Independent Researcher

This paper explores the extent to which developer liability and rectification powers in Victoria and across Australia should be rethought to establish a continuous chain-of-responsibility-style accountability for upstream corporate actors, grounded in expectations formed through their own representations.

Is breakfast truly the most important meal of the day? Must love for a partner be shown on Valentine’s Day? Is a diamond ring the only acceptable way to propose? These three industries have indeed benefitted from convincing consumers that the answer is yes. Industry advocacy often reflects self-interest, and commercial actors use lobbying, marketing and narrative-shaping to influence what is treated as “normal”, “necessary” or that which is in the purported “public interest”, when in substance those positions are directed towards private advantage.1 This is just as evident in a global construction sector, where society has become increasingly accepting of the notion that