Dr. Vivi Tan

Vivi Tan researches across fields of consumer protection law, contract law and dispute resolution system and design, including alternative and online dispute resolution (ADR and ODR). Her PhD thesis (University of Melbourne) explores the integration of information and communication technologies into judicial and extrajudicial dispute resolution processes and their implications for dispute resolution regulation and practice as well as for consumer protection law. In particular, she examines ODR for consumer disputes. She demonstrates the design principles essential to providing a high-quality alternative for consumers to traditional court processes. Her findings establish how ODR can meet with the requirements of civil justice in the context of consumer protection having regard to rule of law values.

The topic of her thesis indicates an awareness of the value of situating legal research within the context of real-world contemporary problems, such as the relationship between the law and changes in technology, barriers to access to justice, and consumer protection in a physical/digital marketplace.The thesis passed without revisions required by the examiners.

Vivi has also taught and researched in the areas of contract law, commercial law and real property law for over fifteen years. She has co-authored textbooks on contract law and commercial law which were published by Oxford and Cambridge University Presses and she has also presented in various topics including in legal education and mooting as well as protection of online consumers in Australia and overseas. She has also published an article and a blog on developments in ODR in Victoria. The peer-reviewed article has received more than 25 citations since 2019.

In addition, Vivi has been involved in two external research projects on ODR. First, she was consulted for her expert advice by DVARA Research (India) on a project that investigated the feasibility of ODR to be used in an integrated Ombudsman system for banking and payment-related grievances as part of an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India. Second, she has contributed to the University of Melbourne's Centre for AI and Digital Ethics' review of Amïca. Amïca is an online platform to support couples to make appropriate arrangements at the end of their relationship. The creation of the platform was led by the Legal Services Commission of South Australia with the design and development work performed by Portable. The project involved reviewing the literature on similar AI tools and identifying ethical design issues in order to inform the platform's development.

Vivi continues to research in these areas and has successfully obtained a Seed Funding research grant from RMIT to conduct further research in ODR.