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20.03.2006
Are sedition laws necessary and effective?
Monday, 20 March 2006: An independent review of federal sedition laws is asking whether the controversial laws are necessary and effective. Australian Law Reform Commission President, Professor David Weisbrot, called for public comment today with the release of a community consultation paper Review of Sedition Laws (ALRC Issues Paper 30). The federal government ‘modernised’ the …
Read more02.03.2006
Sedition law review must strike a delicate balance
Thursday, 2 March 2006: Concern to protect the security of Australians here and abroad must be balanced against the fundamental rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association, in the Australian Law Reform Commission’s new inquiry into controversial federal sedition laws. ALRC President Professor David Weisbrot said that Australians place a “very high premium …
Read more08.02.2006
Complexity, courtroom games must go in evidence shake-up
Wednesday, 8 February 2006: Australia must have a single set of streamlined, flexible evidence laws that will protect witnesses as well as parties, recognise the importance of confidential relationships, and curb legal ‘games’ in the courtroom, Australia’s peak law reform agency said today. “It is crazy that we currently have so many different evidence law …
Read more30.01.2006
Protecting privacy in a wired world: new ALRC inquiry
Tuesday, 31 January 2006: Do Australians have enough privacy protection for health, credit and other sensitive personal information? Who can gain access to it? Can it be traded, sold or provided to others? Should privacy laws go beyond data protection to provide rights not to be photographed or subject to electronic surveillance? These questions are …
Read more09.12.2005
Australia ‘well placed’ to lead world in protecting human genetic information
Friday, 9 December 2005: Australia will be well placed to meet the challenges posed by rapid advances in genetic science and technology, with the Australian Government accepting most of the recommendations of a landmark report on genetic privacy and discrimination. Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) President Professor David Weisbrot said he was “delighted with the Government’s positive and comprehensive …
Read more01.12.2005
Better parliamentary procedures required to support law reform: Justice Kirby
Thursday, 1 December 2005: Australian jurisdictions—federal, state and territory—need to improve parliamentary procedures for responding to law reform reports if the law is to keep pace with social and technological change, the Hon Justice Michael Kirby said today.The problem of how to secure governmental attention to law reform is an “institutional defect” that represents a …
Read more29.11.2005
Federal sentencing laws need major overhaul
Tuesday, 29 November 2005: Federal sentencing laws and procedures require a major overhaul, recognising that the federal criminal justice system has expanded and matured in recent decades, the Australian Law Reform Commission said today. ALRC President Professor David Weisbrot said “the ALRC is proposing four major structural changes that may be seen as controversial, but …
Read more04.07.2005
Momentum growing for national evidence law
Monday, 4 July 2005: Almost 20 years since the Australian Law Reform Commission first warned that Australia ’s jumble of evidence laws needed urgent overhaul, momentum is finally gathering to finish the job, with the ALRC joining with law reformers from almost every state and territory in an unprecedented review of evidence legislation. “Evidence law …
Read more08.06.2005
From Drink Driving to Gene Patents: The ALRC celebrates 30 years
Wednesday, 8 June 2005: One of Australia’s leading legal institutions, the Australian Law Reform Commission, celebrates its 30th anniversary this week. “Over the past 30 years, the ALRC has initiated community debate and provided advice to Government on issues as diverse as drink driving, Aboriginal customary laws, human tissue transplants, maritime law, sentencing, and protecting …
Read more03.02.2005
Inadequate federal sentencing laws need reform
Thursday, 3 February 2005: Laws dealing with the sentencing of federal offenders are internally inconsistent, convoluted and confusing, the Australian Law Reform Commission said today. ALRC President Professor David Weisbrot said that with the recent growth in the number and range of federal offences, it is critical that we have a sentencing regime that is …
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