: The People's Procuracy as a Human Rights Protector in the Vietnamese Criminal Process | 2019 |
Mr Richard Powell |
Joe LoBianco (Arts) Amanda Whiting |
PhD (Education, Linguistics) Vernacularising the Law: Malaysia's Bilingual Policy as a Model for Postcolonial Common Law Systems | 2014 |
Ms Rheny Pulungan |
Tim Lindsey Andrew Mitchell |
PhD (Law) The Shortcomings of International Law on Piracy and Maritime Terrorism: Options for Strengthening Maritime Security in the Malacca Strait | 2015 |
Ms Jothie Rajah |
Pip Nicholson
Professor Abdullah Saeed Thio Li-ann (National University of Singapore) |
PhD (Law) Constantly Colonised: Legal Containment of Minority Religious Legal Identities in Post-Colonial Singapore | 2009 |
Ms Sonia Randhawa |
Kate McGregor (Arts) Amanda Whiting |
PhD (Arts) Writing Women: The Women’s Ppages of the Malay-Language Press, 1987-1998 | 2019 |
Ms Inge Resdiano | Tim Lindsey |
LLM (Law) Corporate Governance in Indonesia, Singapore and Australia - A Comparison | 2002 |
Mr Dudi Rulliadi |
Anne Orford Tim Lindsey Andrew Mitchell |
PhD (Law) Public-Private Partnerships and the Transformation of the Third World State: The Case of Indonesia | 2017 |
Ms Hajrah Saboor |
Carolyn Evans Amanda Whiting |
PhD (Law) Pakistan's Islamic Identity, its Blasphemy Law and the International Law of Human Rights | 2013 |
Mr Arskal Salim | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Islamisation of Laws in a Modernising State: Sharia in Indonesia 1945-2005 | 2006 |
Mr Saw Tiong Guan |
Andrew Kenyon Amanda Whiting |
PhD (Law) The Final Cut: Film Censorship in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia | 2011 |
Adv Andy Schmulow |
Tim Lindsey Charles Coppel |
PhD (Law) Problems Associated with Prudential Regulatory Enforcement in the Indonesian Banking Sector | 2014 |
Ms Sofie Arjon Schuette |
Howard Dick Tim Lindsey Peter Verhezen |
PhD (Law) Institutional Change and Anti-Corruption Strategies in Indonesia since the Regime Change in 1998 | 2012 |
Ms Chenxia Shi | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Political Determinants of Corporate Governance in China | 2009 |
Ms Stacey Steele | Veronica Taylor |
LLM (Law) Litigation and Bankruptcy Law in Japan: Towards Modernity, Social Change and Reform? | 2000 |
Ms Kerstin Steiner | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Are 'Asian Values' Universal? - International Discourses on Human Rights Policies | 2007 |
Mr Nandang Sutrisno | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Dispute Settlement in the WTO and Developing Countries | 2006 |
Mr Benny Tabalujan |
Malcolm Smith
Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) The Legal Framework of Corporate Governance in the Indonesian Stock Market: Implications for Shareholders and Foreign Investors | 2001 |
Ms Windy Triana |
Tim Lindsey Farrah Ahmed |
PhD (Law) Reforming the Education of Islamic Judges in Indonesia | 2022 |
Ms Elizabeth (Ann) Wardrop | Tim Lindsey |
PhD (Law) Regulation of Insolvent Investor-Owned Essential Service Corporations | 2007 |
Mr I Gusti Ngurah Parikesit Widiatedja |
Tim Lindsey Jenny Beard |
PhD (Law) The Regulatory Failure of Spatial Planning in Bali and its Environmental and Social Impact: A Case Study of Hotel Projects | 2020 |
Ms Phoebe Wynn-Pope |
Tim Lindsey
Tim McCormack |
PhD (Law) The Responsibility to Protect Against Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide: Effective Operationalisation of the Principle | 2010 |
Ms Brandais York |
Susan Kneebone Michelle Foster | A Marriage of Convenience: Marriage Migration Policy and Cambodia’s Lean into China | 2019 |
Mr Hao Zhang |
Lee Godden Sarah Biddulph |
PhD (Law) Legal Risks of Payment Scheme of Carbon Trade and its Judicial Remedy in China | 2014 |
2018
Prosecutor Seung hee Shin
Busan District Prosecutor's Office, Republic of Korea
26 December 2018 - 19 December 2019
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleDr Mimi Zou
Oxford University, UK
10 December 2018 - 11 January 2019
Academic Host: Professor Sarah Biddulph and Professor Sean CooneyAssistant Professor Michelle Miao
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
27 November 2018 - 28 November 2018
Academic Host: Professor Sarah BiddulphProfessor Ryota Kosai
Ehime University, Japan
26 November 2018 - 28 November 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleAssociate Professor Richard Wu
Hong Kong University, Hong Kong
16 November 2018 - 15 January 2019
Academic Host: Professor Sarah Biddulph and Professor Sean CooneyAssociate Professor Lynette Chua
National University of Singapore, Singapore
15 September 2018 - 22 September 2018
Academic Host: Professor Sarah BiddulphProfessor Masako Murakami
Nagoya University, Japan
11 September 2018 - 18 September 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleWang Jia Jun
Jiaotong University, People's Republic of China
1 September 2018 - 31 August 2019
Academic Host: Associate Professor Andrew GodwinProfessor Dong Yang
Renmin University, People's Republic of China
5 August 2018 - 9 August 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey Steele and Associate Professor Andrew GodwinJudge Injun Hwang
Suwon District Court, Republic of Korea
13 August 2018 - 9 August 2019
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleAssistant Professor Karen Lee
Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
23 July 2018 - 2 August 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Amanda WhitingProfessor Xie Chuanyu
People's Public Security University of China, People's Republic of China
14 July 2018 - 31 August 2018
Academic Host: Professor Sarah BiddulphJudge Hayato Aoki
Okayama District Court, Japan
7 June 2018 - 5 June 2019
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleProfessor Margaret Lewis
Seton Hall University/National Taiwan University, US/Taiwan
11 April 2018 - 14 April 2018
Academic Host: Professor Sarah BiddulphAssociate Professor Jin Chun
Doshisha University, Japan
1 March 2018 - 19 March 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleProfessor Li Xueyao
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, People's Republic of China
1 March 2018 - 13 March 2018
Academic Host: Professor Sarah BiddulphProfessor Masako Murakami
Nagoya University, Japan
28 February 2018 - 5 March 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleProfessor Futoshi Iwata
Sophia University, Japan
18 February 2018 - 25 February 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Andrew Godwin and Associate Professor Stacey SteeleProfessor Tetsuo Morishita
Sophia University, Japan
6 February 2018 - 8 February 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Andrew Godwin & Associate Professor Stacey SteeleJudge Yun-Kyung Bae
Suwon District Court of Korea, Republic of Korea
28 August 2017 - 1 August 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleMr Kenta Kitamoto
Japan Patent Office, Japan
18 September 2017 - 30 June 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleJudge Yuri Takemura
Yokohama District Court, Japan
8 June 2017 - 5 June 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey SteeleProfessor Dan Rosen
Chuo Law School, Japan
30 March 2017 - 30 March 2018
Academic Host: Associate Professor Stacey Steele
The Asian Law Centre is engaged in a number of innovative and important research projects relating to Asian law and Asian legal studies in Australia and overseas.
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Research Programs
Each member of the Asian Law Centre is responsible for a specific research program related to a country or area of interest.
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Research Grants
List of research projects currently undertaken by members of the Asian Law Centre.
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Publications
The Asian Law Centre supports various publications, including the Australian Journal of Asian Law. It also publishes its own series of Briefing Papers.
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Resources
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Asian Law Centre academic staff teach in both the Melbourne JD and Melbourne Law Masters programs, and supervise Graduate Research Students.
Melbourne JD
The Melbourne JD is the only degree offered by Melbourne Law School that leads to admission to the legal profession in all Australian jurisdictions, and can be used as a basis for seeking admission in many law jurisdictions overseas.
Students have the flexibility to pursue particular areas of interest through elective subject selection, such as Asian and Islamic Law subjects. Offering more than 35 electives each year, the JD program continually evolves to reflect current developments in law and legal practice.
For further information on the Melbourne JD, please visit the Melbourne JD website.
Melbourne Law Masters
The Melbourne Law Masters offers masters degrees and graduate diplomas across specialist legal areas to deepen knowledge and understanding in a general or specialised area of law, including in Asian Law and Islamic Law.
For further information, as well as information concerning entry requirements, please visit the Melbourne Law Masters website.
Graduate Research Degree (GRD) Supervision
Members of the ALC supervise a large number or Graduate Research Degree (GRD) students. If you would like to be considered for GRD supervision, please contact the relevant academic member of staff directly.
Current ALC Graduate Research Students
For further information about Graduate Research Degrees, please visit the Graduate Research Degrees website.
The ALC runs numerous research activities throughout the year, many of them open to the public. This includes evening seminars, lunchtime (Brown Bag) seminars, Asian Legal Dialogues (presented in Asian languages), conferences and workshops.
The ALC has also recently launched Asian Legal Conversations - COVID-19 to discuss and compare experiences on issues either raised or exacerbated by COVID-19, which are shared by the jurisdictions of the Asia Pacific region, while also discussing country-specific issues.
Please keep up-to-date with our activities on Facebook and Twitter.
Asian Legal Conversations - COVID-19
Asian Legal Conversations - COVID-19 discusses and compares experiences on COVID-19-related issues in the Asia Pacific region.


Forthcoming Events
The ALC runs numerous research activities throughout the year, many of them open to the public.
Past Events


Visitors
The ALC regularly hosts local and international visiting scholars.
ALC Newsletters
Until the end of 2018, the ALC published a bi-annual newsletter about its recent news and events.


Asian Law Online
Asian Law Online is the first and only online bibliographic database of Asian law materials in the world. Please note it is no longer updated, but is still available.
Rule of Law Online
Rule of Law Online is an online bibliographic database of materials relating to the rule of law generally and in Asia particularly. Please note it is no longer updated, but is still available.


Malcolm DH Smith Memorial Scholarship
The Malcolm DH Smith Memorial Scholarship assists a first-year Melbourne JD student who has completed an undergraduate law degree or a degree majoring in Asian studies at a tertiary institution in Australia or Asia.