In the media
Queensland man jailed for 17 years over terror
plot
Agim Kruezi, 25, is sentenced to 17 years' jail after
prosecutors said he was planning a terror attack when he was found
with a gun, bomb-making materials and an Islamic State flag (31
July 2018).
More...
Proposed abortion laws will improve access for regional
and remote women, pro-choice advocates say
Pro-choice advocates have thrown their support behind
proposed changes to Queensland's abortion laws, saying it will
give women in regional and remote areas better access to services
(26 July 2018).
More...
Mongrel Mob to be outlawed in Queensland
A gang originally founded in New Zealand, Mongrel Mob,
will be declared an 'identified organisation', as part of
the Palaszczuk Government's commitment to strike-out organised
crime in Queensland (26 July 2018).
More...
Civil and workplace surveillance laws to be
examined
The Queensland Law Reform Commission
(QLRC) will examine the need to strengthen
legislation around the use of surveillance devices and technologies
in both the civil and workplace environments, Attorney-General and
Minister for Justice Yvette D'Ath has announced (26 July 2018).
More...
Fair go for workers in Fair Work plan
The Fair Work Commission has launched a 12 month plan to
improve access to information and reduce the complexity of
processes for its users (02 August 2018).
More...
Vatican 'requirement to cover up child abuse'
still stands, expert says
Canon law still requires Catholic bishops to not report
child sexual abuse to authorities in states where reporting laws do
not require it, a canon law specialist says (02 August 2018).
More...
Penalties necessary for effective Modern Slavery
laws
Financial penalties should be levied upon entities that
fail to report their modern slavery risks under the proposed
legislation, the Law Council tells a parliamentary committee (03
August 2018).
More...
Strengthening parole to keep police killers in
prison
The amendments to the Corrections Act 1986 will
name Craig Minogue and strengthen the legislation to ensure any
other future or current offenders who kill police officers are not
released on parole (24 July 2018).
More...
In practice and courts
LCA Update 30 July 2018
The Law Council Update for 26 July 2018 is out now,
featuring articles on cross-examination of parties in family
violence cases, the International Bar Association global survey on
bullying and sexual harassment, and the second round of reporting
on the Equitable Briefing Policy. Catch up on upcoming events,
submissions to parliamentary committees and other inquiries, as
well as LCA media releases and mentions in the media. More...
OAIC: Notifiable Data Breaches second Quarterly report
released
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) has received 242 notifications under the
Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme in the
period 1 April to 30 June 2018, according to the
second quarterly statistical report on data breach notifications
received under the scheme. This is the first full quarter of
operation of the NDB scheme since it commenced on 22 February 2018.
The private health sector is the top sector for reporting data
breaches under the Australian NDB scheme with 49 notifications in
the quarter (31 July 2018).
More...
Statutory Review of the amalgamated Administrative
Appeals Tribunal
The review seeks to identify whether the operations of the
Tribunal can be further improved to enhance the efficiency and
effectiveness of the Commonwealth merits review jurisdiction and
support high quality and consistent government decision making.
Details about how to make a submission are on the
Attorney-General's Department's website. The terms
of reference for the Review are can be found
here (27 July 2018).
Reminder: Australian Digital Health Agency three month
"opt-out period" for My Health
Record
As
announced by the Australian Digital Health Agency, every
Australian will be offered a My Health Record unless they choose
not to have one during the three-month opt out period that will run
from 16 July to 15 October 2018. A national communications strategy
will be implemented to explain the opt-out process. During the opt
out period individuals who do not want a record will be able to opt
out by visiting the My
Health Record website.
More...
Law Council of Australia Submissions
26 July 2018—Law Council
Supplementary submission: Family Law Amendment (Family Violence and
Cross-examination of Parties) Bill 2018
24 July 2018—Law Council
Modern Slavery Bill 2018
AAT Bulletins 2018
Issue No. 29/2018, 30 July 2018
Issue No. 28/2018, 23 July 2018
OAIC: My Health Record opt-out period has
commenced
Until 15 October 2018, you have the choice to advise the
Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) if you do
not want a My Health Record to be automatically created for you (16
July 2018).
More...
QLRC: Civil surveillance and privacy review; Workplace
surveillance review
Employers use optical surveillance, data monitoring and
tracking devices for a number of legitimate reasons, including to
ensure employee health and safety, protect property from theft and
damage, prevent fraud and monitor employee performance. The terms
of reference can be found here and the
QLRC will report back by 1 July 2019 (civil surveillance) and by 30
June 2020 (workplace surveillance).
QAO Consultation: Coronial services
The objective of this audit is to assess whether agencies
are effective and efficient in supporting the coroner to
investigate and help prevent deaths. More...
OAIC Queensland Latest Cases
-Laloyianni and Queensland Police
Service [2018] QICmr 33 (24 July 2018)
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - RIGHT TO INFORMATION - REFUSAL OF
ACCESS - INFORMATION AS TO EXISTENCE OF PARTICULAR DOCUMENTS -
request for information about complaints involving a named
individual - whether section 55 of the Right to Information Act
2009 (Qld) applies to neither confirm nor deny the existence
of documents containing the requested information.
More...
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council
Registrations now open — Expanding the toolbox:
sentencing reform across Australia
Date: 8 August 2018
Published – articles, papers, reports
Report of the
review of Australia's sports integrity
arrangements
James Wood, David Howman, Ray Murrihy; Department of
Health (Australia): 02 August 2018
This review was commissioned by the Turnbull Government, in
response to the growing global threat to the integrity of sport -
recognising that a fair, safe and strong sport sector, free from
corruption, is inherently valuable to sports participants, sporting
organisations and the 14 million Australians who participate in
sport annually.
Corruption risks
associated with public regulatory
authorities
Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission
(IBAC): 26 July 2018
This report provides an overview of the corruption risks
associated with public regulatory authorities in Victoria. It
explores the causes of these risks, the factors that drive
corruption risks in these authorities, and potential prevention,
reporting and detection measures.
Complaints to
the Ombudsman: Resolving them early
Victorian Ombudsman: 25 July 2018
This casebook includes thirteen summaries of matters dealt
with by the Victorian Ombudsman's Early Resolution Team,
grouped under five themes - 'Quick fix', 'Encouraging
dialogue', 'Applying discretion', 'Influencing
policy' and 'Resolving systemic issues informally'.
NSW Custody Statistics: Quarterly update June
2018
BOSCAR: 30 July 2018
Overall the adult prison population continues to grow,
increasing by 4.1 per cent in the last 12 months. As of June this
year, the prison population stood at 13,630. The increase is
attributable to a steady growth in both prisoners on remand (i.e.
unconvicted prisoners awaiting trial or sentence) and sentenced
prisoners.
Preparing for
copyright term changes in 2019
National and State Libraries Australasia: 25 July
2018
This discussion paper identifies the major library policies,
systems and staff activities that will be affected by changes to
the copyright duration provisions of the Copyright Act
1968 (Cth), due to come into effect on 1 January 2019.
Human rights and
technology issues paper
Australian Human Rights Commission: 24 July 2018
The release of this issues paper marks the formal launch of
the Australian Human Rights Commission's major project on human
rights and technology.
Cases
Trask Development Corporation No 2 Pty Ltd v Moreton Bay
Regional Council [2018] QSC 170
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDICIAL REVIEW MEANING OF DECISION
GENERALLY where a developer submitted a request for mapping change
of an overlay map to the council via an online form where the
council refused the request where the developer applied for a
statutory order of review of that refusal where the council applied
to have the application summarily dismissed under rule 16 of the
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 and section 48 if the
Judicial Review Act 1991 whether the refusal was a
decision to which the Judicial Review Act 1991
applied.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDICIAL REVIEW DECISIONS UNDER AN ENACTMENT
DECISIONS UNDER INSTRUMENTS where the council applied to summarily
dismiss the application by a developer for statutory review of a
refusal to amend an overlay map whether the refusal was made under
an enactment.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDICIAL REVIEW GENERALLY where the council
applied to summarily dismiss the application by a developer for
statutory review of a refusal to amend an overlay map where the
council alleged that the application did not comply with section 25
of the Judicial Review Act 1991 because it did not set out
the grounds whether the application complied with section 25 of the
Judicial Review Act 1991.
Watney v Kencian [2018] QDC
135
DEFAMATION – ACTIONS FOR DEFAMATION – COSTS
– SETTLEMENT OFFER - trial – where jury found the
publication conveyed the meanings, but found that none of the
meanings were defamatory - appeal allowed – findings of jury
that meanings were not defamatory set aside and answered
affirmative – costs of first trial reserved to await outcome
of new trial - new trial limited to availability of defences of
qualified privilege and honest opinion and, if applicable, damages
– amendment of defence after first trial and appeal to
include new defence of triviality pursuant to s 33 of
Defamation Act 2005 (Qld) – amendment allowed on
first day of new trial – jury questions agreed – jury
found defence of triviality proved and not required to find on
other defences – judgment for the defendants – whether
costs of first trial thrown away amendment – conduct of
parties in proceeding - whether defendants' correspondence a
'settlement offer' before proceedings determined within
meaning of s 40 of the Act – whether unreasonable response to
offer - whether defendants' ought have costs on an indemnity
basis.
McGuire v Queensland Building and Construction
Commission [2018] QCAT 226
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS
– QUEENSLAND CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL –
administrative review – building and construction –
application to review a decision of the Queensland Building and
Construction Commission – the decision under review, the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal to review other decisions.
Legislation
Commonwealth
Criminal
Code (Terrorist Organisation—Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam
Brigades) Regulations 2018
03/08/2018 - These regulations list Hamas' Izz al-Din
al-Qassam Brigades for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the
definition of 'terrorist organistion' in subsection
102.1(1) of the Criminal Code, for a period of three years.
Criminal
Code (Terrorist Organisation—Al-Shabaab) Regulations
2018
03/08/2018 - These regulations list Al-Shabaab for the
purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of 'terrorist
organistion' in subsection 102.1(1) of the Criminal Code, for a
period of three years.
Criminal
Code (Terrorist Organisation—Palestinian Islamic Jihad)
Regulations 2018
03/08/2018 - These regulations list Palestinian Islamic
Jihad for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of
'terrorist organistion' in subsection 102.1(1) of the
Criminal Code, for a period of three years.
Acts
Australian Human Rights Commission Act
1986
03/08/2018 - Act No. 125 of 1986 as amended
Freedom of Information Act 1982
02/08/2018 - Act No. 3 of 1982 as amended
Privacy Act 1988
30/07/2018 - Act No. 119 of 1988
Queensland
Subordinate legislation as made
27/07/2018 - No 111
Liquor (Identified Organisation—Mongrel Mob) Amendment
Regulation 2018
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.