National Anti-Corruption Commission Bills 2022
The Joint Select Committee on National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Legislation reported on 10 November 2022. The Law Council was mentioned more than 100 times in the report, with extracts from its submission of 8 October 2022 featured throughout. The Committee arrived at six recommendations in areas of consensus, the majority of which were aligned with positions outlined in the Law Council’s submission.
The Law Council responded to the release of the Committee’s report by way of a media release on 11 November, noting the truncated period made available for the inquiry and emphasising that there are outstanding matters in the NACC Bills that are in need of further detailed consideration and debate, including:
- post-charge coercive powers and information sharing;
- the privilege against self-incrimination;
- client legal privilege;
- application to future conduct; and
- thresholds for investigation.
The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills has also recently reported on the NACC Bills in its Scrutiny Digest 6 of 2022. Notably, this Committee has put forward two recommendations which are in line with recommendations made in the Law Council’s submission, both in relation to the privileges against self-incrimination and legal professional privilege.
The Law Council will monitor the progress of the NACC Bills as they are debated in Parliament in the coming weeks.
Expansion of the FCFCOA’s Lighthouse Model
From 28 November 2022, the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia will expand its Lighthouse model to 15 family law registries across the country.
The FCFCOA received funding in this year’s Federal Budget to extend its current pilot and will now roll-out Lighthouse to Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Dandenong, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Rockhampton, Sydney, Townsville, and Wollongong in both parenting and parenting/financial cases.
The Lighthouse model involves three interconnected processes: risk screening, triage and assessment of family law matters.
In the lead up, a webinar will be streamed live on the FCFCOA's YouTube channel (Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia - YouTube) on Tuesday, 22 November at 4.30pm (AEDT).
Director ID
The Law Council has been asked by Australian Business Registry Services to remind the legal profession that all company directors in Australia are now required by law to apply for a director identification number, or director ID, by 30 November 2022.
A director ID is a unique 15-digit identifier that all directors or people intending to become directors need. Applying for a director ID is free and only needs to be done once.
A director must apply for their own director ID. Authorised tax, BAS or ASIC agents, or internal secretaries or business managers cannot apply on a director’s behalf.
Information regarding director ID, including the Apply for your director ID online one page application process and a How to apply for a director ID video, is available on the Australian Business Registry Services website.
Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill
The Law Council made a recent submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 (Cth), which was introduced in the House of Representatives by the Attorney-General on 26 October 2022 and referred to the Committee the following day.
The submission highlighted that Law Council supports, in principle, many of the proposed amendments outlined in the Privacy Bill. The Law Council noted that, increasingly, individuals are required to provide personal and sensitive data in order to participate in Australia’s digital economy and to access services. It also noted the importance of a privacy framework that primarily incentivises steps being taken to prevent data breaches, instead of reparations being made after a breach has occurred.
However, the Law Council emphasised that several measures in the Privacy Bill require additional justification, clarification, and refinement, and made several recommendations to this effect. It also noted the importance of consistency and compatibility between Australia’s existing privacy legislation and anticipated reforms.
The Committee is due to report by 22 November and the Law Council will continue to monitor any recommendations arising from this report as well as the progress of the Privacy Bill in the Parliament.
Read more here.
Minimum age of criminal responsibility
In the wake of revelations in a Four Corners Report earlier this week of excessive use of force and restraints directed at children at Banksia Hill Detention Centre, the Law Council has reiterated its call for the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be raised to 14 years of age.
The Law Council believes all governments must take meaningful and urgent actions to address the alarming overrepresentation of First Nations children in the youth justice system and ensure youth detention facilities are managed in accordance with Australia’s international obligations and
The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires that no children be subject to torture or suffer other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment, and that arresting, detaining and imprisonment of children should only occur as a last resort and for the shortest time possible.
Episode eleven of the BLS Report Podcast now streaming
Don’t Waive Goodbye to Legal Professional Privilege
BLS Executive members Professor Pamela Hanrahan and John Keeves with fellow Executive member Clint Harding of Arnold Bloch Leibler discuss the hot topic of Legal Professional Privilege, including new protocols issues by the ATO.
LCA Submissions
Recently published Law Council Submissions.
Supplementary Submission: Review of the Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Act 2019, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
Review of the Tax Treatment of Digital Assets and Transactions in Australia, The Board of Taxation.
Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022, House of Representatives.
Exposure Draft Federal Court of Australia Amendment (Extending Criminal Jurisdiction and Other Measures) Bill 2022, Attorney-General’s Department.
Supplementary Submission: Inquiry into the National Anti-Corruption Legislation, Joint Select Committee.
Response to consultation on the Interim Report on stand-alone legislation to protect and commercialise Indigenous Knowledge, IP Australia.
Section Submissions
Recently published Law Council Submissions.
- ATO 2022 Review of the Taxpayers' Charter, ATO, (Business Law Section)
- Consumer Data Right rules—expansion to the telecommunications sector and other operational enhancements, The Treasury, (Business Law Section)
- CP 364 Modifications to the ESS Regime, ASIC, (Business Law Section)
- Digital Assets (Markets Regulation) Bill 2022, Senator Andrew Bragg, (Business Law Section)
- Global agreement on corporate taxation: addressing the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy, The Treasury, (Business Law Section)
- ASIC Industry Funding Model Review, The Treasury, (Business Law Section)
- Discussion paper – Strengthening operational risk management, APRA, (Legal Practice Section)
- Review of Your Future, Your Super Measures, The Treasury, (Legal Practice Section)
- Remake of ACNC Regulations, The Treasury, (Legal Practice Section)
Inquiries and consultations
As of 18 November 2022
Consultation paper on conditional costs agreements, Legal Services Council
TR 2022/D2 Income tax: residency tests for individuals, Australian Taxation Office
National Principles to Address Coercive Control, Attorney-General's Department
Review of the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018, Attorney-General's Department
Corporate Insolvency in Australia, Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services
Employment White Paper - Consultation, The Treasury
Financial Services Legislation: Interim Report B (ALRC Report 139), Australian Law Reform Commission
Calls for submissions on Australia’s new international development policy, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Revised Migration and Refugee Division Practice Direction – Seeking Your Feedback, Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Review of the Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018, Attorney-General's Department
Guidance on enhanced customer due diligence and employee due diligence and training, AUSTRAC
Multinational tax integrity: Public Beneficial Ownership Register, The Treasury
News and Media
Media releases/statement:
Michael Kirby named life member of IBA Council, 7 November 2022
More time needed to get NACC right, 11 November 2022
Excessive use of force on children unconscionable, 15 November 2022
Cost of getting cybersecurity wrong could be high, 16 November 2022
Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement a crucial step closer, 18 November 2022
Upcoming Events
The Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section invites you to attend the second Hot Topics in Commonwealth Compensation seminar for 2022, on Friday, 2 December 2022, from 9am - 1pm (AEDT).
The event will be chaired by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal's, President, the Hon Justice Fiona Meagher. A networking morning tea will be held between the second and third presentations. As such, in-person tickets will be popular and are likely to sell out quickly. Seminar attendees who wish to book an in-person ticket are encouraged to register their attendance immediately: https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/event/hot-topics-in-commonwealth-compensation-
The Legal Practice Section's Charities and Not-for-Profit Committee is set to host the third John Emerson AM Oration & CLAANZ Annual Lecture 2022 in Melbourne on 12 December 2022, jointly with the Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand.
The Oration will be delivered by Professor Oonagh Breen and co-chaired by Seak-King Huang, Chair of the Charities and Not-for-Profit Committee, and Associate Professor Ian Murray, Chair of the Board of Charity Law Association of Australia and New Zealand.
The John Emerson Oration is in honour of John Emerson AM. While John has now retired from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was a partner for almost four decades, he remains recognised as an expert in the tax laws applicable to charities in Australia. John was also a member of the Board of Taxation and a number of other legal and public sector committees. He was a key contributor to the reform of laws which led to the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. John is a Member of the Order of Australia for services to law and to the community, particularly through the provision of advice to charities and not-for-profit organisations and the development of public administration reform to encourage philanthropy in Australia.
For more info visit: https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/event/2023-john-emerson-oration-
The Law Council of Australia’s Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section invites you to attend a conference covering a broad range of topics presented by leading lawyers in federal law, in house counsel, members of the judiciary and federal tribunal members. The conference will take place in person in Melbourne.
The conference theme is "Connections and Coherence in Federal Litigation". Registrations are now open: https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/event/commonwealth-law-conference-
The Law Council of Australia’s Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section will be hosting its annual Immigration Law Conference on 17-18 March 2023. The conference will be conducted over two days and will canvass current issues in Australian immigration law.
Early bird registrations are now open and close 31 December 2022. To registrate and learn more here: https://lawcouncil.asn.au/event/immigration-law-conference-2023
