02.11.2015

ALRC—40 years snapshot

To celebrate 40 years of law reform, the ALRC has produced an online interactive timeline that provides an online archive of the key milestones in the ALRC’s institutional history, and gives voice to many of the esteemed individuals who have contributed to the ALRC over this time. The timeline can be viewed from the ALRC’s website.

A detailed history of the ALRC was produced for the ALRC’s 25^th anniversary in 2000 and is available at www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/lawreform/ALRC/2000/90.html#3.

Inquiries into the ALRC

There have been a number of reviews into the ALRC that have tested its role and questioned its ongoing relevance and significance. All these reviews have reinforced the importance of the ALRC and the need for it to continue in its present independent form.

1979 Parliamentary inquiry by Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on determining the most appropriate way of assessing, coordinating and implementing the recommendations of the Commission particularly and other law reform agencies in general. The Committee noted the need for law reform recommendations to take into account political and institutional factors which affect the acceptability of proposals. No action was taken on matters raised by the Inquiry.

1985 Departmental inquiry into the role of the ALRC and possible amalgamation with other research bodies within the Attorney-General’s portfolio. This Review found this was not feasible or desirable.

1993–94 Parliamentary inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. The Committee undertook a comprehensive review of the role, functions and operations of the Commission. The report of the Committee, Law reform—the challenge continues, was tabled in Parliament in May 1994. The report contained 40 recommendations covering a range of issues, with all but three adopted or endorsed by the Government. Importantly, the Committee concluded that the Commission was a valuable source of law reform advice to the Government and recommended unanimously the continuance of the ALRC’s high quality, well researched and well documented reports.

1999 Parliamentary inquiry into the functions and powers of the Commission.

2011 Inquiry into the role and functions of the ALRC by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, with an emphasis on the appropriate level of resources for the ALRC to fulfil its functions. The Inquiry concluded with support for the ongoing role of the ALRC as an independent authority with a distinct role.

2012 The role and functions of the ALRC was also considered as part of the Department of Finance Strategic Review into Small to Medium Agencies in the Attorney-General’s portfolio in 2012 (the Skehill Review). This Review considered subsuming the ALRC into the Attorney-General’s Department but concluded against this proposal—concluding that to do so would not improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the ALRC.

Chairs and Presidents

The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG 1975–1984
The Hon Murray Wilcox AO QC 1984–1985 (Acting)
The Hon Xavier Connor AO QC 1985–1988
The Hon Elizabeth Evatt AC 1988–1993
Sue Tongue 1993–1994 (Acting)
Alan Rose AO 1994–1999
Emeritus Professor David Weisbrot AM 1999-2009
Professor Rosalind Croucher AM 2009–present

List of ALRC Inquiries

Report No.	Title	Reference Received	Report Tabled	Chairman/President	Lead Commissioner	Attorney-General
ALRC 1 & 9	Complaints Against Police	16 May 1975	7 August 1975 & 9 June 1978	Michael Kirby	Not listed	Kep Enderby
ALRC 2	Criminal Investigation	16 May 1975	8 November 1975	Michael Kirby	Not listed	Kep Enderby
ALRC 4	Alcohol, Drugs and Driving	22 January 1976	23 September 1976	Michael Kirby	Not listed	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 6	Insolvency: the Regular Payment of Debts	10 May 1976	4 November 1977	Michael Kirby	David Kelly	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 7	Human Tissue Transplants	15 July 1976	21 September 1977	Michael Kirby	Russell Scott	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 11	Unfair Publication: Defamation and Privacy	23 June 1976	7 June 1979	Michael Kirby	Murray Wilcox	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 12	Privacy and the Census	9 April 1976	15 November 1979	Michael Kirby	David Kelly	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 14	Lands Acquisition and Compensation	7 July 1977	22 April 1980	Michael Kirby	Murray Wilcox	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 15 (Interim)	Sentencing of Federal Offenders	11 August 1978	21 May 1980	Michael Kirby	Duncan Chappell	Peter Durack
ALRC 16	Insurance Agents and Brokers	9 September 1976	11 September 1980	Michael Kirby	David Kelly	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 18	Child Welfare	18 February 1979	12 November 1981	Michael Kirby	J Seymour	Peter Durack
ALRC 20	Insurance Contracts	9 September 1976	16 December 1982	Michael Kirby	David Kelly	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 22	Privacy	9 April 1976	14 December 1983	Michael Kirby	Robert Hayes	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 24	Foreign State Immunity	11 November 1982	10 October 1984	Michael Kirby	James Crawford	Neil Brown (Minister for Communications on behalf of AG)
ALRC 26 (Interim)	Evidence	18 July 1979	21 August 1985	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting)	Tim Smith	Peter Durack
ALRC 27	Standing in Public Interest Litigation	1 February 1977	29 November 1985	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting)	Murray Wilcox (to 1979) Michael Chesterman	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 28	Community Law Reform for the ACT: First Report: The Community Law Reform Program. Contributory Negligence in Fatal Accident Cases and Breach of Statutory Duty Cases and Funeral Costs in Fatal Accident Cases	21 February 1984	29 November 1985	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Nicholas Seddon	Gareth Evans
ALRC 30	Domestic Violence	29 May 1984	20 March 1986	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	David Hambly (to April 1985) Nicholas Seddon	Gareth Evans
ALRC 31	The Recognition of Aboriginal Customary Laws	9 February 1977	12 June 1986	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Michael Kirby (to 1978) Bruce Debelle (to 1981) James Crawford	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 32	Community Law Reform for the ACT: Second Report: Loss of Consortium and Compensation for Loss of Capacity to do Housework	21 February 1984	23 October 1986	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Nicholas Seddon	Gareth Evans
ALRC 33	Civil Admiralty Jurisdiction	23 November 1982	2 December 1986	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	James Crawford	Neil Brown (Minister for Communications on behalf of AG)
ALRC 35	Contempt	7 April 1983	3 June 1987	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Michael Chesterman	Gareth Evans
ALRC 36	Debt Recovery and Insolvency	10 May 1976	21 October 1987	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	David Kelly	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 37	Spent Convictions	11 August 1978	3 June 1987	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Robert Hayes	Gareth Evans
ALRC 38	Evidence	18 July 1979	5 June 1987	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Tim Smith	Peter Durack
ALRC 39	Matrimonial Property	16 June 1983	16 September 1987	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	David Hambly	Gareth Evans
ALRC 40	Service and Execution of Process	29 November 1982	9 December 1987	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Michael Pryles	Neil Brown (Minister for Communications on behalf of AG)
ALRC 42	Occupiers’ Liability	18 July 1984	13 April 1988	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor	Nicholas Seddon	Gareth Evans
ALRC 43 (Interim)	The Commonwealth Prisoners Act	11 August 1978	24 March 1988	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	George Zdenkowski (from July 1984)	Peter Durack
ALRC 44	Sentencing	11 August 1978	25 August 1988	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	Duncan Chappell (to December 1979) George Zdenkowski (from July 1984)	Peter Durack
ALRC 45	General Insolvency Inquiry	20 November 1983	13 December 1988	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	Ron Harmer	Gareth Evans
ALRC 46	Grouped Proceedings in the Federal Court	1 February 1977	13 December 1988	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	Murray Wilcox (to 1979) Bruce Debelle (to 1983) Michael Chesterman (to 1985) John Basten/Peter Cashman (joint to 1987) Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	Robert Ellicott
ALRC 47	Community Law Reform for the ACT: Third Report: Enduring Powers of Attorney	21 February 1984	6 April 1989	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	Nicholas Seddon	Gareth Evans
ALRC 48	Criminal Admiralty Jurisdiction and Prize	23 November 1982	27 November 1990	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	James Crawford	Neil Brown (Minister for Communications on behalf of AG)
ALRC 50	Informed Decision-making in Medical Procedures	21 February 1984	21 November 1989	Michael Kirby (to 1984) Murray Wilcox (Acting to 1985) Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	Nicholas Seddon	Gareth Evans
ALRC 51	Product Liability	11 September 1987	15 August 1989	Xavier Connor Elizabeth Evatt (from 1988)	John Goldring	Lionel Bowen
ALRC 52	Guardianship and Management of Property	29 August 1988	20 December 1989	Elizabeth Evatt	Nicholas Seddon	Lionel Bowen
ALRC 55	Censorship Procedure	10 May 1990	11 September 1991	Elizabeth Evatt	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 57	Multiculturalism and the Law	2 August 1989	28 April 1992	Elizabeth Evatt	Not listed	Lionel Bowen
ALRC 58	Choice of Law	16 December 1988	28 May 1992	Elizabeth Evatt	John Goldring	Lionel Bowen
ALRC 59	Collective Investments: Superannuation	24 May 1991	28 April 1992	Elizabeth Evatt	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 60	Customs and Excise	26 November 1987	7 May 1992	Elizabeth Evatt	John Greenwell	Lionel Bowen
ALRC 61	Administrative Penalties in Customs and Excise	27 November 1991	9 September 1992	Elizabeth Evatt	Not listed	Michael Tate (Acting AG)
ALRC 63	Children’s Evidence: Closed Circuit TV	24 May 1991	26 May 1993	Elizabeth Evatt	Elizabeth Evatt	Michael Duffy
ALRC 64	Personal Property Securities	8 June 1990	27 May 1993	Elizabeth Evatt	John Goldring	Michael Duffy
ALRC 65	Collective Investments: Other People’s Money	24 May 1991	30 September 1993	Elizabeth Evatt	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 67 (Interim)	Equality Before the Law: Women’s Access to the Legal System	8 February 1993	3 March 1994	Elizabeth Evatt	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 68	Compliance with the Trade Practices Act 1974	17 December 1992	29 June 1994	Elizabeth Evatt (to 1993) Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 69 pt 1 pt 2	Equality Before the Law: Justice for Women Equality Before the Law: Women’s Equality	8 February 1993	25 July 1994 21 December 1994	Elizabeth Evatt (to 1993) Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 70	Child Care for Kids	18 August 1992	8 November 1994	Elizabeth Evatt (to 1993) Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 72	The Coming of Age: New Aged Care Legislation for the Commonwealth	18 August 1992	8 March 1995	Elizabeth Evatt (to 1993) Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 73	For the Sake of the Kids: Complex Contact Cases and the Family Court	6 September 1991	20 June 1995	Elizabeth Evatt (to 1993) Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 74	Designs	18 August 1992	31 August 1995	Elizabeth Evatt (to 1993) Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Duffy
ALRC 75	Costs Shifting—Who Pays for Litigation	28 June 1994	25 October 1995	Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Lavarch
ALRC 77	Open Government: A Review of the federal Freedom of Information Act 1982	8 July 1994	24 January 1996	Alan Rose	Not listed	Duncan Kerr (Acting AG)
ALRC 78	Beyond the door-keeper: Standing to Sue for Public Remedies	17 May 1995	30 May 1996	Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Lavarch
ALRC 79	Making Rights Count: Services for People with a Disability	18 August 1995	10 October 1996	Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Lavarch
ALRC 80	Legal Risk in International Transactions	19 July 1995	8 October 1996	Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Lavarch
ALRC 82	Integrity: But Not by Trust Alone—AFP & NCA Complaints and Disciplinary Systems	29 March 1995	10 December 1996	Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Lavarch
ALRC 84	Seen and Heard: Priority for Children in the Legal Process	28 August 1995	19 November 1997	Alan Rose	Not listed	Michael Lavarch
ALRC 85	Australia’s Federal Record: A Review of Archives Act 1983	15 August 1996	2 July 1998	Alan Rose	Not listed	Daryl Williams
ALRC 87	Confiscation that Counts: A Review of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1987	7 December 1997 (amended TOR received 14 April 1998)	15 June 1999	Alan Rose	Not listed	Daryl Williams
ALRC 89	Managing Justice: A Review of the Federal Civil Justice System	29 November 1995 (amended TOR received 2 September 1997)	17 February 2000	Alan Rose (to 1999) David Weisbrot	Not listed	Michael Lavarch (amendment by Daryl Williams)
ALRC 91	Review of the Marine Insurance Act 1909	21 January 2000	22 May 2001	David Weisbrot	Not listed	Daryl Williams
ALRC 92	The Judicial Power of the Commonwealth: A Review of the Judiciary Act 1903 and related legislation	21 January 2000	2 October 2001	David Weisbrot	Not listed	Daryl Williams
ALRC 95	Principled Regulation: Federal Civil and Administrative Penalties in Australia	21 January 2000	19 March 2003	David Weisbrot	Not listed	Daryl Williams
ALRC 96	Essentially Yours: The Protection of Human Genetic Information in Australia	5 February 2001	29 May 2003	David Weisbrot	Not listed	Daryl Williams
ALRC 98	Keeping Secrets: The Protection of Classified and Security Sensitive Information	2 April 2003	23 June 2004	David Weisbrot	Ian Davis	Daryl William
ALRC 99	Genes and Ingenuity: Gene Patenting and Human Health	17 December 2002	31 August 2004	David Weisbrot	Brian Opeskin Anne Finlay	Daryl Williams
ALRC 102	Uniform Evidence Law	12 July 2004	8 February 2006	David Weisbrot	Not listed	Philip Ruddock
ALRC 103	Same Crime, Same Time: Sentencing of Federal Offenders	12 July 2004	22 June 2006	David Weisbrot	Brian Opeskin	Philip Ruddock
ALRC 104	Fighting Words: A Review of Sedition Laws in Australia	1 March 2006	13 December 2006	David Weisbrot	Not listed	Philip Ruddock
ALRC 107	Privilege in Perspective: Client Legal Privilege and Federal Investigations	29 November 2006	13 February 2008	David Weisbrot	Rosalind Croucher	Philip Ruddock
ALRC 108	For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice	30 January 2006	11 August 2008	David Weisbrot	Les McCrimmon	Philip Ruddock
ALRC 111	Making Inquiries: A New Statutory Framework	14 January 2009	10 February 2010	David Weisbrot (to 2009) Rosalind Croucher	Les McCrimmon	Robert McClelland
ALRC 112	Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia	5 August 2008	11 March 2010	David Weisbrot (to 2009) Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	Robert McClelland
ALRC 114	Family Violence: A National Legal Response	17 July 2009	11 November 2010	Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	Robert McClelland
ALRC 115	Managing Discovery: Discovery of Documents in Federal Courts	10 May 2010	25 May 2011	Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	Robert McClelland
ALRC 117	Family Violence and Commonwealth Laws—Improving Legal Frameworks	9 July 2010	7 February 2012	Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	Robert McClelland
ALRC 118	Classification— Content Regulation and Convergent Media	18 March 2011	1 March 2012	Rosalind Croucher	Terry Flew	Robert McClelland
ALRC 120	Access all Ages—Older Workers and Commonwealth Laws	12 March 2012	30 May 2013	Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	Nicola Roxon
ALRC 122	Copyright and the Digital Economy	21 June 2012	13 February 2014	Rosalind Croucher	Jill McKeough	Nicola Roxon
ALRC 123	Serious Invasions of Privacy in the Digital Era	12 June 2013	3 September 2014	Rosalind Croucher	Barbara McDonald	Mark Dreyfus
ALRC 124	Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws	23 July 2013	24 November 2014	Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	Mark Dreyfus
ALRC 126	Connection to Country: Review of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth)	3 August 2013	4 June 2015	Rosalind Croucher	Lee Godden	Mark Dreyfus
	Freedoms Inquiry	19 May 2014	Final Report due December 2015	Rosalind Croucher	Rosalind Croucher	George Brandis