A collection of 17 essays, written around the centenary of Federation, telling the story of how Parliament has fashioned and reworked the intentions of those who crafted the Constitution. Produced by the Parliamentary Library, Commonwealth of Australia. 1. Federal Parliament's Changing Role in Treaty Making and External Affairs [ HTML] ( PDF (22)) Research Paper...

A strong majority (85%) of Australians support federal laws protecting Australians from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity (42% strongly support, 43% support). In comparison, just 10% oppose such laws (4% strongly oppose, 6% oppose). Levels of support are strongest amongst those who intend to vote for the Greens (92% support)...

This paper considers the best legal arragements to ensure a balance between the need to protect some Commonwealth information and the need to maintain an open and accountable government through providing appropriate access to information. The ALRC has identified and considered 507 secrecy provisions scattered across 175 pieces of legislation, including 358 distinct secrecy offences...

It is not underfunding or an overwhelming workload that has caused child protection services to fail the vulnerable children they exist to protect, it is the failure to investigate reports and remove children in danger, argues this report.

Cate Banks provides a summary of her research into the different meanings of the child-focused ideal for family dispute resolution practitioners and lawyers, and discusses how these differences play out in practice. The family law reforms introduced in the Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006 (Cth) were designed "to change the culture of...