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Professor Roger Magnusson

Profile

Degrees
BA/LLB(Hons) ANU (1988)
PhD Melb (1994)
Grad Dip Managing Development Melb (2007)

Courses Taught

Undergraduate
Medical Law
Media Law
Banking and Financial Instruments

Postgraduate
Critical Issues in Public Health Law
New Directions in Public Health Law & Policy

Areas of Interest

  • Public health law, policy & governance
  • Health law, health policy & ethics
  • Health & development
  • International law & institutions
  • End of life decision-making
  • Qualitative interview-based research related to the areas above

Brief Biographical Detail

Roger Magnusson is a Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney. He has Arts/Law degrees from the Australian National University (1988), and a PhD in law (1994) and a Graduate Diploma in Managing Development (2007) from the University of Melbourne. His research interests are in health law, policy and bioethics, and in public health law and governance, and health development. During the mid 1990s he held a Commonwealth-funded AIDS Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and wrote extensively on legal and policy issues associated with HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases. Within the medical law field he has written in the areas of privacy and confidentiality, medical research, human tissue, and human genetics. Within the media law field he has written in the areas of defamation, privacy and breach of confidence, and freedom of speech. In 2002 he published Angels of Death: Exploring the Euthanasia Underground (Melbourne University Press; Yale University Press) which reported on the practice of “underground” physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia among health professionals working in HIV/AIDS health care in Australian cities and in San Francisco. Roger is a member of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee (TSEAC) of the NHMRC, which advises the Commonwealth Government on the risks posed by Creutzfeldt Jakob disease and variant CJD (the human equivalent of “mad cow disease”). He is also a member of the Advisory Committee to the Australian Law Reform Committee in its recent review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Roger is currently working on an Australian Research Council-funded project entitled “Lifestyle wars: law’s role in responding to the challenge of non-communicable diseases”. This project focuses on the opportunities for law in responding to chronic and non-communicable diseases, including those caused by tobacco use and obesity

Publications

Books | Book Chapters | Journal Papers | Shorter (Unrefereed) Articles | Papers published in conference proceedings | Book Reviews | Newspaper and magazine opinion pieces

Books

Book chapters

  • Roger Magnusson, “Mad Cows and Prions: Legal, Ethical and Operational Challenge in Responding to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and Variant CJD”, in Ian Freckelton & Kerry Petersen (eds), Disputes & Dilemmas in Health Law, 2006, Sydney: The Federation Press, pp 134-164; also available through SSRN:
    http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=886202
  • Roger Magnusson, “Promoting Sexual Health: the Role of Law”, in Meredith Temple-Smith and Sandy Gifford (eds), Sexual Health: An Australian Perspective, Melbourne: IP Communications, 2005, pp 286-316. http://www.ipcommunications.com.au/ipshc.html
  • Roger Magnusson, “The ‘Euthanasia Underground’ and its Implications for the Harm Minimisation Debate: An Australian Perspective” in Andrew Fagan (ed), Making Sense of: Dying and Death, Rodopi: Amsterdam, NY (2004), 175-195. http://www.rodopi.nl/senj.asp?BookId=ATI%2FPTB+9
  • Roger Magnusson, “Assisted suicide, suffering and the meaning of a life: commentary” in Ian Kerridge, Chrisopher Jordens & Emma-Jane Sayers (eds), A Miles Little Reader: Restoring Humane Values to Medicine, Desert Pea Press: Sydney (2003), 71-74.
  • Roger Magnusson, “Challenges and dilemmas in the ‘aging and euthanasia’ policy cocktail” in David N Weisstub, David C Thomasma, Serge Gauthier & George F Tomossy (eds), Aging: Decisions at the End of Life, Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht (2001), 107-137.
  • Roger Magnusson, “Proprietary Rights in Human Tissue” in Norman E Palmer & Ewan McKendrick (eds), Interests in Goods, Lloyd's of London Press Ltd (2nd ed, 1998), 25-62; (1st ed, 1993), 237-266.
  • Roger Magnusson, “HIV and Confidentiality” in Graeme Stewart (ed), Managing HIV, Australasian Medical Publishing Co Ltd (1997), 154-155 (Medical Journal of Australia Monograph Series).

Journal papers

  • Roger Magnusson, “What’s Law Got to Do with It? Part 2: Legal Strategies for Healthier Nutrition and Obesity Prevention” Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2008; 5:11, at: http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/11
  • Roger Magnusson, “What’s Law Got to Do with It? Part 1: A Framework for Obesity Prevention” Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2008; 5:10, at: http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/10
  • Roger Magnusson, “Obesity: Should There be a Law Against It? Introduction to a Symposium” Australia and New Zealand Health Policy 2008, 5:9, at: http://www.anzhealthpolicy.com/content/5/1/9
  • Roger Magnusson, Ruth Colagiuri, “The Law and Chronic Disease Prevention: Possibilities and Politics” (2008) 188 Medical Journal of Australia 104-105 (with Ruth Colagiuri), at: http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/188_02_210108/mag11248_fm.pdf
  • Roger Magnusson, “Mapping the Scope and Opportunities for Public Health Law in Liberal Democracies” (2007) 35 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 571-587, also at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1072482
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Non-communicable Diseases and Global Health Governance: Enhancing Global Processes to Improve Health Development’, Globalization and Health, 2007, 3:2; doi:10.1186/1744-8603-3-2, available at: http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/3/1/2
    Also available through SSRN: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=997793
  • Roger Magnusson, “The Devil’s Choice: Re-Thinking Law, Ethics and Symptom Relief in Palliative Care” (2006) 34(3) Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 559-569; also available through SSRN:
    http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=901560
    http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2006.00070.x
  • Roger Magnusson, “Law, Religion and Biomedicine: Consensus or Conflict?” [2006] Macquarie Law Symposium – Law, Religion and Medical Science 59-66, also available through SSRN:
    http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=924308
  • Roger Magnusson, 'The changing legal and conceptual shape of health care privacy' (2004) 32 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 680-691.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘"Underground Euthanasia" and the Harm Minimization Debate’ (2004) 32 Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 486-495.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Euthanasia: Above Ground, Below Ground’ (2004) 30 Journal of Medical Ethics 441-446.
    http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/5/441
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘A Short History of the Next Thirty Years: Genetic Testing, Clinical Care and Personal Choices’ (2003) 9(2) University of New South Wales Law Journal Forum – Genetics and the Law 2-8.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘The Researcher as Criminal: The Case of Russel Ogden’ (2003) 22 Monash Bioethics Review 27-33.
  • Roger Magnusson & Christopher Clarke, ‘Data Registers in Respiratory Medicine: A Pilot Project Evaluating Compliance with Privacy Laws and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans’ (2002) 10 Journal of Law and Medicine 69-83.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Regulating Genetic Privacy in the On-line Health Information Era’ (2002) 30(4) Health Information Management Journal. http://www.himaa.org.au/members/journal/himj.asp
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Data Linkage, Health Research and Privacy: Regulating Data Flows in Australia’s Health Information System’ (2002) 24 Sydney Law Review 5-55.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Freedom of Speech in Australian Defamation Law: Ridicule, Satire and Other Challenges’ (2001) 9 Torts Law Journal 269-297.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘The Use of Human Tissue Samples in Medical Research: Legal Issues for Human Research Ethics Committees’ (2000) 7 Journal of Law and Medicine 390-403.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Telecommunications and Privacy: New Issues for Carriers and Carriage Service Providers’ (1999) 4 Media and Arts Law Review 159-184.
  • Roger Magnusson & Harry Ballis, ‘The Response of Health Care Workers to AIDS’ Patients Euthanasia Requests’ (1999) 35 The Journal of Sociology 312-330 (formerly the Aust & NZ J of Sociology).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Privacy and Surveillance in Australia’s Changing Telecommunications Environment’ (1999) 27(1) Federal Law Review 33-76.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Media Rites (and the Public’s Right to Know)’ (1999) 71 AQ – Journal of Contemporary Analysis (formerly Australian Quarterly) 34-41.
  • Roger Magnusson & Hayden Opie, ‘Patient Access to Medical Records: Fiduciary Duties and Other Issues – A Classroom Interactive’ (1998) 17 University of Tasmania Law Review 99-133.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘The Sanctity of Life and the Right to Die: Social and Jurisprudential Aspects of the Euthanasia Debate in Australia and the United States’ (1997) 6 Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal 1-83.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘The Future of the Euthanasia Debate in Australia’ (1996) 20 Melbourne University Law Review 1108-1142.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘HIV and Confidentiality’ (1996) 165 Medical Journal of Australia 90-91.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Australian HIV/AIDS Legislation: A Review for Doctors’ (1996) 26 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Medicine 396-406.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘HIV Testing without Specific Consent: A Short Review’ (1996) 20(1) Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 57-60. Republished with permission in (1996) 15(4) Monash Bioethics Review (Ethics Committee Supplement: 2-8).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Confidentiality and Consent in Medical Research: Some Recurrent, Unresolved Legal Issues Faced by IECs’ (1995) 17 Sydney Law Review 549-572.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘A Decade of HIV Testing in Australia: Part 2: A Review of Some Current Debates’ (1995) 18 University of New South Wales Law Journal 364-408.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘A Decade of HIV Testing in Australia: Part 1: A Review of Current Legal Requirements’ (1995) 18 University of New South Wales Law Journal 341-63.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘A Triumph for Medical Paternalism: Breen v Williams, Fiduciaries, and Patient Access to Medical Records’ (1995) 3 Torts Law Journal 27-42.
  • Roger Magnusson & Hayden Opie, ‘HIV and Hepatitis in Sport: An Australian Legal Framework for Resolving Hard Cases’ (1995) 5 Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law 69-131.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Specific Consent, Fiduciary Standards, and the Use of Human Tissue for Sensitive Diagnostic Tests and in Research’ (1995) 2 Journal of Law and Medicine 206-32.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Spring in the House of Lords’ (1994) 2 Torts Law Journal 210-18.
  • Roger Magnusson & Hayden Opie, ‘HIV and Hepatitis in Sport: A Legal Framework for Resolving Hard Cases’ (1994) 20 Monash University Law Review 214-70.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Recovery for Mental Distress in Tort, with Special Reference to Harmful Words and Statements’ (1994) 2 Torts Law Journal 126-170.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Privacy, Confidentiality and HIV/AIDS Health Care’ (1994) 18 Australian Journal of Public Health 51-58.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘The Recognition of Proprietary Rights in Human Tissue in Common Law Jurisdictions’ (1992) 18(3) Melbourne University Law Review 601-29.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Joint Custody, Shared Access and the Sole Parent's Pension: Winner Takes All?’ (1992) 6(2) Australian Journal of Family Law 161-75.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Public Interest Immunity and the Confidentiality of Blood Donor Identity in AIDS Litigation’ (1992) 8(3) Australian Bar Review 226-44.

Shorter (unrefereed) articles

  • Roger Magnusson, “Conceptualising Policy Options for Obesity Prevention – Response to ‘Counteracting Obesity: Developing a Policy Framework to Guide Action’” (2008) 53 International Journal of Public Health 317-319
  • Roger Magnusson, “Developing a Global Framework to Address Non-communicable Diseases” (2008) Diabetes Voice, vol. 53 [special issue on chronic disease management]: 9-12. Diabetes Voice is the magazine of the International Diabetes Federation, at: http://www.diabetesvoice.org/issues/2008-05/Developing_a_global_framework_to_address_non-communicable_diseases.cfm
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Legal Issues in Teamwork: Liability within Medical Teams and Hierarchies in NSW?’ (2007) 79 Precedent 10-17.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘HIV in Pregnancy: Commentary on legal issues’ (2003) 39(1) Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 64-66.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Treatment decision-making at the end of life: a survey of Australian doctors’ attitudes towards patients' wishes and euthanasia’ (1997) 166 Medical Journal of Australia 562 (letter).
  • Roger Magnusson & Harry Ballis, ‘How AIDS Challenges Popular Euthanasia Myths’ (1997) 8(3) HIV/AIDS Legal Link 12-13.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Talking about Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia at Coolum’ (1996) 7(1) Noah's Ark (newsletter of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine).
  • Roger Magnusson & Hayden Opie, ‘Legal Issues arising from HIV and Hepatitis in Sport’ (1994) 12(3) Sport Health 3-10.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Should the Identity of an HIV-Infected Blood Donor be Kept Confidential?’ (1991) 5(6) National AIDS Bulletin 38-40.

Papers published in conference proceedings

  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Euthanasia in an Aged Care Context: Why the Debate is So Hard’, Australian Institute of Health Law & Ethics (AIHLE), Conference Papers from AIHLE’s 7th Annual Conference Hatching, Matching, Snatching & Dispatching, 27-30 June 2002.
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Regulating Genetic Privacy in the On-line Health Information Era’, in Centre for Law and Genetics, University of Tasmania, Occasional Paper No 4, Regulating the New Frontiers: Legal Issues in Biotechnology Symposium, 10 December 2001, at 99-119.
  • Roger Magnusson & Hayden Opie, ‘Infectious Diseases in Sport: Some Legal Issues’ in ‘Amateur' Sport in a Professional World: New Horizons for Lawyers and Sports Administrators, proceedings of the 3rd Annual Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANZSLA) Conference (1994), at 117-74.

Book reviews

  • Dying Right: The Death With Dignity Movement by Dan Hillyard & John Dombrink, Routledge: New York (2001), reviewed in (2003) 11(3) Medical Law Review 408-412.
  • Human Rights and Biomedicine by George P Smith II, Klewer Law International: The Hague (2000), reviewed in (2001) 23 Sydney Law Review 630-35.
  • Media Law: Commentary and Materials by Sally Walker, LBC: Sydney (2000), reviewed in (2001) 9 Torts Law Journal 223-7.

Newspaper and magazine opinion pieces

  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Moralist Church Views Reinforce the Need to Protect Secular Society’s Rights’, On Line Opinion (18 July 2003) at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/; also broadcast as ‘Archbishop Jensen, Homosexuality and the Church’, ‘Perspective’, Radio National (21 July 2003) at 5.55pm http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/perspective/stories/s906739.htm
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Issue That Won’t Die’ The Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (25 March 2002) at 13 (public policy and the ‘euthanasia underground’). Re-published, with permission, at On Line Opinion, (April 2002): http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=697
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘When Journalists Disregard their Duty to the Public’ The Age (27 January 1999) at 11 (journalists’ duties of confidentiality and the Lionel Murphy corruption saga).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Private Sector to Weigh Benefits of Privacy Code’ The Age (20 February 1998) at A15 & ‘Keeping Secrets Secret’ The Sydney Morning Herald (20 February 1998) at 15 (proposed voluntary privacy scheme for private sector).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Privacy and the Ethics of Freedom’ The Sydney Morning Herald (2 September 1997) at 13 (privacy and the press in Britain in wake of death of Princess Diana).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘The Folly of Forgoing a Vital Protection’ The Age (19 May 1997) at 7 (privacy laws in Australia).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ The Sydney Morning Herald (26 March 1997) at 21 (the euthanasia debate following passage of Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (Cth)).
  • Roger Magnusson, ‘Holier-than-thou Alliance Threatens Right to Die’ The Bulletin (13 August 1996) at 97.