Hitting the high notes

A message from Executive Dean of Law and Business Professor Andrew O’Neil:

ACU continues to make impactful achievements across education, research, and external engagements from our business and law schools.

I am excited to report that the Thomas More Law School (TMLS) has received global recognition of its pioneering pro bono placement program by winning first prize in the Uniservitate Asia and Oceania Hub. Facing high quality competitors, the school’s Pro Bono and Legal Education Program received $8000 prize money and an invitation for one academic and one student to attend the fifth Uniservitate Global Symposium in Rome later this year. The winners will have a private audience with Pope Francis during the symposium. I would like to acknowledge the leadership of Dr Ian Lam, coordinator of the TMLS Pro Bono Program.

Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Zlatko Skrbis recently approved the creation of the Governance and Public Affairs Centre (GPAC), which will be housed in the Faculty of Law and Business. GPAC’s mission is to bring together business, university, and civic leaders - across the ideological and political spectrums - to address complex governance challenges at the intersection of business, politics, and society. Adopting a non-partisan approach that values respectful and robust debate among diverse perspectives, GPAC will undertake interdisciplinary research, produce frameworks and industry resources, and provide bespoke consulting and advice that enhances governance approaches to contested issues. Patrick Langrell has assumed the role of GPAC’s inaugural Director, and I am delighted to welcome Patrick to our faculty.

ACU has now received confirmation that the Peter Faber Business School (PFBS) achieved reaccreditation from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) for ACU’s ICT programs. ACS accreditation provides critical validation of the inherent quality of programs and benchmarks these programs against exacting international standards. Equally important, ACS accreditation provides a market signal to prospective employers, that the ICT degree programs graduates complete at ACU meet up-to-date industry requirements in a rapidly evolving field. Read about the limitless professional horizons which await our students in this Accreditation for ACU's IT courses news article. ACS reaccreditation was confirmed as the PFBS prepares to undertake the rigorous review process for initial AACSB accreditation in August. AACSB accreditation is regarded as the gold standard for business schools worldwide, with less than six per cent having achieved this goal.

Finally, in research news, FLB colleagues achieved major success in the first half of 2024. Highlights include, Associate Dean (Research & Enterprise) Professor Joy Parkinson being part of a team led by Monash University that was awarded $1,999,925 funding by the Medical Research Future Fund for a five-year project on ‘Enhancing Adherence and Self-Management in the Treatment of Respiratory Conditions’.

Dr Trajce Cvetkovski was successful in a $140,000 tender bid with co-investigators from the University of Queensland and Griffith University, to undertake a study for the Western Australian government on the role of the WorkSafe Regulator in investigating work-related suicides. The aim of the study is to determine the scope of the regulator in the investigation, determination, and taking of regulatory action in the event of an allegedly work-related suicide.

I thank our colleagues in the Faculty of Law and Business on their contribution to these considerable achievements and I look forward to sharing details of our continued success in the remainder of the year.

Professor Andrew O’Neil
Executive Dean Law and Business