Control orders have been part of Australian anti-terrorism legislation since December 2005. A control order is issued by a court (at the request of the Australian Federal Police) to allow obligations, prohibitions and restrictions to be imposed on a person, for the purpose of protecting the public from a terrorist act. The types of obligations...

Over the last 30 years there have been major economic, demographic and social changes in Australia. These changes, together with associated government income support policy responses, have been important factors driving trends in the proportion of workforce age people receiving income support. This background note outlines these income support policy developments. It also provides data...

The Commonwealth's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (the Act) commenced on 1 January 2003. The Act provides a scheme to trace, restrain and confiscate the proceeds of certain classes of crime against Commonwealth law. In some circumstances it can also be used to confiscate the proceeds of crime against foreign law or the proceeds of...

This Background Note explores the provisions that allow for the confiscation of profits that are obtained from a person’s sale or publication of his or her story.

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the Australian natural gas sector and outline some recent important developments. It also expands on and updates earlier work by the Parliamentary Library on this topic.