ALRC InBrief | December 2015
Message from the President It’s been another exciting and busy year at the ALRC. Mid year saw the tabling of Connection to Country: Review of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), the final report for the Native Title Inquiry led by Professor Lee Godden of the University of Melbourne, with an official launch on 29 June 2015. In …
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Read moreALRC submission to Senate inquiry regarding the Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015
Committee ChairMs Leanne Donaldson MPCommunities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention CommitteeParliament HouseGeorge StreetBrisbane Qld 40006 November 2015Dear Ms Donaldson,Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Committee …
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Read moreAppendix C: Terms of Reference 2014–15
Review of equal recognition before the law and legal capacity for people with disabilityI, Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Attorney-General of Australia, having regard to:the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Australia is a party and which sets out:rights for people with disability to recognition before the law, to legal …
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Read moreOther reporting requirements
Procurement and purchasingPurchasing within the ALRC is guided by its Procurement and Purchasing Policy, which is consistent with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPRs) and the PGPA Act. As an agency expending public money, the ALRC must be accountable for its resources and expenditure. The Government requires the ALRC to promote the proper use of resources …
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Read moreALRC 40th Anniversary Celebration | Chief Justice Robert French AC
Chief Justice Robert French AC, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, 23 October 2015, Federal Court, Sydney.President Rosalind Croucher, Attorney-General Senator George Brandis, Sir Gerard Brennan, Chairman Emeritus Michael Kirby, my colleague Justice Susan Kiefel, your Honours, ladies and gentlemen. I thank the Australian Law Reform Commission for the invitation to participate in this important …
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Read moreAdditional performance indicators
Participation in external inquiriesOften through its inquiry work the ALRC has already conducted valuable research into areas of law or legal processes that become subject to review by other agencies or Parliamentary Committees. Where appropriate and relevant, the ALRC provides briefings or written submissions to Parliamentary Committees, Ministers, government departments, and other bodies. In this …
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Read morePresident’s overview
It is an enormous privilege to present the ALRC’s Annual Report in this very significant year—2015 marks 40 years since the ALRC was established on 1 January 1975 under the chairmanship of the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG. In these four decades, the ALRC has produced 86 final reports, covering areas of law as …
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Read moreJustifications for excluding the privilege against self-incrimination
12.71 The right to claim the privilege against self-incrimination is not absolute and may be removed or diminished by statute.[94] In Hamilton v Oades, the High Court held thatit is well established that Parliament is able to interfere with established common law protections, including the right to refuse to answer questions, the answers to which …
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Read moreRight to confront witnesses and test evidence
10.81 The High Court has said that ‘confrontation and the opportunity for cross-examination is of central significance to the common law adversarial system of trial’.[93] The right to confront an adverse witness has been said to be ‘basic to any civilised notion of a fair trial’.[94] In R v Davis, Lord Bingham said:It is a …
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Read moreJustifying limits on rights and freedoms
1.53 Laws that interfere with traditional rights and freedoms are sometimes considered necessary. The mere fact of interference will rarely be a sufficient ground of criticism.1.54 For one thing, important rights often clash with each other, so that some must necessarily give way, at least partly, to others. Freedom of movement, for example, does not …
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