A/Prof Poh-Ling Tan
Griffith Law School
My research is principally in water legal reform in Australia. It investigates real-life problems facing communities, stakeholders and water agencies and provides policy advice and outcomes on national, regional and local levels. The three themes of my research are: (1) water planning, which is the principal mechanism for delivering national water reform and lies at the centre of decision-making by users, communities and governments yet is highly contentious (2) Indigenous engagement in water decisions (3) the interface between science, policy and implementation.
I adopt a transdisciplinary approach to research - working across law, bio-physical and social sciences and have won nationally competitive funding for research into the above three themes. My research not only demonstrates successful research collaborations, it adopts culturally respectful research practices, vital in engaging with regional communities and Indigenous peoples. I have worked with a number of Indigenous communities in the NT, South Australia, and far northern and western Queensland to improve Indigenous engagement in water planning.
Research expertise
- Water law
- Water management and policy
- Comparative Asian legal systems
