News and Media

Defining death: ALRC examines laws around human tissue and organs

ALRC Commissioner, Dr Maeghan Toews appeared on The Law Report, ABC Radio National to discuss the ALRC’s Review of Human Tissue Laws. Listen here   Brought to you by  ABC Radio National Presented by Kristina Kukolja   In Australia, ‘what is death’ and other legal definitions, such as what constitutes human tissue, have not kept up …

Recording: Webinar, Review of the Future Acts Regime

Webinar presentation slide deck (PDF)

Update from the Review of Human Tissue Laws

Safe, informed, supported: addressing sexual violence

Address to the National Press Club of Australia by ALRC President the Hon Justice Mordy Bromberg, 4 June 2025 Transcript CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Can I commence by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples as the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today. I pay my deep respects to their Elders, past and …

Speech: Modern Law Fit for the Future – The Role and Value of Independent Law Reform Agencies

Speech by ALRC President, the Hon Justice Mordy Bromberg to the Commonwealth Law Conference, Malta 2025 Wednesday, 9 April 2025 The Australian Law Reform Commission is the Australian government’s independent research and advisory agency on law reform. We conduct inquiries, provide reports and make  recommendations for the reform of Australian laws. Our legislative charter is …

Listen: 2024 Higinbotham Lecture

The ABC Radio National’s Big Ideas program has published an audio recording of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) President, the Hon Justice Mordecai Bromberg, giving the 2024 Higinbotham Lecture at RMIT University in October 2024. The annual Higinbotham Lecture is one of RMIT’s most prestigious events and celebrates the legacy of Victorian politician and …

FAQs: The Legislative Data Framework

Over the past few years, the ALRC used pioneering data collection and analysis to scrutinise corporations and financial services legislation. Using legislative data, the ALRC was able to show just how complex corporations and financial services legislation is. The ALRC also used that data when developing reforms. This article aims to answer some of the …

FAQs: The FSL Schedule

This article answers some of the (hypothetically) frequently asked questions about the Financial Services Law Schedule (the ‘FSL Schedule’) recommended by the ALRC. Implementing two of the ALRC’s recommendations would produce the FSL Schedule: creating the Financial Services Law by restructuring and reframing the financial services provisions within Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 …

The ALRC’s Roadmap to Implementation

Throughout the Corporations and Financial Services Legislation Inquiry, stakeholders emphasised the importance of staging the implementation of reforms and managing transition costs. This article explains the ALRC’s suggested approach for implementing the reformed legislative framework for financial services. This is the fourth in a series of short pieces following the release of the ALRC’s Final …

Excavating Corporations and Financial Services Legislation

The ALRC used a number of analogies during the Corporations and Financial Services Legislation Inquiry to help explain our discoveries and conceptualise our insights about legislative complexity. We likened the law to a house, a cupboard, Russian dolls, and even outer space. Looking back, it often felt like we were on an archaeological dig, excavating layers of complexity …