New Inquiry – Serious invasions of privacy in the digital era
Shortly after the last Brief was sent out at the beginning of June, the Attorney-General formally referred to the ALRC an Inquiry into Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era. The Terms of Reference ask the ALRC to consider both prevention and remedies for serious invasions of privacy.
On 30 July the Attorney-General announced the appointment of Professor Barbara McDonald to the ALRC to lead the new Privacy Inquiry. Professor McDonald is a Professor of Law at the University of Sydney with experience in tort law, equity, remedies and media law, and has published widely in these areas, including many recent articles on the impact of tort reforms and the developing law of privacy.
The ALRC expects to release a first consultation paper for this Inquiry towards the end of September. The final report will be delivered to the Attorney-General by 30 June 2014.
Inquiry update
Copyright and the Digital Economy
Submissions to the Discussion Paper—the second consultation document for this Inquiry—closed on 31 July 2013. Stakeholders had eight weeks to make submissions responding to the questions and proposals in the DP. A key proposal was for a broad, flexible exception for fair use of copyright material and the consequent repeal of many of the current exceptions in the Copyright Act.
We are in the process of uploading submissions to the ALRC website.
The ALRC is due to report by 30 November 2013.
Reducing Legal Barriers for People with Disabilities
When the Disability Inquiry was announced in June, draft Terms of Reference were released for public feedback and consultation. On 23 July 2013 the Attorney-General delivered final Terms of Reference to the ALRC.
ALRC President Professor Rosalind Croucher will lead the Inquiry assisted by Disability Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes AM, who has been appointment by the Attorney-General as Part-time ALRC Commissioner to support the Inquiry.
At this early stage a timetable is yet to be finalised, but the team will aim to release an Issues Paper in October 2013 and a Discussion Paper in April 2014. The ALRC is due to report by 30 August 2014.
Native Title - 20 years and beyond
The ALRC expects to receive Terms of Reference shortly.
Internship program
We have just finished recruiting interns for Semester 2, 2013. Congratulations to Jackson Wherrett (Sydney University); Claire Bready (University of Newcastle); Isabella Partridge (Sydney University); and Jack Murray (University of NSW).
The next intake of interns will be for Summer 2014. The Summer internship program is full time over 3 weeks. As it takes place in between university semesters, preference is given to interstate applicants. The closing date for applications is 28 October.
More about ALRC legal internships >>
