Forgotten Freedoms Panel Session
ALRC Freedoms Inquiry, Forgotten Freedoms Panel Session, 19 June 2015, Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, President, Australian law Reform Commission[1]Why ‘forgotten’?This is a nicely alliterative title for our panel, but one is tempted to say that the very fact of having it suggests that nothing is forgotten ….What does the idea of ‘forgotten freedoms’ mean in this year of Magna …
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Read moreAHRC Free Speech Conference 2014
Thursday 7 August 2014, Professor Rosalind Croucher President, Australian law Reform Commission [1] TextIntroduction[Acknowledgement of country—Gadigal and Guring-gai people of the Eora Nation.]I have been asked to speak today on the ALRC’s newest inquiry. The Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, has presented us with a wonderful project. It has two main tasks.The first is to identify Commonwealth laws that …
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Read moreSecrecy Laws and Open Government Report—An Update
Professor Rosalind Croucher,** President, Australian Law Reform Commission. 7th Annual Public Sector In-House Counsel Conference 2011, 29 July 2011Abstract: This paper discusses the inquiry conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) into Commonwealth secrecy laws: Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia (ALRC Report 112) tabled in March, 2010. It considers how, from a …
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Read moreSecrecy Provisions: Policy and Practice
Justice Susan Kenny, Federal Court of Australia, Part-time Commissioner, Australian Law Reform Commission, addressing the National Information Law Conference in Canberra, on 24 March 2011 Introduction James Madison, sometimes called the Father of the United States Constitution, once said that: … I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the …
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Read moreSecrecy Provisions: the Law Reform Project
Professor Rosalind Croucher** President, Australian Law Reform Commission, National Information Law Conference 2011, 24 March 2011Abstract: This paper discusses the inquiry conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) into Commonwealth secrecy laws: Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia (ALRC Report 112) tabled in March, 2010. It considers how, from a law reform perspective, …
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Read moreInquiry into the Tax Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Bill 2009 (Cth)
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) makes the following submission to the Senate Standing Committee of Privileges Inquiry into the Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Bill 2009 (Cth) (the Bill). In making this submission, the ALRC draws on its experience from its inquiry into secrecy laws which culminated in the final report—Secrecy Laws …
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Read moreALRC reforms strike a blow to the old culture of secrecy
Secrecy laws, and the prosecution of public servants for the unauthorised disclosure of Commonwealth information, can sit uneasily with the Australian Government’s commitment to open and accountable government. The final report of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s comprehensive review of Commonwealth secrecy laws, Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia (ALRC Report 112) was tabled …
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Read moreSecrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia (ALRC Report 112)
Official secrecy has a necessary and proper province in our system of government. A surfeit of secrecy does not.On 5 August 2008, the Attorney-General of Australia, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to conduct an Inquiry into options for ensuring a consistent approach across government to the protection of Commonwealth …
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Read moreRoyal Commissions and official inquiries
The ALRC considered a number of matters including whether there was any need to develop an alternative form or forms of Commonwealth executive inquiry, with statutory foundations, to provide more flexibility, less formality and greater cost-effectiveness than a Royal Commission.
Inquiries
Read moreMaking Inquiries: A New Statutory Framework (ALRC Report 111)
ALRC Report 111 represents the culmination of a nine month inquiry by the ALRC into the operation of the provisions of the Royal Commissions Act 1902 (Cth), and the question of whether an alternative form or forms of Commonwealth executive inquiry should be established by statute.It consists of 21 chapters and 82 recommendations for reform.View …
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