Biography
Dr Neera Bhatia is an Associate Professor. She holds an LLB (Hons), Masters in Law and a Doctorate in Law from Deakin University.
Neera is the author of 'Critically impaired infants and end of life decision making: Resource allocation and difficult decisions', published by Routledge Cavendish (U.K). Her research interests are in the area of health law and bioethics. She has a keen research interest in end of life decision making for critically ill infants and children. She also researches in the areas of organ donation, voluntary assisted dying and emerging health technologies.
Neera actively engages with the wider community on issues that are topical in health law. She regularly appears in the media as an expert commentator in her research areas. Neera also sits on several clinical ethics committees.
Read more on Neera's profileResearch interests
- End of Life Decision Making for Critically Ill Infants and Children
- Voluntary Assisted Dying
- Organ Donation
- Emerging Health Technologies
- Cryonics
- Health Law (more broadly)
- Bioethics
Affiliations
- Clinical Ethics Committee Member, Melbourne City Mission Palliative Care
- Clinical Ethics Commitee Member, Monash Health
- Health Law Stream Leader, Australasian Association of Bioethics and Health Law (AABHL)
- Co-Theme Leader, Health Futures, Deakin Science and Society Network (SSN)
Teaching interests
- Health Law
- Tort Law
Units taught
- MLJ704 - Torts and Policy
- MLJ706 - Law And Policy Of Misleading Conduct And Product Liability
- MLL213 - Tort Law
- MLL217 - Misleading and Economic Torts
- MLL330 - Health Law
Knowledge areas
- Tort Law
- Health Law and Bioethics
Conferences
- From Birth to Death: The future of emerging health technology: The Melbourne Clinic, 16/09/2020
- Child medical tourism: Opportunities and hazards of 21st century global healthcare: AABHL, 22/11/2019, NZ
- Workshop: Legal and ethical challenges in emerging technology and innovation in health Law: AABHL, 20/11/2019, NZ
- ‘Is an ‘opt out’ system of organ donation the way to increase organ donation rates in Australia?’Uni of Melb, Aus, 4/03/2019
- 'Disagreements in the care of critically ill children’, The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, U.K, 28/11/2018
- ‘A changing social and medical landscape in the care of critically ill infants and children’,Centre for Ethics and Medicine, Bristol, U.K, 26/11/2018
- Navigating the interdisciplinary landscape', Panellist, AABHL, Aus, 23-25/09/2018
- '#Uncharted Territory: The new era of social media and the impact on the end of life decision-making for critically ill infants', 10th National Paediatric Bioethics Conference, Royal Children's Hospital, Aus, 5/09/2018
- 'Charlie Gard: How the 'court of public opinion' may influence future end of life decision making', (ICCEC), Oxford Uni, U.K,21/06/2018
- 'Property rights over cadaveric organs and tissues in an 'opt out' system of organ donation in Australia and New Zealand: How important are the next of kin?', (ICCEC), Oxford Uni, U.K, 22/06/2018
- 'Cryonics: Our frozen future or this century’s snake oil?', Invited Speaker, Sydney Health Ethics Centre, Uni of Sydney, Aus,29/03/2018
- 'Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying Legislation: An open dialogue about its function, impact and implementation', Aus,13/12/2017 'Solving the organ crisis ethically',Invited Speaker, Melbourne Uni Public Lecture, Aus,25/08/2015
- 'Critically Impaired Infants and End of Life Decision Making: Resource Allocation and Difficult Decisions', Australian Lawyers Alliance - Medical Law Conference, Aus,31/07/2015
- 'Transplantation of the heart after circulatory death: Time for a change in the law', Grand Round Seminar, Royal Children's Hospital, Aus, 24/06/2015
- 'Cutting the Cord: Can society over-invest in extremely premature neonates?', Law and Society, U.S.A,29/05/2014
Professional activities
Media appearances
A/P Bhatia regularly engages the media across all platforms: television, radio, digital and print media on a range of topical issues. She also writes for The Conversation on contemporary issues in health law.
Selected media appearances are listed below
- Legal implication of Cryonics, ABC Radio Sydney, 26/02/20
- Radio Adelaide, ethics of artificial gestation, 13/11/19
- Commentary, 'We may one day grow babies outside the womb, but there are many things to consider first' The Conversation 11/11/2019
- Introduction of Voluntary Assisted Dying Laws in Victoria, Radio:Triple M News Bulletin, 19/06/19
- Victoria's Voluntary Assisted Dying Legislation, ABC Ballarat, 19/06/19
- 'More Australians are donating organs but demand is outstripping supply', SBS News, 20/12/18
- Commentary, An opt-out system isn't the solution to Australia's low rate of organ donation, The Conversation, 12/12/18
- 'Diversity still so far away, right across the board', Chris Merritt,
- 'Opt Out Organ Donation Systems and Property Rights', National Radio News with Katreena Shelley, Australia, 26/01/18
- 'Organ donations should be decided by next of kin: Deakin University expert', Geelong Advertiser, Australia, 25/01/18
- Legal Affairs, The Australian, Australia, 27/10/17
- 'The case of Charlie Gard, Interview with Neera Bhatia', ABC News at Noon with Ros Childs, Australia, 25/07/17
- 'The Charlie Gard Case and the impact of social media', Interview with Neera Bhatia, ABC News Radio with Cathy Bell, Australia, 25/07/17
- Commentary, Three ways the Charlie Gard case could affect future end-of-life cases globally, The Conversation 25/07/2017
- Cryonics, Interview with Dr Neera Bhatia and Marta Sandberg', ABC Lateline with David Lipson, Australia, 14/02/17
- Bhatia, N. and Savulescu, J., 'Cryonics: Are freezing bodies all hype, hope, or is it just logistical and ethical hell?', ABC News: Opinion, Australia, 24/11/16
- 'The Ethics of Cryonics', ABC Perth Breakfast Radio with Peter Bell, Australia, 24/11/16
- Commentary with Julian Savulescu, 'Cryonics: Hope, Hype or Hell?', The Conversation, 23/11/16
- 'Debate over the definition of death, does the law need to change, Jill Margo, The Australian Financial Review, 27/11/15
- New forms of heart transplant illegal, journal article warns, Craig Butt, Sydney Morning Herald, Canberra Times, The Age, 21/09/15
- ABC 774 DRive: Radio Interview with Raphael Epstein, 21/09/15
- 'Change to law needed to ease heart transplant shortfall', Radio National News, 21/09/15
- Discussion about the legal pitfalls of heart transplantation after circulatory death and the risks for doctors, Medical Journal of Australia Podcast: Episode 28, 21/09/15
- 'Should we save extremely premature babies?', ABC Regional Radio,16/06/15
- 'The Ethics of saving premature babies', RN: DRIVE, ABC National Radio, 16/06/15
- 'Geelong academic questions cost of saving some babies', Geelong Independent, 16/06/15
- Commentary, Withdrawing treatment from premature babies when doctors and parents disagree, The Conversation, 6/02/13
Projects
- SSN Grant, Project: 'Immortalising organs: a feminist study of emerging placental technologies', 2021, $7,500 (with Dr Jaya Keaney, Dr Jacqueline Dalziell, Dr Marnie Winter and A/Prof Dominique Martin)
- Nuffield Council on Bioethics (U.K.), Project: 'Disagreements in the care of critically ill children: Challenges for policy in changing social and medical contexts', 2018: $4,555 (with Prof Richard Huxtable, Dr Giles Birchley and Dr Jonathan Ives).
- Deakin University Research Network (DURN), Project: 'End of Life Care', 2018: $110,000 (with Peter Martin, Rebecca Bartel).
- Deakin University Research Network (DURN), Project: 'Gen(e)quality', 2018: $110,000 (with Jeffrey Craig, Evie Kendall, Maurizio Meloni, Olga Hogan).
Publications
Deciding For When You Can't Decide: The Medical Treatment Planning and Decisions Act 2016 (Vic)
Courtney Hempton, Neera Bhatia
(2020), pp. 1-12, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, Berlin, Germany, C1
Neera Bhatia, Giles Birchley
(2020), pp. 1-35, Medical Law Review, Oxford, Eng., C1
Neera Bhatia
(2020), pp. 1-5, Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, New York, N.Y., C1
N Bhatia
(2020), Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, C1
A human rights-based approach to compulsory treatment of young people experiencing mental disorder
J Kotzmann, N Bhatia, M McMahon
(2018), Vol. 24, pp. 20-43, Australian journal of human rights, Abingdon, Eng., C1
L Willmott, B White, N Bhatia
(2018), Vol. 25, pp. 944-972, Journal of law and medicine, New York, N.Y., C1
Disagreements in the care of critically ill children: emerging issues in a changing landscape
N Bhatia
(2018), London, Eng., A6
End of life decision-making for (extremely) premature or critically impaired infants
N Bhatia
(2017), pp. 249-263, Tensions and traumas in health law, Sydney, N.S.W., B1
N Bhatia, J Tibballs
(2017), Vol. 27, pp. 946-974, New Zealand Universities law review, New York, N.Y., C1
How should Australia respond to media- publicised developments on euthanasia in Belgium?
N Bhatia, B White, L Deliens
(2016), Vol. 23, pp. 835-848, Journal of law and medicine, Sydney, N.S.W., C1
N Bhatia
(2015), Abingdon, Eng., A1
Best interests of neonates: Time for a fundamental re-think
N Bhatia, M Bagaric
(2015), Vol. 20, pp. 852-865, Journal of Law and Medicine, C1
Deficiencies and missed opportunities to formulate clinical guidelines in Australia for withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment in severely disabled and impaired infants
N Bhatia, J Tibballs
(2015), Vol. 12, pp. 449-459, Journal of bioethical inquiry, Berlin, Germany, C1
Transplantation of the heart after circulatory death of the donor: time for a change in law?
J Tibballs, N Bhatia
(2015), Vol. 203, pp. 268-271, Medical journal of Australia, Sydney, N.S.W., C1
Cutting the cord: Can society over-invest in extremely premature and critically impaired neonates?
N Bhatia
(2015), Vol. 23, pp. 443-456, Journal of law and medicine, North Ryde, N.S.W., C1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Industry and Other Funding
Disagreements in the care of critically ill children: Challenges for policy in changing social and medical contexts.
A/Prof Neera Bhatia
- 2018: $4,319
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report