Associate Professor Bruce Baer Arnold has a strong interest in privacy, data protection, artificial intelligence and robotics, intellectual property and health sector regulation. He is Vice-Chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation, and advisor to the Friends of Science in Medicine. His work has appeared in Melbourne University Law Review, Journal of Medical Ethics, Monash Law Review, Laws, Adelaide Law Review, Local Government Law Journal, Alternative Law Journal and other publications.
What did you do before you were a law aficionado?
I worked in Canberra, Beijing and Melbourne. Rumours that I escaped from a circus are alas untrue.
What drew you to studying (and teaching) law?
I was inspired by the great Peter Drahos, Matthew Rimmer and Ernst Kantorowicz before wandering into academia in my 50s. I research and teach to make the world a somewhat better place, which is why I’m one of those irritating academics who does submissions to law reform bodies, talks with the media and dares our students to be excellent.
What is your favourite area of law and why?
Health law. It has everything: power, principle, justice, technology, creativity, human nature, courage and the very best jokes.
Tell us a little bit about your current research
I’m getting rid of several monographs (including books on identity crime, the Animal Crossing digital platform, the nature of legal personhood, and culture crime), writing up a major number-crunching exercise regarding litigious university students (20 years worth of data) and co-authoring two monographs on genomics & law.
Bruce has recently been quoted in the following parliamentary reports:
Senate Finance & Public Administration Committees (2021): Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Banning Dirty Donations) Bill 2020 (Cth) – Report
Senate Finance & Public Administration Committees (2021): Data Availability and Transparency Bill 2020 (Cth) – Report
NSW Legislative Council Portfolio Committee (2021): Cybersecurity and digital information management in NSW – Report
NSW Parliament Joint Select Committee (2021): Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020 (NSW) – Report
NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Law & Justice (2021): Mandatory Disease Testing Bill 2020 (NSW) – Report
Senate Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee (2021): Judges’ Pensions Amendment (Pension Not Payable for Misconduct) Bill 2020 (Cth) – Report
Senate Education and Employment Committees (2021): Australian Education Legislation Amendment (Prohibiting the Indoctrination of Children) Bill 2020 (Cth) – Report
Victorian Parliament Electoral Matters Committee (2021): Impacts of Social Media on Elections and Electoral Administration – Report
Recent Submissions
Senate Constitutional & Legal Affairs Committee (2021): Ensuring Northern Territory Rights Bill 2021 – with Wendy Bonython and Jane Diedricks
Senate Finance and Public Administration Committees (2021): Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Integrity of Elections) Bill 2021
Senate Legal & Constitutional Committees (2021): Constitution Alteration (Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press) Bill
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (2021): Turnitin-Ouriginal Merger
Recent article
'When is a food a medicine’ (2021) Medical Journal of Australia Insight+ - with Ken Harvey
Fun
‘Noodly No: Putting a judicial decision about the Flying Spaghetti Monster through the strainer’ (2021) The Skeptic
‘Magic armbands and Covid Conspiracies’ (2021) The Skeptic
dR
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