ALRAC 2006
Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference
Sydney , 10-12 April 2006
The Australian Law Reform Commission hosted more than 110 delegates, representing more than 30 law reform agencies from 25 nations, for the biennial Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference (ALRAC) 2006.
The conference was held at Manly, on Sydney ’s beautiful northern beaches, from April 10–12 2006.
In a departure from past ALRAC programs, the Australian Law Reform Commission divided ALRAC 2006 into two distinct sections.
Day One focused on the operational challenges facing law reform agencies. Entitled The Business of Law Reform, it featured workshops on effective community consultation, empirical research, accommodating diverse cultures and harmonisation of law across jurisdictions. Speakers included a mixture of law reform officials and external specialists.
Day Two saw conference delegates Peering Over the Horizon, with the program drawing in leading scholars and thinkers from fields including science and medicine, the environment, human rights, demography, the new media and international security. Speakers outlined a vision of future developments in these fields, providing delegates with the opportunity to debate the challenges that these developments may pose for law reform agencies and policy makers.
The emphasis of the program was on providing a platform for discussion and debate, and speakers were not asked to provide formal papers. However, where speakers provided the ALRC with PowerPoint presentations, abstracts or summaries of their presentations or papers, these have been made available online.