As Western Sydney prepares to go global with Australia’s newest international airport, WSU School of Law is introducing a flagship international research partnership to reconceptualise the legal and political connections within our region.

We are pleased to announce the InterAsian Legalities Cluster, a research partnership between the The Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS / based at Melbourne Law School), the Arab Council of Social Sciences, and WSU School of Law.

WSU’s new InterAsian Legalities Cluster is built upon strong foundations and relationships with global scholars from universities such as Duke University, National University of Singapore, Exeter University, Tsinghua University, Northwestern University Qatar, and University of Goettingen.

Strengthening these collaborations, WSU scholars will play a pivotal in reconceptualising the ways that Asia and Australia connect with the rest of the world, in a context of deepening globalization, technological advancements in digital infrastructure, and transnational challenges to environmental protection and sustainability.

The cluster takes seriously the imperative to develop new ways of thinking about how people and laws interact across borders, while also investigating the ongoing importance of local legal regimes and socio-political actors. The cluster will engage with contemporary realities and the unique historical foundations of Asia’s legal systems and cultures to help shape the way Australia conceives its place in our region and the world.

The research initiative will be launched by the Interim Dean of the School of Law at Western Sydney University, Professor Catherine Renshaw, and two of the cluster leaders, Associate Professor Jeremy Kingsley and Melbourne Law School’s Professor Tim Lindsey.