The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is working on a project to design a national model Bill for a spent-convictions scheme. A spent-convictions scheme provides for certain criminal convictions to be disregarded, for most purposes, after a sufficient period of good behaviour. All Australian jurisdictions except Victoria and South Australia already have such schemes, and New...

The Australian government is considering whether Australia should accede to the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts 2005. This consultation paper seeks public comment on whether Australia should accede to the Convention, and on proposed amendments to allow this to occur. The Australian Government, in consultation with the states...

Australia had a long and illustrious association with 'space science'. The first Australians used the patterns of the stars to guide them to seasonal food sources. Captain Cook arrived here on the way home from a voyage to chart the transit of Venus, with the goal of improving navigational technology. When Governor Phillip founded the...

As leader of the opposition before the 2007 election, and now as prime minister, Kevin Rudd promised that a constitutional referendum to introduce fixed House terms would be held on the same day as the next Commonwealth election. The fact that Australian prime ministers have the power to call an election before the expiry of...

Non-consensual genetic testing occurs when bodily samples are taken and genetically tested without the consent of the individual to whom they relate. Biomedical technology enables genetic testing to be performed on minute bodily samples. Genetic information may be derived from samples such as hair follicles, saliva left on a glass or cigarette, cheek cells left...