In the media

Whole-of-Government Legal Services Panel commences
The Morrison Government has launched a new era in the provision of legal services to the Commonwealth, with the commencement of the first Whole of Government Legal Services Panel. The Panel, comprising more than 60 specialist legal providers from across Australia and across a wide range of service expertise, will provide the bulk of the Commonwealth's external legal services until 2024 (16 August 2019). More...

'Creeping crisis' of legitimacy for Australian Public Service
Australia's public sector faces a "creeping crisis" of effectiveness and legitimacy caused by blunt management tools and cultural inertia, according to a wide-ranging survey of public servants (15 August 2019). More...

Mining giant loses fight to keep Paradise Papers revelations out of ATO's reach
Australia's biggest coal producer, Glencore, loses a High Court bid to have documents linked to its offshore financial arrangements kept out of reach of the Australian Tax Office (ATO) by invoking legal privilege (14 August 2019). More...

Chatbot to make solving legal issues simple
The NSW Government will invest $250,000 into designing and building a chatbot that will help vulnerable people solve common legal problems with speed and ease, Attorney General Mark Speakman announced. Marrickville Legal Centre will pioneer the technology after becoming the first recipient of a grant from the government's new Access to Justice Innovation Fund (14 August 2019). More...

AFP won't rule out charging journalists in leak investigations
Journalists who published stories based on leaked, highly classified information and were later raided by the Australian Federal Police could still be charged, an intelligence committee hearing is told (14 August 2019). More...

National security laws should not unduly limit free press, says Law Council
Disclosure of classified intelligence information by journalists and whistleblowers should only be criminalised if it can be proven there is a real threat to national security, says the Law Council of Australia. In its submission to the PJCIS press freedoms inquiry, the Law Council said currently there was a broad scope of journalistic conduct that may be innocuous but could be caught under espionage, sabotage and foreign interference laws (14 August 2019). More...

Why an Australian charter of rights is a matter of national urgency
If anyone doubts the need for a charter of rights in Australia, the Banerji decision of the High Court handed down demonstrates why legislative protection for our common law freedoms has become a matter of national urgency (13 August 2019). More...

Get the balance right on farm trespass laws, says Law Council
Proposed farm incitement of trespass laws would duplicate existing state and territory provisions and could stifle legitimate public debate, says the Law Council of Australia. While the Law Council recognised trespass, property damage and theft was unlawful and could cause harm to farming properties, all jurisdictions already had laws criminalising the incitement of such conduct (12 August 2019). More...

LSC: Draft Legal Profession Uniform Admission Amendment (Qualifications) Rule 2019 (Draft Rule)
The Legal Services Council has released, for public comment for a period of at least 30 days, the draft Legal Profession Uniform Admission Amendment (Qualifications) Rule 2019 (Draft Rule) in accordance with s 426 of the Uniform Law. The Draft Rule relates to the admission of foreign lawyers in NSW and Victoria, a function performed by the admitting authorities in each State (09 August 2019). More...

It 'doesn't make sense': Judge blasts rule behind Opal Tower class action delay
A multi-million-dollar class action by owners of units in the notorious Opal Towers against the NSW Government faces a month-long delay due to a historical practice note a Supreme Court judge says "doesn't make sense" (09 August 2019). More...

Last offender sentenced for the terrorist killing of Curtis Cheng
One of the CDPP's most high-profile and important series of cases came to a close when Mr Mustafa Dirani (25) was sentenced for his role in the act of terrorism which resulted in the death of NSW Police accountant, Mr Curtis Cheng (09 August 2019). More...

Accessible reproductive healthcare must be the priority as NSW moves closer to decriminalising abortion
The passage of the NSW Reproductive Healthcare Reform Bill through the Legislative Assembly is a long awaited step towards decriminalisation of abortion in NSW (09 August 2019). More...

BOSCAR: The effect of Lockout laws on assault: Latest data
The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has updated our evaluation of the Lockout laws on assaults in Sydney for an extended follow up period. Commenting on the findings, acting executive director of BOCSAR, Jackie Fitzgerald said that while the Lockout reforms have reduced assaults, their benefit is diminishing over time (09 August 2019). More...

OAIC joins with global privacy regulators to call for more information from the Libra Network
International data protection and privacy regulators are calling on Facebook and the Libra Network to explain how they will secure and protect personal information as part of their global cryptocurrency project (06 August 2019). More...

Multicultural students learn about their legal rights
The annual court open days offered the newly-arrived migrants and refugees the opportunity to learn about the NSW justice system and how courts operate in NSW (06 August 2019). More...

In practice and courts

High Court Practice Direction 1 of 2019
The High Court has recently issued a new practice direction, which applies to matters set down after 1 October 2019. More...

High Court (2020) Sittings Rules 2019
The High Court has provided a copy of the Rule of Court appointing the High Court sittings for 2020. The Rule of Court appoints the Full Court sittings to be held in Canberra throughout the year and the days on which special leave applications will be heard. Sittings of the Court will continue to be held in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth as required (August 2019).

Attorney General: Purchasing legal services - Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel
The Whole of Australian Government Legal Services Panel commenced on 15 August 2019.
The panel consists of five broad Areas of Law, comprising a number of Practice Areas as set out here.

Federal Court of Australia: Notice to the Profession regarding Use of Junior Counsel
The Hon J L B Allsop AO, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, has issued a Notice to the Profession on the use of Junior Counsel. The note indicates that the Federal Court of Australia encourages the active participation of junior counsel where two counsel are briefed for a party (12 August 2019). More...

LSC Public consultation: Proposed new rules regarding practice administration
The Legal Services Council (LSC) invites public comment on the draft Legal Profession Uniform Amendment (Miscellaneous) Rule 2019 (Draft Rule) in accordance with s 425 of the Uniform Law. More...

Government to consult on proposal to establish a single personal injury tribunal
The Minister for Customer Service has announced the Government's support for the establishment of a single personal injury tribunal to hear workers compensation and compulsory third party disputes. The Minister has also announced that the Government will be conducting a consultation process regarding an appropriate model for the new tribunal (09 August 2019). More...

Consultation paper: Mandatory notification of data breaches by NSW public sector agencies
The paper aims at seeking feedback on whether NSW public sector agencies should be required to notify the NSW Privacy Commissioner and affected individuals if a breach of privacy occurs; and how the key elements of a mandatory notification scheme should operate (if implemented in NSW). More...

ICAC public inquiry into lobbying starts
The ICAC's public inquiry into the regulation of lobbying, access and influence in NSW (Operation Eclipse) started on 5 August 2019. More...

ICAC: Public inquiry into allegations concerning political donations
The NSW ICAC will hold a public inquiry starting 26 August 2019 as part of an investigation it is conducting into allegations concerning political donations, the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), members of Chinese Friends of Labor and others. More...

ICAC: Operation Ember public inquiry continues Thursday 1 August 2019
The NSW ICAC Operation Ember public inquiry will continue on 1 August 2019. The inquiry was scheduled to sit on Friday 2 August, and on 8 and 9 August (30 July 2019). More...

Adoption of mandatory data breach notification
The Department of Communities and Justice is seeking feedback on whether a mandatory reporting scheme for data breaches should be adopted under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. More...

NSW LRC: Open Justice Review - court and tribunal information: Access, disclosure and publication
The Attorney General has asked us to review the operation of suppression and non-publication orders and access to information in NSW courts and tribunals. More...

Published – articles, papers, reports

The effect of lockout and last drinks laws on non-domestic assaults in Sydney: An update to March 2019
Neil Donnelly, Suzanne Poynton
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research: 08 August 2019
This research set out to examine the long term impact of the 2014 NSW liquor law amendments on non-domestic assaults in Kings Cross, the Sydney CBD and surrounding areas. As in previous studies, a significant reduction in non-domestic assaults in the Kings Cross and Sydney CBD precincts was revealed. More...

Cases

Edwards v Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Finance, Services and Innovation [2019] NSWCATAP 208
APPEAL – licensing and regulation – leave to appeal on a ground other than a question of law – whether Tribunal's decision unjust – whether significant new evidence had arisen since the hearing below
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - practice and procedure - Agency's duty to produce documents under s 58 Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997.

Alajmi v Macquarie University [2019] NSWSC 1026
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – reviewability – justiciability – subject matter of power or decision – matter of academic judgement – decision by a university thesis supervisor not to certify that a doctoral thesis met the University's preparation requirement that the thesis was the student's "own work" – findings of an investigatory panel into allegations of plagiarism against the student taken into account – not an exercise of public power – impermissible merits review
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – legal unreasonableness – whether the "non-certification decision" and the panel's findings were legally unreasonable – Briginshaw standard did not apply – inferences made were reasonably open and logically available – not legally unreasonable – no irrelevant consideration – no apprehended bias – no impermissible fetter of discretion or subjugation of state of satisfaction
CONTRACTS – implied terms – parties agreed to be bound by the University's By-laws and Rules – no term that the parties also agreed to be bound by the University's Code, Policy and Procedure should be implied
CONTRACTS – legal unreasonableness – alleged failure to exercise a unilateral contractual discretion reasonably – "non-certification decision" not legally unreasonable
ESTOPPEL – estoppel by convention – mutual assumption – assumptions not supported by the evidence
ESTOPPEL – estoppel by representation – detrimental reliance – representations not made – representations not relied upon.

Saul v Department of Fair Trading [2019] NSWCATAD 161
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – disciplinary decisions – whether fit and proper person to hold a licence Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 (NSW); Property Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 (NSW).

DQN v University of Sydney [2019] NSWCATAD 159
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – freedom of information – access to information concerning a preliminary assessment report of a complaint made by the applicant – whether there is public interest against the disclosure of the information sought and on balance, that public interest against disclosure overrides the public interest in favour of disclosure – confidential information – personal information of a person other than the applicant.

DMW and DMX v NSW Rural Fire Service [2019] NSWCATAD 158
Administrative Law – privacy and personal information whether collection of personal information – use of personal information – disclosure of personal information - whether agency exempt from compliance with information protection principle - law enforcement purposes.

Lilli v Building Professionals Board [2019] NSWCATOD 119
The respondent is to refund the balance of $5,000.00 to Mr Lilli within 28 days of this decision.
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW – accredited certifier – findings of unsatisfactory professional conduct – disciplinary orders - Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997.

Legislation

Regulations and other miscellaneous instruments
Administrative Decisions Review Regulation 2019 (2019-380) — published LW 16 August 2019
Anti-Discrimination Regulation 2019 (2019-381) — published LW 16 August 2019
Children (Protection and Parental Responsibility) Regulation 2019 (2019-382) — published LW 16 August 2019
Children's Court Regulation 2019 (2019-383) — published LW 16 August 2019
Civil Liability Regulation 2019 (2019-384) — published LW 16 August 2019 Proportionate liability
Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Regulation 2019 (2019-386) — published LW 16 August 2019
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Regulation 2019 (2019-391) — published LW 16 August 2019
Status of Children Regulation 2019 (2019-395) — published LW 16 August 2019
Victims Rights and Support Regulation 2019 (2019-398) — published LW 16 August 2019

This publication does not deal with every important topic or change in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you have found this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact one of the named individuals listed.