Outcomes

1.93     The overall effect of the Report will be to provide a significant contribution to a broader discussion and debate about protecting rights in democratic societies. The specific outcomes of the ALRC’s review include :

  • discussion of the source and rationale of the traditional rights and freedoms listed in the Terms of Reference;

  • consideration of the protection from statutory encroachment given to traditional rights and freedoms by the Constitution, principles of statutory interpretation and international law—complementing work that considers other ways to protect rights;

  • an extensive survey of Commonwealth laws that encroach on the listed traditional rights and freedoms recognised by the common law;

  • analysis of the justification for a range of these laws;

  • discussion of a proportionality test to provide a structured method of reviewing the justification of laws that limit rights and freedoms;

  • analysis of the law-making processes for testing compatibility of laws with fundamental rights and how these can be improved to ensure that laws that limit traditional rights and freedoms are thoroughly scrutinised; and

  • the highlighting of laws that warrant further consideration or review—to provide a road map for future work to ensure that encroachments on rights, freedoms and privileges are avoided or appropriately justified.