In the media
Most domestic violence offenders do not specialise in
domestic violence
Domestic violence (DV) offenders commit
almost 2.5 times as many non-DV offences as DV offences a new study
by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research
(BOCSAR) has found. The study examined all 100,668
offenders convicted of a DV offence in a NSW court between 2008 and
2017 (30 August 2018).
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Land and Environment Court says Colo property illegally
cleared by fringe Islamic group
Two men who claimed their Islamic-influenced group was not
subject to Australian law because it was a "basic religious
charity" have been found to have illegally cleared a rural
property north-west of Sydney by the NSW Land and Environment court
(27 August 2018).
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Law Council launches landmark Justice Project Final
report
The Law Council has officially launched the Justice
Project's Final Report with a call for the urgent
implementation of Justice Impact Tests among the 59 recommendations
(24 August 2018).
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Push for UK-style 'justice impact test' to
improve policy-making
Law and order policies that place the courts under strain
and other proposals affecting the justice system would be subjected
to a UK-style "justice impact test" before they could be
implemented by Australian governments, under a plan backed by
former High Court chief justice Robert French (23 August 2018).
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Rushed court merger bills would short-change justice
system
A deeply concerned Law Council of Australia has urged the
government to not short-change the country's justice system by
rushing the pending court merger bills (28 August 2018).
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Don't short-change Australia's justice system by
rushing through court merger bills
The Law Council is deeply concerned by the truncated
three-week timeframe for the public to scrutinise the recently
introduced court merger bills, which signify the biggest changes to
Australia's justice system in decades (27 August 2018).
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Legislation to reform Federal Courts introduced into
Parliament
The Attorney-General said new legislation would bring
together the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit
Court of Australia into one structure to be known as the Federal
Circuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFC),
which will operate from 1 January 2019 (23 August 2018).
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Lax security culture in hospitals could affect My Health
Record privacy, insiders fear
A national digital health records database, the program
promises to provide clinical benefits by making it easier for
patients to share more health data with more medical practitioners
than ever before. Now insiders say My Health Record is also
vulnerable to privacy breaches due to a tradition of shared logins
and open computers within some healthcare organisations (22 August
2018).
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Faith in Australian governments falls amid corruption
concerns
Trust and confidence in all levels of Australian
government is continuing to slide as calls intensify for the
establishment of a national anti-corruption agency (20 August
2018).
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In practice and courts
High Court Bulletin
High Court of Australia Bulletin [2018] HCAB 06 (23 August
2018)
ICAC: guidelines to help public sector agencies manage
corruption risks in direct negotiations
ICAC releases guidelines to help public sector agencies
manage corruption risks in direct negotiations. The ICAC has
released guidelines to help NSW public sector agencies involved in
direct negotiations with external parties to manage corruption
risks, but recommends they avoid the practice if possible due to
the high level of those risks (23 August 2018).
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ICAC: Prosecution briefs with the DPP and outcomes
Tables summarising information about briefs that are with
the DPP, and prosecution outcomes.
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ICAC: Operation Dasha public inquiry
The Operation Dasha public inquiry into allegations
concerning the former Canterbury City Council will next sit for two
weeks from Monday 8 October 2018 (20 August 2018).
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JUDCOM: Local Court Bench Book —
Preliminaries
Update 127, August 2018 - Specific penalties and
orders
The penalties and commentary in all Acts and Regulations have been
revised and updated.
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New Court Appointments
22 August 2018 -
Justice Brereton to Join the Court of Appeal
New Sentencing legislation commences 24 September
2018
On 24 September, the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure)
Amendment (Sentencing Options) Act 2017 commences. Material
about the reforms can also be found on the Public Defenders website.
NSW Justice: Task Force – Terms of Reference
The Task Force is established with the objective of
assessing the circumstances and CSNSW's subsequent
investigation and management of a number of inappropriate
relationships between CSNSW staff and offenders. The confidential
email address is: TaskForce@justice.nsw.gov.au
and remains until the end of September 2018.
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Strengthening child sexual abuse laws in NSW
The NSW Government has prepared a discussion paper that
identifies issues and poses questions about possible options for
child sexual abuse law reform. The paper considers the
recommendations made by the Royal Commission and the
recommendations of the NSW Parliament's Joint Select Committee
on Sentencing of Child Sexual Assault Offenders. Submissions close
6 October 2018.
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Published - articles, papers, reports
Operational Efficiency of the Australian Commission for Law
Enforcement Integrity
ANAO: 28 August 2018
The objective of this audit was to examine the efficiency of
the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
(ACLEI) in detecting, investigating and preventing
corrupt conduct.
Rising inequality? A stocktake of the evidence: Commission research
paper
This research paper was released on 28 August 2018 and its
purpose is to contribute to an informed discussion in Australia by
bringing together and taking stock of the latest and most complete
evidence measuring the prevalence of, and trends in, inequality,
economic mobility and disadvantage across Australian society.
Justice Project's Final Report
Law Council of Australia: 24 August 2018
Focusing on 13 priority groups identified as facing
significant social and economic disadvantage, today's final
report shines a light on justice issues for these groups by
uncovering systemic flaws and identifying service gaps. It also
highlights what is working well and why.
The forgotten
victims: prisoner experience of victimisation and engagement with
the criminal justice system - key findings and future
directions
Australia's National Research Organisation for
Women's Safety: 22 August 2018
This research focuses on women in prison who have concerns
about their personal safety post-release. The aim of this research
is to understand the factors that influence these women to seek
help, and how this might inform service responses.
Cases
Carlon v Roads and Maritime Services
[2018] NSWCATOD 140
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW - merits review – bus service
operator – accreditation – safety critical components
– public passenger vehicle maintenance plan - manufacturer
standards – maintenance and repair.
Mawbey v Commissioner for Fair Trading
[2018] NSWCATOD 141
ADMINSITRATIVE REVIEW – Home Building –
disciplinary action – whether electrician effected reverse
polarity – whether guilty of improper conduct – whether
fit and proper person – penalty to be imposed.
Jones v Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of
Finance, Services and Innovation [2018]
NSWCATOD 142
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – Administrative Review -
Home Building Act 1989 – application for contractor
licence endorsed to be equivalent to a supervisor certificate
– application of Instrument issued by the respondent
Commissioner – whether the Tribunal is satisfied the
applicant has the necessary breadth of experience – need for
third party verification of experience.
Transport for NSW v Waters [2018]
NSWCATAP 200
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – access to government
information – where appellant alleged that respondent had
collected his travel data via a Gold Opal Card for an unlawful
purpose –whether Tribunal had erred in failing to respond to
a substantial argument articulated by the respondent –
whether the Tribunal had erred in asking itself the wrong
question.
Kristoffersen v Department of Industry
[2018] NSWCATAD 190
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – whether Tribunal has
jurisdiction to review decision that applicant cannot purchase
roads that do not adjoin his property.
Magerovski v Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department
of Finance, Services and Innovation; Service Today NSW v
Commissioner for Fair Trading, Department of Finance, Services and
Innovation [2018] NSWCATAD 192
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW – Home Building –
Disciplinary action – improper conduct – knowledge -
fit and proper person – grounds for refusal –
penalty.
Golden International Trading Pty Ltd v Independent
Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal [2018]
NSWCATAD 189
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – merits review – failure
to conduct audit as required – cancellation of accreditation
– appropriate sanction.
DNM v NSW Ombudsman [2018]
NSWCATAD 186
Administrative Law – administrative review -
Government Information (Public Access) – whether information
relating to the monitoring and reporting function of the Ombudsman
under s 6B(1)(e) of the Public Interest Disclosures Act is
excluded information under the Government Information (Public
Access) Act 2009 – consequence of access application
seeking excluded information – access application invalid
Mahony v Dental Council of NSW
[2018] NSWCATOD 146
STATUTORY INTERPRETATION — meaning of
"Committee" in ss158, 158A of Health Practitioner
Regulation National Law.
TRIBUNALS – whether a health practitioner can appeal to NCAT
from a decision of an Assessment Committee.
Tanyous v Secretary, Department of
Education [2018] NSWCATAD
197
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW – Education and Care Services
National Law – Provider Approval – Fitness and
propriety of individual to be involved in the provision of an
education and care service - Where respondent decided to refuse to
grant provider approval on basis of lack of fitness ––
Knowledge relevant to fitness - Correct and preferable
decision.
UNLAWFULLY OR IMPROPERLY OBTAINED EVIDENCE – Where respondent
had a policy of requiring applicants for provider approval and
relevant individuals to undergo an assessment prior to processing
application – Where respondent decided that applicant was not
a fit and proper person to be involved in the provision of an
education and care service – Where decision was made on basis
of assessment results showing lack of knowledge of National Law
– Whether respondent's requirement that individuals
undergo an assessment is lawful – Whether evidence concerning
assessment lawfully obtained - Exercise of discretion as to whether
to exclude evidence.
COSTS – Where respondent late in filing and serving material
- Whether special circumstances warranted an award of costs.
Anderson v University of Sydney
[2018] NSWCATAD 196
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – Government Information
(Public Access) Act – legal professional privilege
– sufficiency of evidence to establish factors against
disclosure - weight to apply significantly to factors against
disclosure – personal factors of application in favour of
disclosure of information.
Taylor v Office of Destination NSW
[2018] NSWCATAD 195
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – Government Information
(Public Access) Act 2009 – Access to information –
refusal of access – correct application of public interest
test – discharge of onus – confidential information -
consultation – aggrieved persons – public interest
considerations in favour of disclosure – public interest
considerations against disclosure – weight - balancing
exercise - correct and preferable decision.
El Masri v Safework NSW [2018]
NSWCATAD 194
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW – restrictive demolition licence
– appropriate experience – practical training.
Legislation
New South Wales
Proclamations commencing Acts
Criminal
Legislation Amendment (Child Sexual Abuse) Act 2018 No 33
(2018-490) — published LW 31 August 2018
Casino
Control Amendment Act 2018 No 8 (2018-461) — published LW
24 August 2018
Regulations and other miscellaneous instruments
Electoral
Funding Amendment (By-Election Funding) Regulation 2018
(2018-489) — published LW 29 August 2018
Casino
Control Amendment Regulation 2018 (2018-465) — published
LW 24 August 2018
Child
Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Regulation 2018
(2018-466) — published LW 24 August 2018
Liquor
Regulation 2018 (2018-473) — published LW 24 August
2018
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.
