Privacy law and practice
This 28-month inquiry looked at the extent to which the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and related laws continue to provide an effective framework for the protection of privacy in Australia. It resulted in the Final Report, For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice (ALRC Report 108).During the ALRC’s extensive consultations around the country, the …
Inquiries
Read moreInternational law reformers ‘peering over the horizon’
Monday, 10 April 2006: What will our legal and regulatory systems need to do to manage the rapid advances in the sciences and in information technology? How will those societies facing an HIV/AIDS crisis cope when almost an entire generation is wiped out by the epidemic? What should be the regional and international response if …
News/Media Release
Read moreBetter parliamentary procedures required to support law reform: Justice Kirby
Thursday, 1 December 2005: Australian jurisdictions—federal, state and territory—need to improve parliamentary procedures for responding to law reform reports if the law is to keep pace with social and technological change, the Hon Justice Michael Kirby said today.The problem of how to secure governmental attention to law reform is an “institutional defect” that represents a …
News/Media Release
Read moreMomentum growing for national evidence law
Monday, 4 July 2005: Almost 20 years since the Australian Law Reform Commission first warned that Australia ’s jumble of evidence laws needed urgent overhaul, momentum is finally gathering to finish the job, with the ALRC joining with law reformers from almost every state and territory in an unprecedented review of evidence legislation. “Evidence law …
News/Media Release
Read moreThe Kirby Oration – The Human Genome: Lessons for Life, Love and the Law
Professor David Weisbrot, President, Australian Law Reform Commission The 8th AIHLE Annual Conference, Hobart, 20 November 2003 First, thank you very much to the Board of the Australian Institute of Health Law and Ethics (AIHLE) and the organisers of this conference, for the great honour of being invited to deliver the opening address. It is …
News/Media Release
Read moreReform of the civil justice system and economic growth: Australian experience
Professor David Weisbrot, President, Australian Law Reform Commission, ‘Court Reform and Economic Growth’, Fundación ICO Conference, Madrid, 19 October 2000 [Not for quotation or publication without the permission of the author or the Conference organisers.] Synopsis The Australian Law Reform Commission recently completed its four-year inquiry into the federal civil justice system, culminating in the …
News/Media Release
Read moreChild welfare laws and practices (ACT)
The Child Welfare report reviews the child welfare laws and practices in the Australian Capital Territory.The ALRC observed that the Children’s Court and police service lacked a clear policy and practical guidelines on how to manage cases involving young offenders.In addition, the welfare system was found to be inadequately equipped to deal with neglected, abused and uncontrollable …
Inquiries
Read moreALRC In Brief | November 2025
From the ALRC President Welcome to the latest edition of the ALRC’s In Brief newsletter. The last few months at the ALRC have been both busy and memorable. In October, the ALRC celebrated its 50th anniversary by hosting a dinner, attended by over 200 guests, and the Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference 2025 (ALRAC), with …
News/Media Release
Read moreALRC at 50: Past, Present and Future
Address to the 2025 Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference (ALRAC) by the Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, 9 October 2025 The Honourable Michael Kirby AC CMG: Inaugural Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-1984); Deputy President Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (1975-83); Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1983-4); President of the NSW …
News/Media Release
Read moreALRC In Brief | June 2025
From the ALRC President Welcome to the latest edition of the ALRC’s In Brief newsletter. It has been a busy few months at the Commission, with all three of our Inquiries releasing publications, and a major media event for our most recently completed Inquiry. The Review of the Future Acts Regime has delivered its Discussion …
News/Media Release
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