Australian Law Reform Commission

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What is involved?

To enter, teams of two students were required to provide a submission (maximum of 15 pages) on a topic of law reform, currently being considered by the Australian Law Reform Competition. The topic for 2008 is:

Freedom of information laws attempt to achieve a balance between the interest in open, transparent government decision-making, and the need to protect information that may affect interests such as the economy, the privacy of individuals, or the ability of public servants to provide frank and fearless advice. How should exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) be framed in order to achieve this balance?

Based on written entries, three teams were invited to participate in an oral advocacy round, to be held in July 2008 in Hobart, during the Annual ALSA Conference. These teams are:

These teams will present their proposals to an expert judging panel convened by an ALRC Commissioner.

The winners will have their names engraved on the perpetual Kirby Cup, which was donated by the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG. In addition, a summary of the winning entry will be published in the ALRC’s journal Reform. The ALRC will treat the entries of teams advancing to the oral advocacy round as submissions to the Freedom of Information Inquiry and they will be formally recognised as submissions in the relevant ALRC consultation papers and final report.

This page was posted on 11 February 2008 and updated 21 May 2008

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