Filling the gaps in existing law
3.50 Although the existing law provides protection against some invasions of privacy, there are significant gaps or uncertainties. These include the following:The tort actions of trespass to the person, trespass to land and nuisance do not provide protection from unauthorised and serious intrusions into a person’s private activities in many situations.[80] A statutory cause of …
Publications
Read moreA Commonwealth harassment Act
Proposal 14–1 A Commonwealth harassment Act should be enacted to consolidate and clarify existing criminal offences for harassment and, if a new tort for serious invasion of privacy is not enacted, provide for a new statutory tort of harassment. Alternatively, the states and territories should adopt uniform harassment legislation. 14.5 This new Commonwealth harassment Act …
Publications
Read moreGaps in existing law
3.48 Although the existing law provides protection against some invasions of privacy, there are significant gaps or uncertainties. These include the following:The tort actions of trespass to the person, trespass to land and nuisance do not provide protection from unauthorised and serious intrusions into a person’s private activities in many situations.[76] The statutory cause of …
Publications
Read moreHarassment and stalking offences
3.25 State and territory laws criminalising harassment and stalking vary considerably depending on the jurisdiction. Legislation in Queensland and Victoria expressly prohibits ‘cyber-harassment’ committed through ‘electronic messages’[41] or by ‘otherwise contacting the victim’.[42]3.26 The Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 provides offences for conduct amounting to harassment that occurs via a communications service (which includes the …
Publications
Read morePrinciple 7: Privacy laws should be coherent and consistent
2.26 Any recommendation for a statutory cause of action for serious invasion of privacy (or other remedy) should promote coherence in the law and be consistent with other Australian laws or regulatory regimes. Recommendations should also promote uniformity or consistency in the law throughout Australian jurisdictions.2.27 In its consultations and other occasions,[35] the ALRC has …
Publications
Read moreParticipants
Australian Law Reform Commission President Professor Rosalind Croucher Commissioner in Charge Professor Barbara McDonald Part-time Commissioner The Hon Justice John Middleton Executive Director Sabina Wynn Senior Legal Officers Jared Boorer Legal Officers Brigit Morris Steven Robertson Legal Interns Claire Bready Ravi Gosal Michelle Meares Jack Murray Hagen Sporleder Jackson Wherrett Bradley Woods Advisory Committee Members …
Publications
Read moreAdvisory Committee
Committee members The Hon Justice Peter D Applegarth, Queensland Supreme Court, Brisbane Richard Coleman, Fairfax Media Limited, Sydney Professor Graham Greenleaf, Professor of Law & Information Systems, University of New South Wales Anna Johnston, Director, Salinger Privacy, Sydney Peter Leonard, Partner, Gilbert & Tobin, Sydney The Hon Justice John Middleton, Federal Court of Australia, Melbourne …
Inquiries
Read moreConsultations
Name Location Charles Alexander (Minter Ellison) Sydney July 2012 Art Gallery of NSW Sydney April 2013 Arts Law Centre Sydney August 2013 APRA/AMCOS Sydney October 2012 APRA/AMCOS; Australian Music Publishers Association; Australian Recording Industry Association; Phonographic Performance Company of Australia Sydney August 2013 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Sydney February 2013 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission …
Publications
Read moreData and text mining
11.57 Data and text mining has been defined as automated analytical techniques that work by ‘copying existing electronic information, for instance articles in scientific journals and other works, and analysing the data they contain for patterns, trends and other useful information’.[69]11.58 Data and text mining is becoming increasingly important in a number of research sectors, …
Publications
Read moreConsumer use of copyright material
3.23 The Terms of Reference for this Inquiry direct the ALRC to consider whether the Copyright Act needs reform to allow:transformative, innovative and collaborative use of copyright materials to create and deliver new products and services of public benefit; andappropriate access, use, interaction and production of copyright material online for social, private or domestic purposes.3.24 …
Publications
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