Awareness 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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Read moreProposed functions
High-level advice on human genetics5.79 Many submissions emphasised the need for governments and other policy-makers to receive cutting-edge advice about a range of complex issues raised by the rapidly developing field of human genetics, which integrates a broad range of expertise, experiences and perspectives.5.80 The University of Tasmania’s Centre for Law and Genetics wrote that:It …
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Read moreSocial reactions to rapid scientific change
4.12 The pace of scientific advancement in biotechnology and in other related fields creates a degree of social ambivalence about the potential benefits and potential dangers of change. On the one hand, there is very strong public support for breakthroughs promising better medical diagnosis and treatments, and for assisting with law enforcement; on the other, …
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Read moreALRC submission to the inquiry into exposure drafts of Australian privacy amendment legislation
Ms Christine McDonaldSecretary, Legislation CommitteeSenate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration 23 July 2010 Dear Ms McDonald Inquiry into exposure drafts of Australian privacy amendment legislation The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomes the release of the Australian Privacy Principles Exposure Draft and Companion Guide as a major plank in the implementation of the …
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Read moreCommunity consultation processes
1.17 One of the most important features of ALRC inquiries is the commitment to public engagement and community consultation. The ALRC-AHEC media release in February 2001, which responded to the Terms of Reference, expressly recognised that widespread public consultation would be a key feature of the genetic information Inquiry. As mentioned above, the reporting deadline …
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Read moreWhat should be included in the general secrecy offence?
Damaging national security, defence or international relations5.10 Section 33(1)(a) of the FOI Act provides that a document is exempt if disclosure would, or could reasonably be expected to, cause damage to the security, defence or international relations of the Commonwealth.[9]National security and defence5.11 In this section the ALRC considers whether unauthorised disclosures that damage the security …
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Read moreWhat should not be included in the general secrecy offence?
5.77 In the following section, the ALRC considers which of the public interests protected by the various FOI Act exemptions should not be protected by the general secrecy offence.Cabinet documents and internal working documents5.78 Section 34 of the FOI Act provides that a document is an exempt document if it has been, or will be, submitted …
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