While the proceedings of Senate Estimates Committees are often reported as just another piece of political theatre, they do represent an important accountability mechanism. Senator the Hon John Faulkner, Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary, has described Senate Estimates Committees as the "best accountability mechanism of any Australian Parliament" (Senate Hansard, 13 May 2004, … Continue reading Senate Estimates And Other Parliamentary Committees

The New South Wales Occupational Health & Safety Act (Act) permits the prosecutor to appeal to a Full Bench of the Industrial Court of New South Wales, against a verdict of acquittal. This is an exception to the normal principles of criminal law. Recently the New South Wales Court of Appeal was called upon to … Continue reading Court Of Appeal Clarifies Scope Of Appeals Against Acquittal

Claims against government for the tort of misfeasance in public office appear to be on the rise. Usually, persons affected by government actions or decision-making will seek public law remedies. For example, where a person's interests are affected by a government decision that is made in excess of authority, the person might seek to have … Continue reading Misfeasance In Public Office

The Australian Domain Name Administrator (auDA) recently relaxed its rules on domain name transfers by introducing a new Transfers (Change of Registrant) Policy. Significantly, the policy allows domain name registrants to transfer or "sell" their .com.au domain name licences to any other eligible person or entity by any means. So what will be the effect … Continue reading New Australian Domain Names Sale Rules

ACT Attorney General Simon Corbell has indicated that Labor will honour the commitments made during the recent ACT election by introducing changes to the Freedom of Information Act 1989 to remove conclusive certificates, except in relation to national security considerations. "Conclusive certificates currently operate to remove documents and information from disclosure under Freedom of Information … Continue reading Freedom Of Information Reforms In ACT

Radio 2UE and John Laws have once again failed to disclose announcements as commercials. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has filed an application in the Federal Court of Australia seeking a civil penalty order against Radio 2UE Sydney Pty Ltd for breaching the licence condition. The 2UE breaches relate to 13 failures by … Continue reading ACMA Action Against 2UE For John Laws Breach

The ambitious Australian financial rescue package, announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last month, has been welcomed by most Australians. However, some key policies, such as the carbon trading scheme, may have to be placed on hold to pay for the rescue. Rudd has announced several measures designed to reduce the immediate impact on Australia … Continue reading Australian Labor Policies May Be Placed On Hold

Federal Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma, has released a new report which calls for the 'skilling up' of existing services that work with Indigenous young people with cognitive or mental health issues, in an effort to halt their slide into the juvenile justice system. The report is from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission … Continue reading HREOC Programs Diverting Young Indigenous From Incarceration

A tribunal has found the Immigration Department was wrong in refusing to release 282 documents under FOI legislation,  concerning Dr Mohamed Haneef.  Only one document, about the Immigration Minister's actions, was exempt, as it might be "misinterpreted by the public". The findings are by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) under the Freedom of Information Act … Continue reading FOI Cover Up By Immigration Department

Australian law firms are expecting the Federal government's upcoming move to end Work Choices legislation, in favour of Labor's new industrial relations law, will bring an influx of employment-related work. Unfair dismissal changes have historically prompted a significant number of clients to seek legal advice, according to Baker & McKenzie partner Michael Michalandos. He expects … Continue reading Scrapped Work Choices Legislation and Unfair Dismissal Laws

Climate change may not be as severe as predicted, suggests an international study that shows current modelling of carbon dioxide emissions from soils are overestimated by as much as 20%. The view, reported in the latest Nature Geoscience journal, is based on a study of Australian soils that finds the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) … Continue reading Australian Soil Studies Question Effect Of Climate Change

Perth midwife Tracey Robinson and her husband, Paul, have won a six-year battle against the Immigration Department to stay in Australia with their Down syndrome son. Immigration Minister Chris Evans has foreshadowed reform of the visa process for families with disabled children after using his discretion this week to grant the Robinsons permanent residency. Senator … Continue reading Down Syndrome Family Wins Six Year Visa Battle

The continuing effects of the global financial crisis have resulted in what some have called unprecedented turmoil in financial markets. Some of the volatility in stock markets has been blamed on short selling. Short selling is an activity whereby an entity enters into an agreement to sell a security that it does not currently own. … Continue reading ASIC Position On Short Selling

Just 90 years after winning the right to practice law, woman currently make up 68% of all law graduates, which is a remarkable achievement. However, females account for only 16% of partners, and less than 3% of managing partners and/or CEO's which raises questions of gender equality at the senior management level within Australian law … Continue reading Glass Ceiling For Women Lawyers

Children should be weighed and monitored for obesity from birth to stop them becoming unhealthy, fat adults, according to researchers. The experts argue the Federal Government's Healthy Kids Check plan to weigh all children from the age of four from next year is leaving it too late, given one in five children are already overweight … Continue reading Child Obesity Checks Should Start From Birth, Say Experts

About 24% of UK law firms have admitted to misplacing at least one mobile device containing confidential documents, a recent survey found. IT company CREDANT Technologies interviewed 100 UK small to medium sized law firms and revealed that lawyers were about as "clueless" as other professionals, when it came to respecting client confidentiality. Over 90% … Continue reading One Quarter Of Law Firms Lose Confidential Data