What we do
Aims
Activities

Who we are
Co-Director:
Neil Gunningham

Co-Director:
Richard Johnstone

Member:
Liz Bluff

Associate members:
Alan Clayton
Neil Foster
Andrew Hopkins
Michael Quinlan

Consortium members

Socio-Legal Research Centre

Neil Foster

BA/LLB (UNSW), BTh (ACT), DipATh (Moore), LLM (Newcastle)
Senior Lecturer
School of Law
University of Newcastle
Callaghan NSW 2308 AUSTRALIA

Education

Background includes an undergraduate combined law degree from the University of NSW (University medallist in Law), degree in Theology awarded by the Australian College of Theology after study at Moore Theological College, Sydney (and a Diploma of Arts in Theology from Moore), and a research Master of Laws degree from the University of Newcastle.

Research Interests

Neil Foster has been teaching a course in Occupational Health and Safety Law at the University of Newcastle since 1996, both face-to-face and through a distance education course. His LLM thesis related to the individual legal responsibility of company officers for OHS breaches committed by companies (in civil law, general criminal law such as manslaughter, and specific OHS laws.) He is continuing research on the interaction between tort law and OHS responsibilities, particularly the impact of newer models of OHS regulation on the classic workplace injury tort remedy provided by the tort of "breach of statutory duty".

Selected Publications (by date, since 2000)

“Mining, maps and mindfulness: the Gretley appeal to the Full Bench of the Industrial Court of NSW” (2008) 24/2 Journal of Occupational Health and Safety, Australia and New Zealand 113-129.

“Personal civil liability of company officers for company workplace torts” (2008) 16/1 Torts Law Journal 20-68.

“Deemed to be ‘workers’ for common law action” (2008) 46/1 Law Society Journal 68-69.

“Psychiatric workplace injury and breach of duty: New South Wales v Fahy” (2007) 15(3) Torts Law Journal 227.

“The CAMAC Report on Personal Liability for Corporate Fault - A Critique from the OHS Perspective” (2007) 20(1) Australian Journal of Labour Law 112-118

'Manslaughter by Managers: The Personal Liability of Company Officers for Death Flowing from Company Workplace Safety Breach' (2006) 9 Flinders Journal of Law Reform 79-111.

'Breach of Statutory Duty and Risk Management in Occupational Health and Safety Law: New Wine in Old Wineskins?' (2006) 14 Tort Law Review 79-104

“Personal Liability of Company Officers for Corporate Occupational Health and Safety Breaches: section 26 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 (NSW)” – (2005) 18 Australian Journal of Labour Law 107-135.

“Psychiatric Injury Following Workplace Trauma or Death: Actions by Fellow-Workers and Relatives in New South Wales” (2004) 12 Tort Law Review 59-63.

The Personal Liability of Company Officers for Company Breach of Workplace Health and Safety Duties (February, 2003)- Thesis accepted for award of degree of Master of Laws at the University of Newcastle.

“Liability of Company Officers for Company Torts: Standard Chartered Bank v Pakistan National Shipping Corporation” (2003) 7 Newcastle Law Review 53-64.

“New OH&S regime calls for consultation and risk management” (2001) 39 Law Society Journal 56-59.