In the media
State of emergency for Coronavirus extended to save
lives
Police have strong powers to enforce these directions and
can issue on the spot fines, including up to $1,652 for individuals
and up to $9,913 for businesses. Under the State of Emergency
people who don't comply could also be taken to court and
receive a fine of up to $20,000 (12 April 2020).
More...
The full judgement summary from George Pell's
successful High Court of Australia appeal
Cardinal George Pell has won his appeal against his child
sexual abuse convictions. The High Court granted special leave to
appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme
Court of Victoria and unanimously allowed the appeal (07 April
2020).
More...
Parliamentary scrutiny of Federal Government's
COVID-19 response vital for democracy
The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed the Senate's vote
to establish a cross-party Senate Select Committee to provide
democratic oversight and scrutiny of the Morrison Government's
response to the COVID-19 public health emergency (08 April 2020).
More...
Greater transparency needed around Federal
Government's new COVID 19 phone app
Human rights and privacy experts have called on Federal
Health Minister Greg Hunt to explain privacy and surveillance
issues arising from the Federal Government's recently launched
Coronavirus Australia app (08 April 2020).
More...
PS staff volunteer for virus response
Around 2,000 Australian Public Service
(APS) staff have volunteered to be redeployed
during the COVID-19 pandemic response. APS Commissioner, Peter
Woolcott said that in the short term, the key priority was
increasing capacity in areas critical to the delivery of services
during the pandemic, specifically the Department of Health and
Services Australia (06 April 2020).
More...
New PS privacy guide for pandemic
Updated privacy guidelines for Departments and Agencies
during the COVID-19 health crisis have been released by the Office
of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
(06 April 2020).
More...
Services Australia passes partner audit
An audit of the effectiveness of agreement arrangements
between Services Australia and other entities in supporting the
delivery of services and payments has found that the systems in
place are largely effective (06 April 2020).
More...
Online safety guide for women and young girls
A new digital toolkit designed to educate and empower
young women and girls to stay safe online is now live, Minister for
Women Bronnie Taylor announced (04 April 2020).
More...
Audit judges DPP efficiency
An audit of the case management practices of the Office of
the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
(CDPP) has found its brief assessment efficiency
in decline and its costs escalating (02 April 2020).
More...
OAIC partners with Singapore
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
(OAIC) has announced a new partnership with
Singapore's Data Protection Commission as it seeks to
strengthen links with international regulators (02 April 2020).
More...
In practice and courts
CDPP update regarding COVID-19
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Ms Sarah
McNaughton SC has this morning released an update to key
stakeholders regarding COVID-19 and progression and early
resolution of criminal cases. Read the Commonwealth DPP's
update
here (03 April 2020).
Practice notes
Joint Practice Direction - Special measures in response to
COVID-19
Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia, 2
of 2020 (31 March 2020).
OAIC: COVID-19 privacy guidance
The OAIC has released privacy
guidance for agencies and private sector employers to help keep
workplaces safe and handle personal information appropriately as
part of the COVID-19 response. This includes answers to frequently
asked questions. We've also issued
detailed advice to help regulated entities assess the privacy
risks involved in changed working environments (08 April 2020). More...
OAIC: COVID-19 response from Australian privacy
regulators
As entities move fast to find solutions to public health
and economic problems, Privacy Commissioners and Ombudsmen
reiterate the value of conducting
short-form Privacy Impact Assessments to help ensure personal
information is handled in a way that is necessary, reasonable and
proportionate (27 March 2020).
AAT Bulletin
The AAT Bulletin is a weekly publication containing a list
of recent AAT decisions and information relating to appeals against
AAT decisions
Issue No. 12/2020, 6 April 2020.
More...
ANAO performance audits in progress
Due to table: June, 2020; Open for contribution
Administration of financial disclosure requirements under the
Commonwealth Electoral Act
Due to table: June, 2020 Open for contribution
Management of the Australian Government's Register of Lobbyists
— follow-up
Australian Bushfires disaster emergency declaration
— Understanding your privacy obligations
The Attorney-General has made the Privacy
(Australian Bushfires Disaster) Emergency Declaration (No. 1)
2020 (the emergency declaration) under Part VIA of the Privacy
Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). The emergency declaration was made in
response to bushfires in Australia resulting in death, injury and
property damage occurring from August 2019 into 2020.The emergency
declaration expires on 20 January 2021.
Current Senate inquiries
Select Committee on COVID-19.
Environment and Communications References
committee
Press
Freedom
On 16 March 2020, the Committee presented a progress report
recommending that the Senate grant an extension of time to report
until 20 May 2020.
Legal and Constitutional Affairs References
committee
Nationhood,
national identity and democracy
On 23 March 2020 the committee's reporting date was extended to
9 September 2020.
Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation
committee
Federal
Circuit and Family Court of Australia Bill 2019 [Provisions] and
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential
Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2019
[Provisions]
Report by 20 November 2020.
Queensland
OIC Qld: Looking past the pandemic
For applications impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
it's important to remember that, when the crisis is over,
current applicants will be able to make fresh applications This
page has
information and updated FAQs about COVID-19 and decision
making. For more information contact the Enquiries Service on
07 3234 7373 (option 1) or enquiries@oic.qld.gov.au
(06 April 2020).
CCC: Public records: Advice for all employees of a
public authority
This short guide explains the requirements and benefits of
effective recordkeeping (01 April 2020)
Public records: Advice for all employees of a public
authority
Supreme Court practice directions
Use of technology during COVID-19 response
Supreme Court Trial Division - This announcement is not intended to
supersede the specific protocols which have been announced for
civil applications and for criminal list reviews, but it will be
apparent that this assumption underlies those protocols.3.Court
users must as a matter of urgency familiarize themselves with the
user guides issued in relation to:
Chorus Call for telephone conferences
here.
Cisco Webex Teams for video conferences
here (01 April 2020).
Maximum hourly rate to be charged by court appointed costs
assessors
Supreme Court of Queensland, 8 of 2020 - Pursuant to r 743Oand
effective for all applications pursuant to Rules 713 and
743F(3)filed from 6 April2020 onwards, the maximum hourly rate
chargeable by a costs assessor appointed by the Registrar will be
the rate provided in item 9, schedule 1 Scale of Costs-Supreme and
District Court, Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (01 April
2020).
QCAT COVID-19 Update - Summary of QCAT Practice
Directions 2, 3 and 4 commencing, 30 March 2020
Three new practice directions have been issued to set out
procedures across the guardianship, urgent minor civil dispute
(MCD) and other QCAT jurisdictions to minimise the
spread of COVID-19 virus. More...
PD 3 of 2020 - Court Arrangements (COVID-19) PD 4 of
2020 - Court Arrangements (COVID-19) Children's
Please find below:
PD
3 of 2020 - Court Arrangements (COVID-19); and
PD
4 of 2020 - Court Arrangements (COVID-19) in the Childrens
Court when constituted by a Magistrate
Issued by the Chief Magistrate
Supreme Court - Protocol for applications
Please find attached
the new protocol for applications to the
Supreme Court. This protocol applies from 30 March 2020 until
further notice.
Department of the Premier and Cabinet Consultation:
Annual report 2018-19
Feedback survey open until 26 June 2020 - help us improve
our annual reports so readers can use them more effectively.
More...
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council Inquiries
Penalties for assaults of public officers
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, the Honourable
Yvette D'Ath MP, referred Terms of Reference to the Council in
early December 2019 asking for its advice on penalties for assaults
on police and other frontline emergency service workers, corrective
service officers and other public officers. The Council must report
back to the Attorney-General by 30 June 2020.
Requests for comment: Queensland Law Reform Commission:
Consent and mistake of fact review
Terms of Reference
here. The Commission is to provide a report on the outcomes of
the review to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice by 17
April 2020.
Published - articles, papers, reports
Australia's children
AIHW: 03 April 2020
This report brings together a range of data on children's
wellbeing and their experiences at home, school and in the
community. Highlights are presented in
Australia's children: in brief.
More...
Bilateral agreement arrangements between services
Australia and other entities
ANAO: 02 April 2020
The objective of this audit was to examine the effectiveness of
bilateral agreement arrangements between Services Australia and
other entities.
More...
Recommendations on privacy and data protection in the
fight against COVID-19
Estelle Massé; Access Now: 31 March 2020
In this paper, the authors provide privacy and data protection
recommendations for governments to fight against COVID-19 in a
rights-respecting manner. More...
Australian government guide to Regulatory Impact
Analysis
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia):
30 March 2020
This guide has been prepared for every member of the Australian
Public Service involved in policy making. It provides the context
for regulation and encourages policy makers to think about
potential impacts early in the policy process. More...
Case Management by the Office of the Commonwealth
Director of Public Prosecutions
ANAO: 30 March 2020
The audit objective was to examine the efficiency of the Office of
the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions' (CDPP's)
case management.
More...
ANAO Performance Audits
Due to table: June, 2020 Open for contribution
Administration of financial disclosure requirements under the
Commonwealth Electoral Act
Due to table: June, 2020 Open for contribution
Management of the Australian Government's Register of Lobbyists
— follow-up
Cases
Pell v The Queen [2020] HCA
12
Special leave to appeal granted.
Appeal treated as instituted and heard instanter and allowed.
Criminal law – Sexual offences against children –
Appeal against conviction by jury on ground that verdict
unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to whole of
evidence – Where prosecution case wholly dependent upon
acceptance of truthfulness and reliability of complainant's
account – Where jury assessed complainant's evidence as
credible and reliable – Where witnesses gave unchallenged
evidence of specific recollections, practices and routines
inconsistent with acceptance of complainant's account
("unchallenged inconsistent evidence") – Where
Court of Appeal required to take into account forensic disadvantage
experienced by applicant – Whether prosecution negatived
reasonable possibility that applicant did not commit offences
– Whether Court of Appeal required applicant to establish
offending impossible to raise reasonable doubt – Whether
unchallenged inconsistent evidence required jury, acting
rationally, to have entertained doubt as to applicant's
guilt.
Criminal practice – Appeal – Video evidence –
Where evidence of complainant and other witnesses recorded –
Where Court of Appeal viewed recorded witness testimony –
Whether proper discharge of appellate court's function
necessitated review of recorded witness testimony.
Words and phrases – "beyond reasonable doubt",
"compounding improbabilities", "credibility and
reliability", "function of the appellate court",
"function of the jury", "impossibility",
"improbability of events", "invariable
practice", "jury's advantage in seeing and hearing
the witnesses", "negatived the reasonable
possibility", "opportunity witnesses",
"realistic opportunity for the offending to have
occurred", "religious ritual", "routines and
practices", "significant forensic disadvantage",
"significant possibility that an innocent person has been
convicted", "solid obstacles to conviction",
"standard and burden of proof", "unchallenged
evidence", "uncorroborated", "video-recordings
of the witnesses at trial".
Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), ss 45(1), 47(1); Criminal Procedure Act 2009
(Vic), ss 276(1)(a), 378, 379(b)(i).
Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth), s 37.
Jury Directions Act 2015 (Vic), ss 4A, 39.
QSuper Board v Australian Financial Complaints Authority
Limited [2020] FCAFC
55
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW – Judicial power of the
Commonwealth – Australian Financial Complaints Authority
(AFCA) given powers to determine superannuation
complaints – AFCA determined that superannuation
trustee's decision not to refund money to member operated
unreasonably or unfairly in its operation in relation to that
member – decision alleged to be or to involve an
impermissible exercise of judicial power because it was "in
effect" a determination of existing rights of the parties in
relation to the operation of s 1017B of the Corporations Act
– AFCA's determination did not involve any determination
of rights under s 1017B – entitlement of non-judicial body to
determine rights of parties as a step "along the way" to
a non-judicial decision discussed – ability of non-judicial
body to determine rights of parties where other aspects of judicial
power not present – application dismissed
Department of Education v Zonnevylle
[2020] NSWCATAD 96
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – FOI – access applications
-application for restraint order under section 110 – exercise
of discretion - held conduct of person making applications
justified the making of a restraint order-order made.
The Australian Institute for Progress Ltd v The Electoral
Commission of Queensland & Ors [2020] QSC
54
COURTS AND JUDGES – COURTS – JURISDICTION AND
POWERS – ADVISORY OPINIONS AND HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS –
where it is unlawful under the Electoral Act 1992 (Qld) for a
prohibited donor to make a "political donation" –
where applicant has received donations from prohibited donors
– where applicant seeks declarations that a gift made to or
for the benefit of a third party (which is not a political party,
elected member or candidate in an election) to pursue its
activities, including in relation to political communications or
concerning an election for the Legislative Assembly, is not a
"political donation" – where the application for
declarations is not supported by evidence of gifts made to third
parties, including to the applicant, by prohibited donors "to
enable" it to incur "electoral expenditure" –
where the application for declarations is not supported by evidence
of the particular activities of the applicant which the gifts from
prohibited donors were intended to fund - whether the declarations
sought raise hypothetical questions in the absence of findings as
to the specific activities of the applicant for which a gift was
made – whether the declarations sought lack utility in the
absence of findings or agreed facts as to whether a gift to the
applicant by a prohibited donor was made or is intended to be made
"to enable" it to incur expenditure for the purposes of
"a campaign for an election" for the Legislative Assembly
– whether appropriate for the Court to determine an issue of
statutory interpretation
STATUTES – ACTS OF PARLIAMENT – INTERPRETATION –
PARTICULAR WORDS AND PHRASES – where a gift made to or for
the benefit of a political party, an elected member or a candidate
in an election is a "political donation" under s
274(1)(a) of the Electoral Act 1992 (Qld) – where a gift made
to or for the benefit of another entity to enable the entity to
incur electoral expenditure, or to reimburse the entity for
incurring electoral expenditure, is a "political
donation" under s 274(1)(b) – whether s 274(1)(b) is
confined to gifts made to enable the entity to incur electoral
expenditure on behalf of a political party, elected member or
candidate in an election
STATUTES – ACTS OF PARLIAMENT – INTERPRETATION –
COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION – whether
interpretation advanced by the respondent is "compatible with
human rights under the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld)
Acts Interpretation Act 1954 Qld s 14A; Electoral Act 1992 Qld s
222, s 273, s 274(1), s 275, s 276, s 282A; Human Rights Act 2019
Qld s 8, s 13, s 48; Judiciary Act 1903 Cth s78B
AAA Mechanic & Roadworthy Pty Ltd & Anor v
Department of Transport and Main Roads [2020]
QCAT 84
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS
– QUEENSLAND CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL –
application to stay decisions to cancel Approved Examiner and
Approved Inspection Station approvals for issue of vehicle safety
certificates – where failure to carry out proper inspection
– where public interest in integrity of vehicle safety
certificate system balanced against interests of applicants
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 Qld s 22
Legislation
Queensland
Subordinate legislation as made - 9 April 2020
No 50
Supreme Court (Admission) Amendment Rule 2020
The Chief Justice may make a practice direction providing for an
alternative process for admission to the legal profession.
Subordinate legislation as made - 3 April 2020
No 47
Professional Standards (New South Wales Bar Association
Professional Standards Scheme) Notice 2020
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.