Managing fiscal pressures
Significant budget cuts 4.8 Consistent with its medium-term fiscal framework, the Australian Government has committed to limiting annual growth in government spending to 2% until the budget returns to surplus.[1] This policy requires public sector agencies, including the ALRC, to operate within limited resources. A major challenge for the ALRC over the current budget and …
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Read moreResponding flexibly and contributing to government policy priorities
Shorter timeframes4.16 As noted in the previous section of this background submission, the timely completion of high quality, well researched and well documented reports involves a complex interrelationship between time, scope and the team available. Where government wants a quicker turnaround, the scope of an inquiry needs to be much tighter and an appropriate team …
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Read moreScope and staff resourcing of past inquiries
4.25 The following section summarises the scope and staff resourcing of ALRC inquiries for which the final report was completed in the calendar years 2003 to 2010. In this period, the following 11 final reports were completed: Family Violence: A National Legal Response, 2010 (ALRC 114) Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia, 2009 (ALRC …
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Read moreConsultation
Wide reach3.3 Commitment to widespread consultation is a hallmark of best practice law reform.[1] As noted above, it is also contemplated in the ALRC Act, which provides that the ALRC ‘may inform itself in any way it thinks fit’ for the purposes of reviewing or considering anything that is the subject of an inquiry.[2] At …
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Read moreOverview of role and functions
Statutory basis2.3 The ALRC is an independent statutory agency established in 1975[2] and currently operates under the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 (Cth) (ALRC Act).[3] It is accountable to Parliament through the Attorney-General. The ALRC supports the Attorney-General and the Australian Government in the maintenance and enhancement of Australia’s system of law and justice …
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Read morePodcast: Indigenous issues and consultation in the Family Violence Inquiry
Professor Rosalind Croucher, President of the ALRC, speaks about some of the ways in which the Final Report for the Family Violence Inquiry, Family Violence – A National Legal Response (ALRC Report 114) addresses Indigenous issues.
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Read moreSubmissions and consultations
A common definition or shared understanding of family violence?5.54 In the Consultation Paper, the Commissions put forward two alternative proposals concerning the definition of family violence across family violence legislation. One was that state and territory family violence legislation should contain the same definition of family violence covering specified physical and non-physical violence, with the …
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Read morePodcast: Professor R. Croucher discusses the Family Violence Inquiry Final Report
Interview by journalist Michael Pelly with ALRC President, Rosalind Croucher, about the Final Report for the Family Violence Inquiry and its recommendations.
News/Media Release
Read morePre-trial oral examinations in the Australian context
Oral deposition-like processes in Australia 5.98 A number of legislative provisions exist in Australia that allow a court or a government agency to make orders or compel a person to be subject to oral examination. Some of these are discussed below. Federal Courts 5.99 Under the Federal Court Rules (Cth), the court is empowered to …
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Read moreLegal ethical obligations, misconduct and discovery: issues arising
4.115 A range of factors, illustrated by the key forms of discovery abuse and misconduct outlined above, currently have an impact upon the occurrence and prevalence of such abuse and enforcement of relevant legal ethical obligations. As discussed below, these include the adversarial nature of the civil justice system, and more specifically: lack of knowledge …
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