Publications

The ALRC produces a range of publications including:

Inquiry Reports,
Consultation Documentation,
Information sheets, and
Reform Journal

The ALRC is committed to improving public access to its work and all past reports and recent consultation papers are available for free viewing and download via this website.

Some publications are available in book format for purchase.

14.12.1989

Guardianship and Management of Property (ALRC Report 52)

ALRC Report 52 (tabled December 1989) considered the difference between management of property and guardianship and highlighted many procedural defects, which were expensive and insensitive, particularly in the application of guardians or managers of property. Guardianship and Management of Property (ALRC Report 52) found many substantive defects in the law as the Lunacy Act 1898 …

14.11.1989

Informed Decisions in Medical Procedures (ALRC Report 50)

ALRC Report 50 (released November 1989) was commissioned in response to the growing trend of patients assuming greater involvement in decisions regarding their treatment. If patients’ expectations that they will be adequately informed are not met, legal action against medical practitioners may result. The scope of Informed Decisions in Medical Procedures (ALRC Report 50) was …

15.08.1989

Product Liability (ALRC Report 51)

ALRC Report 51 was tabled on 15 August 1989. The terms of reference required the Commission to focus on a particular area of product liability: situations in which the product itself played a crucial role in causing the injury or loss to the consumer or a member of the community. The reference considered only the …

06.04.1989

Enduring Powers of Attorney (ALRC Report 47)

ALRC Report 47 (tabled 6 April 1989) outlined powers of attorney in the context of the management of an infirm person’s property.The report found that the existing law in the Australian Capital Territory was inadequate as a power of attorney lapsed once the person who granted it became legally incapacitated. Through identifying a number of …

14.12.1988

Grouped Proceedings in the Federal Court (ALRC Report 46)

ALRC Report 46 (tabled December 1988) reported that the high cost of legal proceedings effectively prevented individuals and businesses who had suffered significant but small losses from claiming compensation for those losses.ALRC Report 46 concluded that a new grouping procedure had a number of advantages including cost effective enforcement of rights and consistency of determinations.View …

14.12.1988

Grouped Proceedings in the Federal Court (ALRC Report 46 Summary)

This is a Summary of ALRC Report 46 (tabled December 1988).View ALRC Report 46 Summary in HTMLon the AustLII website.

13.12.1988

General Insolvency Inquiry (ALRC Report 45)

ALRC Report 45 (tabled 13 December 1988) examined the developments of overseas jurisdictions in relation to insolvency and identified that existing forms of voluntary administration were unnecessarily complex, confusing and uncoordinated.View ALRC Report 45 in HTMLon the AustLII website.The PDF download, below, is a Summary of ALRC Report 45. The full report comprises two volumes …

25.08.1988

Sentencing (ALRC Report 44)

ALRC Report 44 (tabled March 1988) represented the ALRC’s final work on the reference given to the Commission in 1978 and examined the sentencing and punishment of both federal and ACT offenders. The report examined the public concern that existed about inconsistency in sentencing and the difference between the term of imprisonment imposed by the …

14.04.1988

Occupiers’ Liability (ALRC Report 42)

ALRC Report 42 (tabled April 1988) represents the third of three reports in the Community Law Reform Program for the Australian Capital Territory.At the time of the inquiry into occupiers’ liability, the common law on this subject was excessively technical and lacked uniformity. The outcome of a case would depend on the relationship between the …

14.03.1988

The Commonwealth Prisoners Act (Interim report) (ALRC Report 43)

The Attorney-General specifically asked the Commission to give an interim report on the anomalies present in the law governing parole and release before its final report was completed. It is this aspect of the subject that forms the basis of ALRC Report 43 (tabled March 1988).View ALRC Report 43 in HTMLon the AustLII website.