Publications Distribution Policy
CONSULTATION PAPERS
All Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) consultation papers are available free of charge from the ALRC web site and free of charge in both CD-ROM and hard copy format for the life of an inquiry.
Copies of consultation papers should be sent to the following corporate database categories immediately upon publication of a consultation paper:
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part-time Commissioners;
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past ALRC Commissioners;
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Australian law reform agencies;
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organisations that have a current exchange agreement with the ALRC that includes consultation papers;
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members of Senate Legal and Constitutional Committees;
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state and territory Premiers and Attorneys-General;
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heads of Jurisdiction;
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law societies and bar associations;
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organisations with current standing orders for ALRC publications;
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the Library Deposit Scheme (a bulk delivery to a single address – see below);
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individuals and organisations on the discretionary President's List, who have been nominated to receive consultation papers.
Consultation papers should also be sent to the people and organisations on a reference database who meet the following criteria:
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any person or organisation who has made a submission to the reference;
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any person or organisation who has been formally consulted during the reference;
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key stakeholders or persons with an interest in the subject matter as identified by the President or relevant Commissioner(s);
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people and organisations who have asked to be on the mailing list for the reference.
Recipients of ALRC consultation papers have the choice to elect whether they receive consultation papers in hard copy or on CD-ROM. These preferences are recorded in the database. Where no preference is stated, a hard copy is sent.
Recipients within some database categories may have elected not to receive consultation papers (for example, past Commissioners). This preference also is recorded in the database.
Copies of consultation papers can be provided to any member of the public by any member of ALRC staff upon request.
Requests for more than five (5) copies of a particular consultation paper should be referred to the lead Commissioner of an inquiry, the President, or the Executive Director.
Once an inquiry has concluded, a charge applies to requests for consultation papers. This charge is determined by the President and Executive Director and is published on the ALRC web site.
ALRC reports are available free of charge from the ALRC web site as soon as they are made public.
Hard copies and CD-ROM copies of published reference reports are sold at a price determined by the President and Executive Director upon publication.
Complimentary copies of published reference reports should be sent to the following corporate database categories immediately after tabling of the report:
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part-time Commissioners;
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past ALRC Commissioners;
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Australian law reform agencies;
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overseas law reform agencies (on CD-ROM);
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organisations that have a current exchange agreement with the ALRC which includes final reports;
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state and territory Premiers and Attorneys-General;
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heads of jurisdiction;
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organisations with standing orders for ALRC publications;
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individuals and organisations on the discretionary President's List, who have been nominated to receive final reports.
Complimentary copies of published reference reports should also be sent to people and organisations in the reference database who meet the following criteria:
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any person or organisation who has made a submission to the reference;
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any person or organisation who has been formally consulted during the reference;
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key stakeholders as identified by the President or relevant Commissioner(s).
Recipients of ALRC final reports have the choice to elect whether they receive final reports in hard copy or on CD-ROM. These preferences are recorded in the database. Where no preference is stated, a hard copy is sent, except in the case of overseas recipients, where the default is a CD-ROM.
Recipients within some database categories may have elected not to receive final reports. This is also recorded in the database.
Commissioners, the Executive Director, the Communications Manager and the Research Manager have the discretion to provide copies of reports free of charge to ALRC visitors, members of the media or others where appropriate.
ANNUAL REPORTS
The ALRC Annual Report is available free of charge from the ALRC web site as soon as it is made public.
Hard copies and CD-ROM copies are sold at a price determined by the President and Executive Director upon publication.
Copies of the Annual Report should be sent to the following corporate database categories immediately after tabling of the report:
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part-time Commissioners;
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past ALRC Commissioners;
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organisations that have a current exchange agreement with the ALRC which includes the annual report;
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organisations with a current standing order for ALRC publications;
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individuals and organisations on the discretionary President's List, who have been nominated to receive annual reports.
Individuals and organisations entitled to receive a complimentary copy of the Annual Report can elect to receive the report in either hard copy or on CD-ROM. These preferences are recorded in the database.
Recipients within some database categories may have elected not to receive the Annual Report. This preference also is recorded in the database.
Commissioners, the Executive Director, the Communications Manager and the Research Manager have the discretion to provide copies of the Annual Report free of charge to ALRC visitors, members of the media or others where appropriate.
REFORM JOURNAL
The ALRC's journal Reform is a subscription service. Subscriptions are managed by Communications and Publications in conjunction with the Receptionist/Administrative Assistant.
Back issues or the current issue of the journal can also be purchased individually.
A copy of Reform is sent to the following database categories upon publication:
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part-time ALRC Commissioners;
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past ALRC Commissioners;
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Australian law reform agencies;
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overseas law reform agencies;
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bodies that have a current exchange agreement with the ALRC which includes Reform ;
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members of Senate Legal and Constitutional Committees;
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the Library Deposit Scheme (a bulk delivery to a single address – see below);
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individuals and organisations on the discretionary President's List, who have been nominated to receive Reform (this will include the Reform Editorial Advisory Committee);
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contributors to each issue, including graphic artists;
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individuals and organisations with a current subscription to Reform;
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organisations with standing orders for ALRC publications.
Recipients within some database categories may have elected not to receive Reform . This preference is recorded in the database.
From time to time, the Communications unit may issue free copies of back issues of Reform as part of a subscription campaign.
Commissioners, the Executive Director, the Communications Manager and the Research have the discretion to provide copies of Reform free of charge to ALRC visitors, members of the media or others where appropriate.
TABLING REQUIREMENTS
All ALRC reports, including Annual Reports, must be tabled in federal Parliament. Until the time of tabling, reports are under a strict embargo. Early release of the publication is considered a breach of parliamentary privilege.
The Communications Manager will liaise with the Tabling Officer at the Attorney-General's Department in relation to tabling requirements. Tabled reports are distributed to:
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Parliament House, including Senators, Members of Parliament, the Parliamentary Library, and the Parliamentary Press Gallery;
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the Parliamentary Paper Series;
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the Library Deposit Scheme (see below for details);
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staff of the Attorney-General's Department for briefing purposes.
While the number of reports required for tabling purposes may change from year to year, the number is in the range of 500 reports. This number may increase by about 30 if the report is to be tabled out of session. Numbers of reports required for tabling purposes must be considered when estimating total number of reports to be printed.
The Departmental Tabling Officer will provide confirmation of the numbers of reports required and prepare official documents required for tabling. Tabling cannot take place until the required number of reports have been sent to the Departmental Tabling Officer in Canberra .
LIBRARY DEPOSIT SCHEME (LDS)
The ALRC is required to provide one copy of each publication to each library participating in the Commonwealth Library Deposit and Free Issue Scheme. The Scheme covers the National Library of Australia, each State Library, and publicly funded universities identified under the Higher Education Funding Act 1988 (Cth). Participation in the Scheme also fulfils the ALRC's legal deposit requirements set out in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and Copyright Act 1952 (NSW).
Distribution to LDS libraries of reference reports and annual reports tabled in Parliament is undertaken as part of the tabling process. The LDS should not be included in mailing lists for ALRC final reports or the Annual Report.
For all other ALRC publications—that is, consultation papers and Reform— the required number copies must be sent to the Australian Government Information Management Office's Library Deposit Service, together with a completed consignment submission form.
The consignment submission form can be downloaded from the Australian Government Information Management Office web site.
The address for the Library Deposit Scheme (current as of June 2004) is:
Library Deposit Scheme Distribution Service
Publications Warehouse
1 Tralee Street
Hume ACT 2620
There are 42 libraries participating in the LDS (as at June 2004). Check the AGIMO web site address listed above for any change in this number before sending publications to the Library Deposit Scheme.
ALRC LIBRARY
Two copies of every ALRC publication should be provided to the Research Manager or library staff at the time of publication for inclusion in the ALRC's Library.