Queensland Government Bulletin - In the media, reports, cases and legislation

• Published date: 25 November 2020
• Subject Matter: Government, Public Sector, Constitutional & Administrative Law
• Law Firm: Holding Redlich
• Author: Mr Paul Venus and Suzy Cairney

In the media

HRLC: Afghan and Australian human rights groups welcome release of the Brereton Afghanistan inquiry report
Afghan and Australian human rights organisations have welcomed the release of the report of the IGADF Inquiry, and have called on the Australian Government to now move swiftly to implement its recommendations and establish a proper redress mechanism for victims (20 November 2020). More...

Put families over politics, abandon flawed family court merger
A report by Government Senators into the Attorney-General's flawed merger bill regrettably fails to prioritise the wellbeing of families and children, ignores credible expert input, and instead doubles down in promulgating the government's proposed merger, according to the Law Council of Australia (20 November 2020). More...

Senate inquiry endorses Family Court reform Bills
The Morrison Government has welcomed the findings of a 12-month Senate inquiry, which recommended that legislation designed to fix the broken structure of the family court system be passed by Parliament (20 November 2020). More...

Aged care performance data must be made public
Consumers need easy access to data about the performance of individual aged care facilities so that they can make informed decisions, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (20November 2020). More...

ASIO warns on social media spies
A new security campaign designed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has been launched to raise awareness of the threat of malicious social media users, with the campaign Think Before You Link (19 November 2020). More...

OAIC keeps tabs on COVIDSafe privacy
The OAIC is auditing the handling of personal and private information by COVIDSafe. The Australian Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner, said the OAIC audit will look for compliance with the strict protections the Government put in place, with its first report due by the end of this year (19 November 2020). More...

ACMA seeks views on kids' TV content
The ACMA is seeking feedback on proposed new rules governing Australian content and children's television standards. The draft Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children's Television) Standards 2020 established a new Australian content quota system for commercial television broadcasters (19 November 2020). More...

Nine News breached privacy rules by disclosing police addresses: ACMA
Channel Nine News has been found to have breached broadcasting privacy rules by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in multiple broadcasts dating back to October, 2019 (19 November 2020). More...

Productivity experts back policy for COVID recovery
The Productivity Commission has released new research that emphasises the important role of policy when the time comes for improving relative living standards and increasing productivity after COVID-19 (19 November 2020). More...

Public views sought for digital identity
The Australian public is to be asked its views on proposed legislation supporting and strengthening an expanded Digital Identity system in Australia. In a statement, DTA said the Digital Identity legislation sought to further enhance existing privacy and consumer safeguards and establish permanent governance arrangements (19 November 2020). More...

Let's talk about a federal Human Rights Act
The Law Council of Australia believes that now is the time to reignite the conversation and calls on the Australian Government to implement a federal Human Rights Act, launching the Law Council's policy position, that many Australians would not know that their human rights are not protected by the Constitution or legislation (18 November 2020). More...

Govt in $1.2b robodebt backdown
The commonwealth government has agreed to pay $112 million in compensation to members of the robodebt class action in a $1.2 billion settlement. The system was widely criticised for resulting in errors, incorrect debts and unnecessary hardship for welfare recipients and culminated in the largest class action in Australian legal history (16 November 2020). More...

Appointments to the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court
Attorney-General congratulates Judge Altobelli and Ms Beckhouse on their appointments and thank them for their willingness to serve the people of Australia as judges of the Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court respectively (13 November 2020). More...

Performance pay to face review
The Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ben Morton announcing a review of performance bonus arrangements for Commonwealth senior executives, said it is the expectation of the Government that where Agencies have access to bonus arrangements they should exercise restraint to the furthest extent possible in keeping with community expectations (16 November 2020). More...

Government should implement Renwick's recommendations
The Law Council of Australia has made 21 recommendations to the government's proposal to establish a new type of 'post-sentence order' in Division 105A of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), aimed at managing future risk presented by a person who has completed a sentence of imprisonment for a terrorism or security offence (13 November 2020). More...

Review of the firefighter provisions of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act) report released
The Morrison Government welcomes the findings of a review of workers compensation arrangements for firefighters employed under the SRC Act, which will expand coverage and streamline claims (13 November 2020). More...

Reforms to National Natural Disaster Arrangements
The Australian Government is announcing major reforms as part of our response to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. Introduced legislation will give the Australian Government the power to declare a national emergency to help mobilise Commonwealth resources and help tackle the challenges states and local communities may face (13 November 2020). More...

Man charged with perjury offence
A 26-year-old man formerly from Pimpama was served a Notice To Appear in court to face one perjury charge following an investigation by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) into a Gold Coast based law firm (13 November 2020). More...

Telcos to be judged by customers' views
The ACMA has proposed new rules for the suppliers of broadband services, requiring the publication of their customer service commitments and...