Identifying child abuse and neglect
A policy requiring child protection notification every time police respond to an incident of family violence may have unintended consequences in that it may discourage women from reporting violence. Numerous studies have established that one of the greatest barriers for women to reporting violence or breaches of protection orders is the fear of state intervention …
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Read moreInformation sharing
A central feature of an inter-agency response is the capacity of member agencies to share relevant information about the child so that a joint and complementary strategy is agreed to provide services that the child needs.In its recent report on privacy, For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (2008), the ALRC noted that a …
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Read moreFamily dispute resolution and family violence
Family dispute resolution (FDR) is defined broadly in s 10F of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) as any non-judicial process where an independent FDR practitioner helps people affected, or likely to be affected, by separation or divorce, to resolve some or all of their disputes with each other.Broadly speaking, the current legislative framework encourages …
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Read moreDispute resolution in child protection
In most Australian states and territories, child protection legislation includes provisions designed to facilitate negotiated solutions. In addition, some government and community agencies use ADR procedures for child protection cases and have developed policy and practice in relation to ADR. There is a great deal of variation in the processes and terminology used to describe …
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Read moreRestorative justice
One widely accepted definition of restorative justice is ‘a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future’.[11] However, such processes need not involve face-to-face meetings between victims and offenders, and can be used for victims alone …
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Read moreRemoving impediments to information sharing
Information sharing has been identified as an ongoing challenge in ensuring the safety of victims of family violence in proceedings in federal family courts and state and territory courts. Time for Action recommended that information-sharing systems and protocols should be developed and supported by all organisations in response to sexual assault and family violence. It …
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Read moreAwareness of pre-existing orders
Parenting proceedings under the Family Law Act‘Friendly parent’ provisionConcerns have been raised that certain provisions of the Family Law Act may impede the extent to which family courts are informed about any history or risk of family violence. In particular, concerns have been raised about:s 60CC(3)(c)—which requires the court to consider the willingness and ability …
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Read moreDoes the Privacy Act cover genetic samples?
8.4 A key term in defining the coverage of the Privacy Act is ‘personal information’. The Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) and NPPs apply when government, private sector organisations and individuals collect, store, use and disclose personal information. Under s 6(1) of the Privacy Act ‘personal information’ is defined as follows:personal information means information or an …
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Read moreDeceased individuals
Extending the Privacy Act to deceased individuals7.84 DP 66 asked whether the Privacy Act adequately deals with issues that may arise in relation to the genetic samples and information of deceased individuals.[93] A threshold question concerns the extent to which it makes sense to protect the privacy of deceased individuals through the application of information …
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Read moreA Human Genetics Commission of Australia
Is there a need?5.36 It may be that there once was a time when the suggested solution to every significant social issue was the establishment of a specialised agency or tribunal to deal with that issue. However, as a general matter, it is now the ALRC’s strong preference to utilise or build upon existing institutions …
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