Lael K. Weis

With the federal election just a few weeks away, the next Commonwealth Government may be tasked with bringing forward one or two major proposals for constitutional change: the proposal for a constitutionalised First Nations Voice to Parliament set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and the proposal for Australia to be a republic set out in the Australian Republican Movement’s Australian Choice Model.

Welcome to the May edition of the AUSPUBLAW Australian Public Law Events Roundup.

Gabrielle Appelby and Prabha Nanda

In the four years since the global #MeToo movement, misconduct in the workplace – and in particular sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination – continue to dominate headlines. The last two years has seen serious allegations and findings of sexual misconduct emerge in the workplaces of the courts, and Australian Parliament House. This has led to a series of workplace reviews, including an internal High Court review that led to a new workplace conduct policy, an Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces (often referred to as the Jenkins Review, resulting in the Set the Standard Report), an ongoing Independent Review into Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct in NSW Parliament, the South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission’s Review of Harassment in the South Australian Parliament Workplace, an ongoing Tasmanian review into parliamentary practices and procedures to support workplace culture by the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, and an independent review into sexual harassment in Victorian courts and the VCAT (Victorian Courts Review).

Margaret Thornton

The Jenkins Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces was published on 30 November 2021: Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces. This post provides the context for the report and an explanation of its findings and recommendations, together with the responses by the Australian Government to date.

Kieran Pender

A federal election is imminent. Following the Mediscare scandal of 2016 and the death tax saga of 2019, it is perhaps only a matter of time before a major mis- or dis-information campaign hits the 2022 election. Attention will inevitably turn to a regulatory response. One frequently-cited proposal is a truth in political advertising law, which would penalise false or misleading political advertising. Such laws currently exist in South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Last year, independent MP Zali Steggall proposed a federal equivalent via a private member’s Bill.

Dane Luo

Following a ‘march of structured proportionality’ globally, the High Court adopted, in the 2015 McCloy v New South Wales (2015) decision, the framework of ‘suitability’, ‘necessity’ and ‘adequacy in the balance’ to a legitimate end to assess the proportionality of laws that burden the implied freedom of political communication (implied freedom).

Luke Beck

With the recent implosion of the Morrison Government’s Religious Discrimination Bill and both major parties continuing to promise to legislate in this space in future, it is timely to think about how to draft a workable Religious Discrimination Bill.

The Government’s Bill was controversial because it included provisions overriding existing anti-discrimination protections to enable a range of religiously-motivated conduct (such as refusing to hire gay people or making disparaging comments about disabled people in healthcare settings) that would otherwise be prohibited. This post considers some key issues of process and constitutional substance, and concludes with a proposal for a proper Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry into the issue.

Graeme Orr

In late 2021, the Australian government enacted various amendments affecting the registration of political parties, with the support of the Labor opposition. The oddest, if not most contentious, aspect of the reforms is a rule allowing established parties to effectively “bags” key words in their names. Words such as ‘liberal’, ‘labo(u)r’, ‘greens’ – even ‘Christian’ – and grammatical variants are now controlled by the oldest registered party with that word in its name. (Certain words, such as ‘democratic’ or ‘country’, place names like ‘Australia’ and ‘collective nouns for people’ are not so controlled.)

Welcome to the April edition of the AUSPUBLAW Australian Public Law Events Roundup.

Alan Zheng

Note: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the names of people who have passed away.

Over the past decade, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (RDA) has found its place as a remedial avenue for First Nations persons and communities seeking justice against unlawful racial discrimination.

Welcome to the March edition of the AUSPUBLAW Australian Public Law Events Roundup.

Samuel White

In January 2020, the Prime Minister of Australia announced that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) would move from ‘respond to request’ to ‘move forward and integrate’, signalling increased domestic deployments in response to the devastating bushfires over the summer of 2019/2020. Two months later, Operation COVID-19 Assist was established and constituted the largest deployment – domestic or external - of the ADF since World War Two.

Dane Luo

Last month, the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) published the Australian Choice Model – a model for a Australian republic where the Head of State would be elected by the Australian people every five years from a pool of candidates nominated by the Commonwealth, state and territory Parliaments.

William Isdale and Nicholas Simoes da Silva

Last year marked the 120th anniversary of the Commonwealth statute book – an anniversary that offers an opportunity to reflect on the house of law we have built. There is much to be proud of: a house constructed from the timbers of Parliamentary sovereignty, with strong constitutional foundations.

Paul Kildea

On 20 December 2021, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs completed its inquiry into constitutional reform and referendums and published an anticipated Report. The Report makes 10 recommendations …

Gabrielle Appleby, Lynsey Blayden, Chantal Bostock & Janina Boughey

In the final post for the Kerr Report series, which examines whether Australian administrative law is still fit for purpose 50 years after the Kerr Committee Report, we reflect on a number of key reforms required to ensure the performance and integrity of Australia’s administrative review system. …

Guy Baldwin

Since the shift in focus for supporting Commonwealth migration legislation from the ‘immigration’ power under s 51(xxvii) of the Constitution to the ‘aliens’ power under s 51(xix) in the 1980s, there has been a great deal of litigation before the High Court about the scope of s 51(xix). Perhaps the most influential judicial dicta …

Lucas Lixinski

In mid-October 2021, the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia delivered ‘A Way Forward: Final report into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge’ (‘A Way Forward’, or ‘Report’). This Report makes recommendations to change Australian law to better safeguard First Nations identities and …

Hannah McGlade

The Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia’s Inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge reported in October. Its report, ‘A Way Forward’ called for a new national framework of Aboriginal heritage protection co-designed with Aboriginal people. It recommended that the responsibility for Aboriginal cultural heritage, sitting …