From the ALRC President

Welcome to the latest edition of the ALRC’s In Brief newsletter.

This year is proving to be one of the ALRC’s busiest yet with three diverse inquiries afoot. On 30 March 2026 we submitted the Final Report of our Review of the Future Acts Regime to the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP. This marks the end of the ALRC’s Inquiry into the future acts regime in the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (‘NTA’).

This is the first substantial review of the future acts regime since the amendment of the NTA in 1998 following the High Court’s Wik decision, and much has changed in the almost 30 years since. In addition to the Australian Government’s endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the commencement of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, native title determinations have now been reached on over half of Australia’s landmass, and the future acts regime has become increasingly important to the objectives of benefit-sharing and self-determination.

It’s an exceptionally important piece of work and we look forward to the Report being tabled and available to the public later in the year. The Report will be accompanied by additional materials to help explain and promote the ALRC’s findings and our recommendations, as well as a launch event.

The Report is the culmination of almost 2 years of intensive work. Throughout the Inquiry we received over 160 submissions from individuals, organisations, representative bodies for both proponents and native title holders, the National Native Title Tribunal and state governments. We travelled across Australia to meet directly with native title holders and their representatives, including to Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Burketown, Cairns, Camooweal, Coffin Bay, Darwin, Emerald, Kalgoorlie, Katherine, Kununurra, Melbourne, Mount Isa, Perth and Sydney, as well as meeting with stakeholders virtually.  We conducted over 115 consultations, attended by over 300 consultees representing a broad cross-section of people involved in the native title system, including native title holders, native title representative bodies, legal practitioners, peak industry bodies, government departments, representative groups, and academics. We attended and presented at 29 events, and established and met with an Advisory Committee, made up of native title holders, native title experts, representatives of industry, academics, and lawyers, on three occasions.

Commissioner for the Inquiry, Tony McAvoy SC, addresses a session at the National Indigenous Legal Conference in Melbourne. Image: ALRC

I want to express my gratitude to the native title holders and First Nations communities who provided invaluable input to our Inquiry, as well as all other stakeholders and members of the public who shared their experience and ideas. I would also like to acknowledge the Commissioner for the Inquiry, Tony McAvoy SC, to whom we are enormously grateful for his leadership, expertise and wisdom in helping to guide this Inquiry – a reflection of his experience and dedication to native title law and justice more broadly over many years. My thanks and appreciation to all members of the ALRC who contributed to the Inquiry. The ALRC has a bright, talented and committed team, and our law reform work is stronger for it.

I look forward to sharing the Final Report and details of our launch event in due course.

– Mordy Bromberg

The Hon Justice Mordecai Bromberg
President, Australian Law Reform Commission

The Review of Human Tissue Laws is progressing well, following the publication of the Discussion Paper late last year. The team has been analysing what we have heard in consultations and submissions, and using this to inform the development of our recommendations for reform. We have been fortunate to receive more than 200 informative and valuable submissions in response to both the Issues Paper and Discussion Paper, and thank all who have contributed thus far; in addition to submissions, more than 200 people have participated in consultations with the ALRC. You can read published submissions on the ALRC’s website here.

The ALRC also received helpful feedback on our reform proposals at our final Advisory Committee meeting in April. The committee of experts and people with lived experience from across the organ and tissue sectors have made generous and helpful contributions to our Inquiry, and we thank the committee and all stakeholders who have contributed to the Inquiry. We are now refining our recommendations in response to their input.

In other news, Commissioner Dr Maeghan Toews gave a presentation in March at the 3rd Annual Eye & Tissue Banking Conference, and spoke about our inquiry as part of the Therapeutic Goods Association’s professional development seminar series. Dr Toews was also featured in a recent article published in the Saturday Paper on the Inquiry (subscription to the Saturday Paper required to access).

The ALRC is due to provide its Final Report for the Review of Human Tissue Laws later this year, which will comprehensively detail the Inquiry’s rigorous research and analysis, stakeholder input, and outline evidence-based recommendations for reform in this complex and important area of law.

ALRC President and Commissioner Dr Maeghan Toews discuss the Review of Human Tissue Laws. Image: ALRC

Due to be completed in July this year, the Review of Surrogacy Laws received 85 submissions in response to the Inquiry’s Discussion Paper, taking the total number of submissions received during the Inquiry to more than 430. The submissions received are being considered in the development of the Inquiry’s Final Report recommendations, alongside the ALRC’s robust legal research as well as feedback and input from more than 200 people who have taken part in consultations. Submissions received in response to the Inquiry continue to be published on the ALRC’s website.

The Inquiry also held its final Advisory Committee meeting in April 2026, and the ALRC thanks all Advisory Committee members, and those who have made submissions and participated in consultations for their input. The Final Report for the Review of Surrogacy Laws will be finalised over the coming months, detailing the ALRC’s recommendations for reform along with the extensive legal research and analysis that underpins all ALRC reports.

In other news

The ALRC’s 2024-25 annual report was submitted in late 2025, and tabled in parliament earlier this year. The annual report highlights the ALRC’s work and achievements over the year, and complements our organisational strategy developed in 2025. Coming later this year, the ALRC will undertake a reference into regulation of donor gametes, following a recommendation from a rapid review to state and territory health departments.

New from this edition of In Brief, we’re aiming to include news on law reform from other Australian jurisdictions and beyond. Independent, institutional law reform is vital to ensuring just, effective and modern laws, and makes a powerful contribution to law and policy development, as well as scholarship and public debate. As the Australian Government’s independent advisory agency for law reform, the ALRC proudly boasts over 50 years of innovative and expert law reform work. In the world of law reform, beyond the ALRC are other agencies and bodies around Australia and internationally.

• Registrations have opened for the Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Agencies (CALRAs) international law reform conference in Singapore on 13 and 14 July 2026, entitled “Law Reform in a Changing World”. Learn more at the CALRAs website.
• Celebrating the 25th anniversary of its re-establishment this month, the Victorian Law Reform Commission has commenced an inquiry into legal privilege and integrated legal assistance services. This follows the VLRC’s completion of their report on AI in Victorian Courts and Tribunals earlier this year.
• The Queensland Law Reform Commission’s final report for its non-fatal strangulation review was tabled in February this year, and the QLRC’s final report in its review of particular criminal defenses has now been tabled. The QLRC has now commenced work on its review of evidence law in Queensland.
• Earlier this year, the Tasmania Law Reform Institute launched a research paper into youth justice responses to allegations of sexual offending by young people, with 14 recommendations for reform.
• We congratulate the Hon Justice Janine Pritchard on her appointment earlier this year to the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, and election as the Chair of the Commission. The LRCWA has recently commenced a review of access to WA’s justice system by persons with a disability.
• The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor held public hearings in March as part of the INSLM’s review of Australia’s definition of terrorism.
• The Hon Judith Collins MP will be appointed as President of the Law Commission of Aotearoa New Zealand in mid-2026. Dr Mark Hickford is Interim President.
• The Law Commission of England and Wales earlier this year completed its final report on burial and cremation, and has commenced a review of law on accessibility of transport for disabled people, as well as the potential introduction of a consumer class actions regime.