16.12.2011
Issue 10 | 16 December 2011 View original format
Final Report delivered!
On 30 November, the Family Violence and Commonwealth Laws team delivered its Final Report to the Attorney-General. Under the ALRC Act, the Attorney-General now has 15 Parliamentary sitting days in which to table the Report. Until it is tabled, the Report is under embargo. We have also produced a short Summary Report that sets out the ALRC’s recommendations and approach to reform so as to give quick access to the Report. Once these publications have been tabled, they will be available to purchase from the ALRC’s website in hard copy, and will also be free to view or download from the website. We will let you know via this newsletter as soon as they are publicly available.
The ALRC will also release a series of short fact sheets, designed to provide practical examples illustrating how our recommendations, if implemented by government, might affect various parts of our community, for example people with disability, Indigenous peoples; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community; and culturally and linguistically diverse groups. These fact sheets will also be available to view or download from the ALRC website.
Safe at Home, Safe at Work
On 5 December 2011, legal officer Amanda Alford gave a presentation at the Safe at Home, Safe at Work conference in Melbourne, organised by the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse. The theme of the conference was family violence in the workplace context.
Presentations and panel discussions encompassed issues such as negotiating and implementing family violence-related entitlements through enterprise bargaining and law reform. Representatives from the ADFVC Workplace Rights and Entitlements Project also released the results of thefirst national survey into the impact of family violence in the workplace at the conference. Amanda’s presentation provided an overview of the ALRC Inquiry, in particular the employment law part, and focused on the challenges arising in the search for law reform solutions in this area. A copy of Amanda’s presentation can be accessed on the ALRC website.
At the same conference Andrea Durbach, Deputy Sex Discrimination Commissioner with the Australian Human Rights Commission spoke about Domestic violence discrimination and the consolidation of Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws, with reference to the ALRC Inquiry.
Thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you—to all of you who have contributed so much to this Inquiry and to the previous Inquiry we undertook with the NSW Law Reform Commission: Family Violence—A National Legal Response. Law reform work needs the committed and sustained involvement of the range of communities relevant to each inquiry. Such engagement underpins the integrity of the final reports and their law reform recommendations.
Given the time of year, may we convey on behalf of all at the ALRC our warmest wishes for the season and a happy New Year!