A round-up of current and recent news and publications from law reform agencies beyond Victoria. Follow the links to the agencies in the left column for full information on their activities.
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Most recent update: 6 November 2024.
| Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) | 4 June 2024: Review of the Future Acts Regime The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has been asked to inquire into the future acts regime in the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (‘Native Title Act’). In undertaking this reference, the ALRC will have regard to the Socio-economic Outcomes and Priority Reforms of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and will consider work underway to address recommendations arising from the A Way Forward Report. The Terms of Reference ask the ALRC to consider the operation of the Native Title Act and the future acts regime for over 30 years. Submissions have closed for the ALRC’s inquiry into how Australia’s justice system can better serve the victim survivors of sexual violence. The ALRC has published an issues paper. The ALRC will report to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus by 22 January 2025. View the terms of reference. 21 March 2024: The ALRC’s report on Religious Education Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws was tabled in Parliament and published. |
| ACT Law Reform and Sentencing Advisory Council (LRSAC) | September 2024: The LRSAC has completed its report into Dangerous driving: sentencing and recidivism. In October it commenced a review of ACT Bail laws. The report is due on 30 June 2025. |
| New South Wales Law Reform Commission | 7 June: The NSWLRC released an options paper for its inquiry into Serious Racial and Religious Vilification on 7 June 2024. Written submissions have closed. Submissions have closed for the Commission’s review of serious road crime offences. Submissions to the review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), are currently being reviewed. |
| Queensland Law Reform Commission | 5 September 2024: The QLRC has commenced a review on non-fatal strangulation. A consultation paper will be published in mid-2025. It will include questions for consultation and ask for submissions. The final report with recommendations will be given to the Government by 30 September 2025. The QLRC continues a review of particular criminal defences, in particular the defences of provocation, self-defence and killing for preservation in an abusive relationship. A consultation paper will be published in late 2024. The report is due 1 December 2025. The QLRC continues its review of mining lease objections: Consultation papers were published on 15 July. The final report with recommendations will be given to the Government by 30 June 2025. |
| South Australian Law Reform Institute | 30 September 2024: Consultations have closed for the South Australian Law Reform Institute (SALRI)’s review of frameworks aiming to empower South Australian individuals with decision-making support needs. The provision of effective and proper support for persons with decision-making support needs and the prevention of exploitation and abuse have been the subject of extensive recent scrutiny. Despite this, there is a lack of comprehensive research in this area, which the review aims to address. Further details, including factsheets and consultation videos, are available on the SALRI website. This project is funded by the Law Foundation of South Australia Inc., with the final report expected in March 2025. 9 July 2024: SALRI has commenced a review of the State’s laws regarding land transactions. SALRI will examine the operation of the Real Property Act 1886 to identify current issues and concerns and make recommendations for potential improvements. |
| Tasmanian Law Reform Institute | 25 September 2024. The TLRI has completed its evaluation of the state’s pre-recorded evidence scheme, finding it benefits justice outcomes but could also be improved. Read the report: An Evaluation of the Pre-recorded Evidence Scheme in Tasmania (PDF 2.7 MB). 29 May 2024: The TLRI delivered its final report on Privacy laws. The Report recommends that technological advances such as spyware, covert cameras and drones mean the state’s privacy protections should be reviewed. Laws covering stalking and intimidation in Tasmania should be re-examined to consider emerging surveillance technology, the Institute has found. Legislation covering listening devices should also be reformed to strengthen protections against optical, tracking and data surveillance. The Institute has made 63 recommendations in the new report, which examined the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 and other state-based protections. |
| Law Reform Commission of Western Australia | 15 May 2024: The Attorney General tabled the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia’s Final Report about Western Australia’s sexual offence laws. It makes recommendations to modernise Western Australia’s sexual offence laws, including that Western Australia adopt an affirmative consent model to apply to sexual offences. It reviews the definition of consent, the circumstances in which there is no consent, the defence of mistaken belief in consent, the directions given by judges to juries in sexual offence trials, Western Australia’s substantive sexual offences and the maximum penalties for sexual offences. View the Sexual Offences report. 2 May 2024: The Commission is reviewing WA’s Guardian and Administration legislation. |
| Te Aka Matua o te Ture/ New Zealand Law Commission | 30 September 2024. Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission has today published its Terms of Reference for its review of hate crime laws. For the purpose of this review, ‘hate crime’ means conduct that is already a criminal offence under New Zealand law and, additionally, is carried out because of hatred or hostility toward a group of people who share a common characteristic (such as race, colour, nationality, religion, gender or sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability). The review will consider whether the law should be changed to create new hate-motivated offences,as recommended in recommendation 39 of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain on 15 March 2019. In doing so, it will consider whether current law in Aotearoa New Zealand adequately responds to hate crime and whether any issues should be addressed through legislative or operational measures. Public consultations will take place in early 2025. This project will not consider the law relating to hate speech. A review of hate speech was on the Law Commission’s work programme but has been withdrawn by the Minister Responsible for the Law Commission. 25 July 2024: Public safety and serious offenders: Review of preventive detention and post-sentence orders. In July, the Commission published a Preferred Approach Paper Here ora? Preventive measures for community safety, rehabilitation and reintegration. The paper contains proposed reforms to the laws that keep the community safe from people at high risk of serious sexual and violent reoffending. Submissions in response are due by 20 September 2024. 27 June 2024. Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission has published an Issues Paper in its review of protections in the Human Rights Act 1993 for people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and people who have an innate variation of sex characteristics. The Issues Paper is designed to support public consultation. It provides some background and context to the review, identifies and explores potential options for reform and poses some questions. The Commission is accepting submissions until 5pm on Thursday 5 September 2024. 4 June 2024: The Minister of Justice has asked the Commission to undertake a review of directors’ duties and liabilities. The Commission will begin this project in the first half of 2025. |
| Law Commission of England and Wales | 8 October 2024: The Law Commission has published a consultation paper on disabled children’s social care law and whether it meets the needs of disabled children and their families. 3 October 2024: Burial laws. Old graves could be reused, and closed burial grounds could be reopened to help manage the shortage of burial space, under proposals made by the Law Commission. 17 September 2024: The Law Commission has published a consultation paper containing provisional proposals for reform to the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. 30 July 2024. The Law Commission has published a supplementary report and draft Bill on digital assetssuch as crypto tokens. The draft Bill confirms the existence of a “third category” of personal property rights, capable of accommodating certain digital assets including crypto-tokens. 11 July 2024: The Law Commission has published a scoping paper looking into how Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) can be characterised and how the law of England and Wales might accommodate them now and in the future. The paper seeks to identify current issues around DAOs to inform any future law reform or innovations. The term “DAO” describes a new type of online organisation using rules set out in computer code. They are part of what is sometimes called the “crypto ecosystem”. 9 July 2024: The Commission has published a consultation paper reviewing the law on contempt of court. Consultations are open from 9 July 2024 to 8 November 2024. |
| Scottish Law Commission | 23 October 2024: Scottish Law Commission has published a Discussion Paper on Civil Remedies for Domestic Abuse. The proposals include: the introduction of a new statutory delict of domestic abuse, the introduction of a definition of domestic abuse in civil law, together with a bespoke set of remedies to suit the individual needs of each victim/survivor. The paper seeks views on these proposals by 22 January 2025. |
| Alberta Law Reform Institute | 19 April 2024: The Alberta Law Reform Institute has published its Final Report On Access to Digital Assets. The ALRI is recommending legislation that would make it easier for fiduciaries to access a person’s digital assets after their death or incapacity. These “digital assets” can be anything from email and social media accounts to family photos, loyalty programs and sensitive financial records. Some of these digital assets may have monetary value, such as cryptocurrency, income generating websites or original artworks or media. Read the Access to Digital Assets report. 6 March 2024: The Alberta Law Reform Institute has published recommendations for altering and revoking electronic wills. |
| British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) | 25 July 2024: BCLI has released the Report on Parentage: A Review of Part 3 of the Family Law Act, featuring 34 recommendations about parentage law under Part 3 of the Family Law Act. Recommendations include: – Allow children conceived through sexual intercourse to have more than two parents if all intended parents sign a pre-birth parentage agreement; – Permit sperm donation through sexual intercourse with a written pre-conception agreement on parentage intentions; – End donor anonymity so donor-conceived individuals can access information about their donors. 2 May 2024: If you are injured by a robot waiter, hit by a driverless taxi, or libelled by chatbot, what should the legal consequences be? The BCLI’s release (in May 2024) of the Report on Artificial Intelligence and Civil Liability offers answers to this question and many others regarding civil justice in cases involving harm caused by AI and AI-directed machines. |
| Law Commission of Ontario | October 2024: The Law Commission of Ontario’s Improving Protection Orders project is examining why protection orders are not working effectively to prevent femicide and intimate partner violence in Ontario. Between 2002 and 2017, 433 Ontarians were murdered by an intimate partner. Most of these victims were women. In most cases, their death was preceded by earlier violent episodes – evidence that they were at heightened risk of being killed by their partner. Ontario’s civil and criminal justice systems have tools that are supposed to protect victims from intimate partner violence. These are known as protection orders and they include restraining orders, peace bonds, bail conditions and probation orders. The project is in its early stages and the LCO is in the process of determining the project’s scope. 13 May 2024: The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) released Improving Consumer Protection in the Digital Marketplace: Final Report, a comprehensive and independent review of Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, 2023 (CPA). The LCO has concluded that significant legislative and regulatory reforms are needed to modernize consumer protection in Ontario’s digital marketplace. The LCO report makes 32 recommendations to amend the CPA, propose new regulations, and related reforms. 18 March 2024: The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) released A New Environmental Bill of Rights for Ontario: Final Report, a comprehensive and independent review of Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR). The LCO has concluded that major law reforms are needed to ensure environmental accountability in Ontario. The LCO report makes 58 recommendations to amend the EBR and related policies. AI, ADM and the Justice System: a multi-year project to consider the development, deployment, regulation and impact of artificial intelligence (AI), automated decision-making (ADM) and algorithms on access to justice, human rights, and due process. Environmental Accountability: Rights, Responsibilities and Access to Justice – This project considers legal accountability mechanisms for environmental protection in Ontario. A consultation paper was published in September 2022. Criminal AI Lifecycle Project: the first legal and policy reform project in Canada to review how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts each stage in a criminal justice matter. The Last Stages of Life project considers how the law shapes the rights, choices, and quality of life for persons who are dying and those who support them. Indigenous Engagement – Last Stages of Life is a distinct engagement process to identify and hear about Indigenous laws and experiences in the last stages of life. The final report, Last Stages of Life for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples was published in May 2023. Consumer Protection in the Digital Marketplace: an innovative, data-driven project to identify law reform options related to so-called “click to consent” or “terms of service” (ToS) contracts. A consultation paper was published in June 2023. |
| Access to Justice & Law Reform Institute, Nova Scotia | February 2024: The Institute published its Updated Final Report on Extending Legal Parentage in the Context of Surrogacy and Sperm, Egg and Embryo Donation. The Report is updated to reflect Amendments to the Birth Registration Regulations passed on February 20, 2024. |
| New Brunswick Law Reform | From the ‘Law Reform Notes’ June 2024: Supported Decision-Making and Representation Act: Proposals for new legislation to replace the Infirm Persons Act and establish a scheme for supported decision-making led to the enactment of the Supported Decision-Making and Representation Act (SDMRA) which came into force in January 2024. It modernises the law in two ways. First, it updates the law regarding court-appointed substitute decision-makers (which were known as “committees” under the Infirm Persons Act and are now known as “representatives”). Second, it introduces two options for supported decision-making. Apostille Convention Uniform Benevolent and Community Crowdfunding Act – seeking community feedback on whether legislation needs to be reformed to address legal issues with crowdfunding Rule Against Perpetuities – seeking community comment on whether the law of perpetuities should be reformed and if so how Tortfeasors Act and Contributory Negligence Act – seeking community comment. |
| Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan | 15 July 15: The Sale of Goods final report has been released. 14 June 2024 The Occupiers Liability Final report has been released. 12 April 2024: The final report on the Libel and Slander Act has been released. |
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