Which exceptions and defences should be expressly included?
7.12 Chapter 3 identifies a range of exceptions and defences found in existing secrecy provisions, that is, where disclosure is· in the course of a person’s functions and duties;· for the purposes of a particular law;· authorised by specified persons;· to specified persons or entities;· for the purposes of legal proceedings;· for the purposes of law …
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Consent of the Attorney-General to prosecute7.152 The consent of the Attorney-General must be obtained before a prosecution can be commenced for breach of certain secrecy provisions. For example, the Attorney-General, or a person acting under his or her direction, must consent prior to a prosecution under s 79 of the Crimes Act[166] or s 91.1 of the …
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Read moreGovernment response to ALRC Report 74
Released on 16 February 1999 by IP Australia and Mr Warren Entsch MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Science and ResourcesRecommendation No 1. Australian law should continue to provide statutory protection for industrial designs.Response: AcceptedNo 2. Reform of designs law that can be achieved within the current framework of intellectual property law should …
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Intellectual property rights over genetic materials and genetic and related technologies 1. I, DARYL WILLIAMS, Attorney-General of Australia, following consultation with the Commonwealth Biotechnology Ministerial Council, and having regard to: the objective of the protection of intellectual property rights to contribute to the promotion of technological innovation, to the mutual advantage of producers and users …
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Review of Secrecy Laws I, ROBERT McCLELLAND, Attorney-General of Australia, having regard to: the desirability of having comprehensive, consistent and workable laws and practices in relation to the protection of Commonwealth information; the increased need to share such information within and between governments and with the private sector; the importance of balancing the need to …
Inquiries
Read more1. Introduction to the Inquiry
BackgroundOn 17 July 2009, the Attorney-General of Australia, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, asked the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to conduct an Inquiry together with the New South Wales Law Reform Commission (NSWLRC) into particular questions in relation to family violence that had arisen from the March 2009 report, Time for Action, produced by …
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This Inquiry looked at the complex interaction between state and territory family and domestic violence and child protection laws and the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). The ALRC was to consider what, if any, improvements could be made to relevant legal frameworks to protect the safety of women and children.
Inquiries
Read moreSpecific statutory secrecy provisions
3.20 Secrecy provisions contained in Commonwealth legislation are many and varied. As noted in Chapter 1, the ALRC has conducted a mapping exercise to identify and analyse provisions in Commonwealth legislation that impose secrecy or confidentiality obligations on individuals or bodies in respect of Commonwealth information. The ALRC has identified 506 secrecy provisions in 176 …
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Read moreFrom secrecy to open government
Secrecy and government2.4 The secrecy of government information has a long history. As Professor Enid Campbell has explained, the notion that the activities of government should be secret goes back to a period when monarchs were motivated by a desire to protect themselves against their rivals and official information was considered the property of the …
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Read moreCurrent trends in open government
FOI reforms2.21 At the time of writing, the FOI Act is the subject of a proposed reform package based on a commitment by the Australian Government to ‘undertake the most significant overhaul of the FOI Act since its inception in 1982’.[30] The package includes the Freedom of Information (Removal of Conclusive Certificates and Other Measures) …
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