Anita Foerster

Assoc Professor

Accepting PhD Students

20062023

Research activity per year

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Personal profile

Biography

Anita specialises in environmental and climate change law, regulation and governance. She works on issues of current and pressing public policy importance including: the roles and responsibilities of the private sector in addressing climate change; the implementation of legal frameworks for climate mitigation and adaptation at different jurisdictional scales; disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Australian settlements; and the allocation of scarce natural resources (such as water) between competing users.

Anita brings considerable research, teaching and advocacy experience to her role as Associate Professor in the Monash Business School, having worked as a senior research and teaching fellow at the Melbourne Law School (2016-18) and University of Tasmania (2011-2015); and previously in advocacy roles with Australian environmental NGOs such as World Wide Fund for Nature and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

Anita's research is socio-legal (law-in-context) and interdisciplinary. She uses empirical and qualitative research techniques to track and assess the impact and effectiveness of environmental law and regulation. Her work is often targeted to end-users in policy and practice and has included reports prepared for the Australian Conservation Foundation, ClientEarth and the Victorian Dept. of Environment, Land, Water and Planning.

Anita's research informs her teaching. She has taught a range of subjects in environmental, climate change and natural resource law and is currently teaching environmental law and sustainability regulation in an inter-disciplinary context at the Monash Business School, with a particular focus on applied and contextual exploration of current and emerging regulatory risks and trends.

Anita is the Director of the Monash Business School Green Lab - Monash Business School’s hub for inter-disciplinary and applied research on climate change and sustainability. Anita is also the Director of Research in the Department of Business Law and Taxation.

Supervision interests

Anita is interested in supervising socio-legal and interdiscplinary legal research projects, particularly in the environmental and sustainability field.

Monash teaching commitment

Anita is currently teaching the following units:

Corporate Sustainability Regulation (BTF5910)

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
  • SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land

Education/Academic qualification

Law, PhD, University of Melbourne

20052010

Laws, Bachelor, Australian National University (ANU)

19951999

Arts (Geography), Bachelor, Australian National University (ANU)

19951999

Research area keywords

  • Environment and Sustainability
  • Climate change law
  • Climate Change Adaptation
  • Disaster Risk Reduction
  • Water Governance
  • Socio-Legal Studies
  • Empirical Legal Research
  • Climate Risk
  • Energy Transition

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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