Government response to the ALRC’s 2004 report – Genes and Ingenuity: Gene Patenting and Human Health
On 17 December 2002 the then Australian Government Attorney-General, the Hon Daryl Williams MP, asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into and report on the laws and practices governing intellectual property rights over genetic materials and related technologies, with a particular focus on human health issues. The Final Report, Genes and Ingenuity: Gene …
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Read moreAustralian Privacy Law & Practice – Key Recommendations for Health Information Privacy Reform
Speech by Professor Rosalind Croucher* at the Managing Patient Confidentiality & Information Governance Forum, 22 August 2011, Melbourne.1. IntroductionTo help focus my presentation today I thought it would be useful to reflect on an ‘information timeline’ to provide a backdrop for a consideration of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s work on privacy.Information timeline1982 Freedom of …
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Read moreALRC submission to the inquiry into the past and present practices of donor conception in Australia
Ms Julie DennettCommittee SecretarySenate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs 14 July 2010 Dear Ms Dennett, Inquiry into the past and present practices of donor conception in Australia The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Senate Standing Committee’s inquiry into donor conception practices in Australia, referring to prior …
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Read moreALRC in the media – 2011
The ALRC monitors the media for references to the Commission and its inquiries. This list for 2011 is not comprehensive.
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Read moreReform journal
The Australian Law Reform Commission published the first issue of Reform in January 1976, and then twice a year until 2010. The journal’s aim was to raise public awareness of contemporary legal issues and provides a forum for high-quality debate on issues of law reform in an easy-to-read format.Articles contributed by leading Australian and overseas …
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Read moreGovernment gives giant ‘tick’ to ALRC privacy recommendations
The Australian Law Reform Commission has welcomed today’s announcement by the federal Government that it will implement a large portion of the recommendations of the ALRC’s review of Australian privacy laws.The first stage of the Australian Government’s formal response to For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (ALRC 108) considers 197 of the 295 …
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Read moreSenate Standing Committee on Community Affairs Inquiry into Gene Patents
18 March 2009: ALRC submission to Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs Inquiry into Gene Patents.The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) makes the following submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs inquiry into gene patents. In making this submission, the ALRC draws on its experience from its major inquiry into the intellectual property …
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Read moreFor Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (ALRC Report 108)
ALRC Report 108 (tabled August 2008) represents the culmination of a 28-month inquiry into the extent to which the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and related laws continue to provide an effective framework for the protection of privacy in Australia.This Inquiry resulted in a three-volume report, containing 74 chapters and 295 recommendations for reform.The central theme …
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Read moreMedia Briefing – Protecting Health Information in the Digital Age
11 August 2008 Electronic health records In recent years, there have been increasing pressures, particularly from government, to move from paper to electronic health records. The ALRC’s Privacy Inquiry coincided with a number of major initiatives to develop electronic medical records—including the proposed national Shared Electronic Health Records system, in which a summary of personal …
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Read moreDNA testing online: marketing hype or medical breakthrough?
Public meeting: DNA shampoo? Diet and exercise regimes tailored to your own genetic makeup? Cosmetics blended to address your particular ‘wrinkle genes’? A DNA test to determine which sport best suits your child? DNA tests available on the internet to calculate your genetic risk for breast cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease? This is no longer …
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