UTS Law academics Jennifer Burn and Laurie Berg have been recognised for their outstanding commitment to high level research in the annual UTS Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Research Excellence.
Held on the 22nd September, the awards aim to broadly acknowledge UTS academics’ continuing dedication to the production of socially impactful research.
Professor Jennifer Burn, of UTS Law’s Anti-Slavery Australia, was awarded the prestigious Deputy Vice Chancellor’s (Research) Medal for Research Impact. Awarded to an individual researcher, the DVCR Medal for Research Impact recognises the breadth of research impact outside the academic community.
A specialist in immigration and administrative law, Professor Burn has represented ASA on the Australian Government National Roundtable on Human Trafficking since 2008. “Our research at ASA is dedicated to abolishing human trafficking and slavery in Australia,” she said. “Everything we do is tied to that goal.”
Advocating for more effective legal and human rights practices and protections in Australia, Professor Burn’s work has managed to shape the country’s response to the issue of human trafficking and slavery. In July this year, she appeared on SBS Insight to call for the immediate appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner – a role that would offer ongoing protection to the vulnerable victims of modern day slavery.
" alt="Laurie" title="">Senior UTS Law lecturer Dr Laurie Berg was successful as a joint recipient of the Early Career Research Excellence Award. The award, presented to individuals who have completed their PhDs within the last 5 years, celebrates original, innovative and impactful research conducted by an early career academic.
With broad research interests that span Australian public law and political theories of inclusion, Dr Berg’s work has a strong human rights focus. Often exploring the rights violations of marginalised communities, her current research focuses on the exploitation of temporary migrant workers in Australia and calls for the implementation of national regulatory reforms.
She is also working on a project that investigates the experiences of au pairs working in Australia, with the ultimate aim of delivering a best practice model to “address gaps in protection for au pairs’ workplace injuries, harassment and abuse”.
The project is the first empirical inquiry of its kind undertaken in Australia, and will provide a strong evidence base of the day-to-day experience of the 10,000 or so au pairs living in the country. Dr Berg was recently interviewed by Fairfax for a series of pieces uncovering high levels of exploitation in the Australian au pair community.
UTS Law’s Associate Dean of Research, Brian Opeskin, said of the results: “Given the extremely strong competition from across the University, this is an excellent outcome.”
A full list of 2016 award recipients can be found here.
Story by: Tess Gibney
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