Key developments
- Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into Indigenous incarceration – consultation on draft terms of reference
- Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse – Evidence (Tendency and Coincidence) Model Provisions
- Privacy Amendment (Re-Identification Offence) Bill 2016
- Productivity Commission: Data Availability and Use, Draft Report
- National Innovation and Science Agenda – Employee Share Schemes
- Australian Consumer Law – interim report
- Uniform National Mortgage
- Online Court: guidance to the legal profession
- Guidelines for dealing with self-represented parties in civil proceedings
- Statutory review of Work Health and Safety Act 2011
- Trauma funding for children in out of home care
- 2017 Independent Intelligence Review
- Amendments to the Family Law Act 1975 to respond to family violence
Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into Indigenous incarceration – consultation on draft terms of reference
The Indigenous Issues, Criminal Law and Children’s Legal Issues Committees made a joint submission to the Law Council of Australia on the draft terms of reference for the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) inquiry into Indigenous incarceration. The Committees submitted that a review of the current health services, especially for mental health and drug and alcohol issues, should be undertaken alongside the ALRC inquiry. This would enable policy-makers to understand the full picture in relation to the availability of diversionary options and alternatives to imprisonment, as well as the availability of programs in prisons.
The Committees submitted that the ALRC inquiry should include a review of the availability of Indigenous services providers and/or culturally appropriate services. The Committees also noted that justice reinvestment initiatives should be specifically included in the terms of reference. Finally, the Committees submitted that the terms of reference should include an investigation of the cultural competence of agencies in the criminal justice system.
