Professor A.J. Brown - Griffith University

Site Degrees

Photo of Professor AJ Brown BA (Political Science) (UNSW), LLB (UNSW), Grad Dip Lega Prac (ANU), PhD (Griffith)

John F Kearney Professor of Public Law

Contact Details for Professor A.J. Brown

As a leading Australian public intellectual, A.J. is established at the forefront of inter-disciplinary political and legal governance research. As a constitutional scholar and expert in public integrity and accountability, he has rare insight into the relations between law, institutions, administration and politics. A.J. has deep experience in public administration, having served or consulted in all branches and at all levels of government, he has been involved in the leadership of large organisations and worked at the coalface of intergovernmental relations as a ministerial policy adviser.

Professor Brown has played a leading role in reviving and reshaping the study of federalism and intergovernmental relations in Australia. His doctoral history of Australian territorial politics was described by Professor Geoffrey Blainey AO as 'one of the most impressive theses' he had ever examined. Since 2006 he has been Director of the Federalism Project, Griffith University – responsible for development of Australia's first and second national Constitutional Values Surveys. His inquiries into Australian regionalism have exposed many of the key challenges for collaborative policy-making and delivery in complex multi-levelled systems.

A.J. has served as director of the "Integrity & Corruption Research Program" for the Key Centre for Ethics Law Justice and Governance. He lead an interdisciplinary national team of researchers from four universities to complete Australia's first national integrity system assessment. A.J. was also the project leader on the "Whistling While They Work" project where he designed and lead the world's largest multidisciplinary whistleblowing research project which had immediate impacts in Australia and internationally.

Research expertise

Government accountability and responsiveness
Federalism, regionalism and the development of public institutions
Public integrity systems, including public interest whistleblowing
Judicial accountability and methods

Current teaching areas

Constitutional Law
Interdisciplinary Research Projects

Publications

Books

Michael Kirby: Principles and Paradoxes, Federation Press, 2011. (Click here for more information)
Whistling while they work: A good-practice guide for managing internal reporting of wrongdoing in public sector organisations, ANU E-Press 2011 (with P. Roberts and J. Olsen).
Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of internal witness management in public sector organisations, ANU E Press, 2008.
Promoting Integrity: Evaluating and Improving Public Institutions, Ashgate, 2008 (co-edited with B. Head & C. Connors).
Federalism and Regionalism in Australia: New Approaches, New Institutions?, ANU E-Press, 2007 (co-edited with J. A. Bellamy).

Book Chapters

'Measuring the Mysteries of Federal Political Culture in Australia', in Tomorrow's Federation: Reforming Australian Government, Federation Press, 2012.
'Escaping Purgatory: Public Opinion and the Future of Australia's Federal System', in The Future of Australian Federalism: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
'Whistleblower Legislation in Australia - Analysis and Reform' in M. Arszutowicz and W. W. Gasparski, Whistleblowing: In Defence of Proper Action, Transaction Publishers, 2011 (with Paul Latimer).
'The Nationals, regionalism and federal reform' in L. Bottrill & G. Cockfield (eds.), The National Party: Prospects for the great survivors, Allen & Unwin, 2009 (with I. Gray).
'Overcoming State borders in Australian cross-border communities', in Bertus de Villers (ed), Crossing the Line: Dealing with Cross-Border Communities, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2009 (with M. Bruerton).
'The Inevitable Judge? A Biographer's Note', in H. Selby & I. Freckelton (eds.), Appealing to the Future: Michael Kirby and his Legacy, Thomson Reuters, 2009.
'The Incidence and Significance of Whistleblowing' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations, Australia & New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Press, 2008 (with E. Mazurski and J. Olsen).
'How Do Officials Report? Internal and External Whistleblowing' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations, Australia & New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Pres, 2008 (with. M. Donkin and R. Smith)
'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Whistleblowing Outcomes' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations, Australia & New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Press, 2008 (with R. Smith).
'Whistleblower Mistreatment: Identifying the Risks' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations, Australia & New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Press, 2008 (with J. Olsen).
'Support for Whistleblowing Among Managers: Exploring Job Satisfaction and Awareness of Obligations' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations, Australia & New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Press,2008 (with P. Mazerolle).
'Internal Witness Support: The Unmet Challenge' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations, Australia & New Zealand School of Government / ANU E-Press, 2008 (with J. Olsen).
'Best Practice Whistleblowing Legislation for the Public Sector: Key Principles' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations Australia & New Zealand School of Government Research Series / ANU E-Press, 2008 (with P. Latimer, J McMillan and C. Wheeler).
'Project Findings: An Agenda for Action' in A. J. Brown (ed.), Whistleblowing in the Australian Public Sector: Enhancing the Theory and Practice of Internal Witness Management in Public Sector Organisations Australia & New Zealand School of Government Research Series / ANU E-Press, 2008 (with C. Wheeler).
'Introduction: Integrity Systems and Democratic Accountability' in B. Head, A. J. Brown and C. Connors (eds.), Promoting Integrity: Evaluating and Improving Public Institutions, Ashgate, 2008 (with B. Head and C. Connors).
'What is a National Integrity System? From Temple Blueprint to Hip-Pocket Guide' in B. Head, A. J. Brown and C. Connors (eds.), Promoting Integrity: Evaluating and Improving Public Institutions, Ashgate, 2008.
'Towards a Federal Integrity Commission: The Challenge of Institutional Capacity-Building in Australia' in B. Head, A. J. Brown and C. Connors (eds.), Promoting Integrity: Evaluating and Improving Public Institutions, Ashgate, 2008.
'Consequences, Capacity and Coherence: An Overall Approach to Integrity System Assessment' in B. Head, A. J. Brown and C. Connors (eds.), Promoting Integrity: Evaluating and Improving Public Institutions, Ashgate, 2008 (with B. Head).
‘Federalism, regionalism and the reshaping of Australian governance’, in A. J. Brown and J. A. Bellamy (eds.), Federalism and Regionalism in Australia: New Approaches, New Institutions? Australia & New Zealand School of Government Research Series/ANU E-Press, 2008.
‘The political viability of federal reform: Interpreting public attitudes’, in A. J. Brown and J. A. Bellamy (eds.), Federalism and Regionalism in Australia: New Approaches, New Institutions? Australia & New Zealand School of Government Research Series/ANU E-Press, 2008 (with I. Gray).
'Symbols or substance? Priorities for the reform of Australian public interest disclosure legislation', in A. V. Menon (ed.), Whistleblowers: Impact and Implication, Amicus Books, 2007 (with P. Latimer).
‘What are we trying to measure? Reviewing the basics of corruption definition' in C. Sampford, A. Shacklock, F. Galtung and C. Connors (eds.), Measuring Corruption, Ashgate, 2006.
‘The Constitution We Were Meant to Have: Re-examining the strength and origins of Australia’s unitary political traditions’, in K. Walsh (ed.) Democratic Experiments: Lectures in the Senate Occasional Lecture Series, Department of the Senate, 2006.
'Regional Governance and Regionalism in Australia', in R. Eversole and J. Martin (eds.) Participation and Governance in Regional Development: Global Trends in an Australian Context, Ashgate, 2005.
A. J. Brown, J. Uhr, A. Shacklock & C. Connors, ‘Developing Policy Assessment Measures for Integrity and Corruption Prevention Activities: The Australian Experience’ in OECD, Public Sector Integrity: A Framework for Assessment, OECD, 2005.

Journal Articles

'From Intuition to Reality: Measuring Federal Political Culture in Australia', in (2012) Publius.
'The living subject: Warts and all', (2011) 33 Griffith Review.
'A tale of two questions? An argument for coordinated constitutional reform in Australia', (2011) 7(25) Indigenous Law Bulletin.
'Weeding out WikiLeaks (and why it won't work): legislative recognition of public whistleblowing in Australia' (2011) 5(1) Global Media Journal - Australian Edition.
'Whistleblower Legislation in Australia - Analysis and Reform' (2010) in M. Arszulowicz and W. W. Gasparski (eds) Whistleblowing in Defense of Proper Action - Vol 18, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, pp. 137 - 157.
'In the Shadow of Federalism: Dilemmas of Institutional Design in Australian Rural and Remote Regional Governance' (2010) Australasian Journal of Regional Studies 16(2), 151-181 (with J. A. Bellamy).
'Thinking Big: Public Opinion and Options for Reform of Australia's Federal System', (2010) Public Policy 4(1), 30-50.
'Returning the Sunshine to the Sunshine State: Priorities for whistleblowing law reform in Queensland', Griffith Law Review, (2009), 18(3) p. 666.
'When the Whistle is Blown', (2009) Griffith REVIEW 24, 127-137.
'The States We're In', (2008) Griffith REVIEW 19, 117-124.
'In Pursuit of "Genuine Partnership": Local Government and Federal Constitutional Reform in Australia', (2008) UNSW Law Journal 31(2), 117-124.
'Symbols or Substance? Priorities for the Reform of Australian Public Interest Disclosure Legislation', (2008) Griffith Law Review 17(1), 223-251 (with P. Latimer).
'Whistleblower Laws: International Best Practice', (2008) UNSW Law Journal 31(3), 766-794 (with P. Latimer).
'In Whose Interest? The Need for Consistency in To Whom, and About Whom, Australian Public Interest Whistleblowers can Make Protected Disclosures', (2007) Deakin Law Review 12(2), 1-21 (with P. Latimer).
‘Privacy and the Public Interest Disclosure: When Is It Reasonable to Protect ‘Whistleblowing’ To The Media?’, (2007) Privacy Law Bulletin 4(2), 19-28.
‘Putting Administrative Law Back into Integrity, and Putting the Integrity Back into Administrative Law’, (2007) Australian Institute of Administrative Law Forum 53, 32-56.
‘Reshaping Australia's Federation: the choices for regional Australia’, (2007) Australasian Journal of Regional Studies 13(3), 235-253.
‘Reshaping Australia's Federation: the choices for regional Australia’ (2007) Public Administration Today 13, 5-17.
‘Towards a more regional federalism: rural and urban attitudes to institutions, governance and reform in Australia’ (2006) Rural Society 16(3), 283-302 (with I. Gray and D. Giorgas).
‘Federal anti-corruption policy takes a new turn but which way? Issues and options for a Commonwealth integrity agency’, (2005) Public Law Review 16(2), 93-98.
‘Institutional Capacity and Choice in Australia’s Integrity Systems’, (2005) Australian Journal of Public Administration 64(2), 84-95 (with B. Head).
‘From Greek Temple to Birds Nest: Towards a Theory of Coherence and Mutual Accountability for National Integrity Systems’, (2005) Australian Journal of Public Administration 64(2), 96-108 (with C. Sampford and R. Smith).

Conference Papers

'People's Perceptions of Governance and the Implications for Regional Australia', (2008) refereed paper to the Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia Conference (SEGRA), Albury NSW (with I. Gray).
'Putting Administrative Law Back into Integrity, and Putting the Integrity Back into Administrative Law', (2006) Administrative Law: Protection of Individual and Community Interests, Administrative Law Forum, Surfers Paradise QLD.