Jacob Varghese provides a brief overview of some potential areas of Australian law that may be affected.

The High Court in Shaw v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (December 2003) has decreed that all British settlers who arrived in Australia after 1949 are 'aliens' unless they have become Australian citizens. Any non-citizen British migrants can now be expelled from Australia if, for example, convicted of a serious crime.

What should a public servant be able to say publicly about government matters? In August 2001, both civilian and military arms of Defence issued new instructions severely restricting staff contact with the media. Even tighter restrictions were imposed on Operation Relex, which interdicted people-smuggling operations on Australia's northern borders. Concern was expressed at the time...

There has been ongoing speculation as to whether, and if so how, the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) might be affected by US-Australian Free Trade negotiations. The US pharmaceutical industry has been concerned about the role played by the PBS, and other arrangements in Australia, in lowering the profitability of the US industry in Australia.

This note discusses some recent projections of future costs to the Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Author, Maurice Rickard, observes that care should be taken in basing future projections on past PBS growth trends and in comparing PBS growth with growth in other areas of Commonwealth health expenditure.