There has been a significant increase in regulation of civil society in the late twentieth century by governments to ensure that their policy objectives are being achieved. As a result a wide range of institutions are subject to a range of regulatory practices. These institutions are involved in every aspect of daily life, ranging from environmental and occupational health and safety through to crime control, competition practices, professional and business conduct. This collection of papers is from an Australian Institute of Criminology conference which was held in conjunction with the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) at the Australian National University and the Division of Business and Enterprise at the University of South Australia in Melbourne in September 2002. The papers summarise issues relating to the emergence of the 'new regulatory state', the various forms of regulatory techniques that are being used, the way in which regulatory regimes are increasingly being networked to ensure compliance, and the conflicts that can sometimes emerge from such an interface.