Media Briefing – Reform of the credit reporting system
The Privacy Act regulates the system of credit reporting, allowing information about an individual’s credit-worthiness to be collected and disclosed to credit providers, such as banks, finance companies, mortgage companies, and mobile phone service providers. In Australia, this information is collected by a small number of specialist credit reporting companies from credit providers and from …
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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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Read moreALRC to tackle government secrecy laws
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomed the announcement today by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, of new Terms of Reference for the ALRC to review secrecy provisions in federal legislation. The Terms of Reference ask the ALRC to focus on: ‘the importance of balancing the need to protect Commonwealth information and …
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Read moreFOI Inquiry deferred pending Government reforms
Tuesday 22 July 2008: Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) President, Professor David Weisbrot, said today that the ALRC had been informed by the Attorney-General that an inquiry into Freedom of Information (FOI) laws was being suspended as part of the FOI reform process announced by Cabinet Secretary John Faulkner this morning. Professor Weisbrot said: “We …
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Read moreWill ‘animal rights’ become the next great social justice movement?
Increasing concern for animal welfare and consumer demand for organic and free range products—backed up with stricter food labelling requirements—is likely to trigger the next great social justice movement in Australia, according to the latest edition of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s journal Reform, launched in Sydney today. ALRC President, Professor David Weisbrot AM, said …
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Read moreOverhaul of client legal privilege in federal investigations
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has recommended 45 changes to the handling of claims of client legal privilege over material sought by federal investigatory bodies and royal commissions of inquiry. The ALRC report Privilege in Perspective: Client Legal Privilege in Federal Investigations, tabled in Parliament today, is the culmination of a year-long public inquiry …
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Read moreALRC addresses costly disputes over client legal privilege
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) today released a Discussion Paper, Client Legal Privilege and Federal Investigatory Bodies (DP 73), containing 42 proposals aimed ataddressing lengthy and costly disputes over client legal privilege in federal investigations. ALRC President, Professor David Weisbrot, said that the ALRC recognised the need for a clear and consistent approach to …
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Read moreALRC proposes overhaul of ‘complex and costly’ privacy laws
The Australian Law Reform Commission today released a blueprint with 301 proposals for overhauling Australia’s complex and costly privacy laws and practices.Releasing Discussion Paper 72, Review of Australian Privacy Law, ALRC President Prof David Weisbrot said it was the product of the largest public consultation process in ALRC history: “We have received over 300 submissions …
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Read moreALRC proposes a more comprehensive credit reporting regime
The Australian Law Reform Commission has proposed the introduction of a more comprehensive credit reporting regime, in a Discussion Paper released today as part of its major review of Australian privacy law and practice.ALRC President, Professor David Weisbrot, said that the ALRC’s review was the first Australian inquiry to recommend such a change, following extensive …
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Read morePromoting a healthy legal culture the focus of new Australian Academy of Law
Strengthening the ‘legal culture’ of an increasingly fragmented legal profession will be the focus of Australia’s newest ‘learned academy’, with today’s launch of the Australian Academy of Law (AAL) in Brisbane.In its landmark report on the civil justice system, Managing Justice (2000), the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) highlighted the problems associated with the lack of cohesion …
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