​Following the launch of the Baird Government's Fit for the Future reform package in September 2014, a number of legislative and administrative changes have been made to the local government sector in NSW. Introduced into the Legislative Assembly on 22 June 2016, the Local Government Amendment (Governance and Planning) Bill 2016 contains the most recent...

Overview The Winter 2016 edition of the NSW Economic Update presents a current snapshot of the NSW economy and provides relevant points of comparison with other Australian States and Territories. NSW continued to be one of the best performing States in Australia over the last quarter, with Commsec’s July 2016 State of the States Report...

This Issues Backgrounder provides an overview of the greyhound racing industry in NSW and summarises key elements of the final report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Greyhound Racing Industry in NSW. It sets out selected Government, Parliamentary and political party material on greyhound racing, as well as references to relevant stakeholder, academic...

​Cannabis comes in over 2,000 varieties. Depending on their characteristics, these may be used for medical purposes (medical cannabis), as a recreational drug (marijuana), or as a source of fibre and food products (industrial hemp). A key differentiating factor is the presence, or otherwise, of the psychoactive compound THC – marijuana contains up to 15%...

This paper sets out the recent history of firearms offences, including the origins of the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW) in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre. It then outlines the distinction between non-strictly indictable and strictly indictable firearms offences, and considers the significance of that distinction on the sentencing of firearms offences. The role...