Freedom of speech and academic freedom have received considerable recent attention. The most significant development in Australia has arguably been the release in 2019 of former Chief Justice of the High Court ofAustralia, Robert French ACs' report containing aModel Code for the Protection of Free Speech and Academic Freedom ('Model Code)'. In 2021, former Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sally Walker undertook a review into the extent to which Australian universities had adopted the Model Code. One of her resulting recommendations was that each universitys' governing body prepare an annual freedom of speech and academic freedom attestation statement to be published in the universitys' annual reports. Walkers' primary purpose behind this requirement was to ensure compliance by universities with Australian higher education legislation requiring them to foster a university culture supportive of freedom of speech and academic freedom. This article considers the extent to which universities engaged with these attestation statements in their 2021 annual reports. It demonstrates that most universities are not completing attestation statements in a way that achieves their intended objectives. It highlights the risks to universities associated with this omission and provides guidance as to how attestation statements should be completed to reduce these risks.
This article provides a broad overview of the functions and methods of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security ('Inspector-General)' and his/her staff. The eight intelligence agencies of which the Inspector-General has full or partial oversight are referred to and the principal functions of the Inspector-General - the conduct of inquiries, the examination of agencies' records by regular inspections and the investigation of complaints - are laid out, and the methods used in each case are explained. Treatment is given to the statutory concepts by reference to which the Inspector-General is required to assess the activities of agencies, the main ones being compliance with Commonwealth, state and territory laws, propriety and consistency with human rights. Some things which the Inspector-General does not do are noted. Finally, the article deals with the role of the Inspector-General under the legislated public interest disclosure scheme.
First Nations women represent the fastest-growing population in the Australian prison system, with escalating rates of incarceration the subject of extensive inquiry. Nevertheless, the crisis persists. This paper argues that the unique situation of First Nations women within a colonial criminal justice system requires reframing and reimagining, in order to think differently about the crisis. One way this can be achieved is by taking an intersectional approach. Applying an intersectional lens to the crisis of over-incarceration of First Nations women identifies gender, race, and colonialism as intersecting points of disadvantage, the impact of which warrants further investigation. It is not suggested that these factors are the only intersecting points of disadvantage for First Nations women, but rather that they represent intersections common across the colonised jurisdictions, with common theoretical underpinnings. This article conducts a critical review of the existing literature, to expose space for an intersectional analysis of the problem, and offers an intersectional interpretation of the factors contributing to the over-incarceration of First Nations women.
The applicable law rules for tort and contract in Australian private international law have developed in isolation from one another. The reason for this tendency is that tortious and contractual claims have long been regarded as distinct causes of action, despite often arising from similar factual circumstances. Consequently, where cases of concurrent liability in tort and contract occur, common law courts have traditionally permitted claimants to rely on the applicable law rules of either or both tort and contract to secure the most beneficial governing law. This article considers whether such f'reedom to plead' should remain permissible in all circumstances or whether the doctrine ofparty autonomy may offer a preferable approach. Party autonomy is a well-accepted doctrine that allows parties to choose the law and forum to determine their disputes. While commonly employed in the areas of arbitration and jurisdiction agreements, and in governing law clauses for claims in contract, it has not yet been applied by Australian courts in the context of the applicable law for torts and other non-contractual obligations. By reference to developments in other common law jurisdictions and the European Union, this article suggests a framework for its adoption.
Voter profiling, microtargeting, and digital advertising architecture are widely recognised as threats to privacy and democratic processes. However, accounts of what voter privacy is, why it matters, and how it is threatened by new and emergent campaigning practices vary. This article examines voter privacy and its value in the context of data-driven political campaigning. In privacy theory and law, the role of privacy in political processes has predominantly been conceived as sheltering autonomous individuals from the conforming pressures of collective life and the chilling effects of surveillance. The dominant paradigms offer an inadequate explanation of the value of voter privacy in the contemporary social and technological milieu. This article argues that voterprivacy is indispensable to free and informed democratic decision-making. Beyond merely enabling separation and differentiation from the collective, privacy is essential to the social and collective aspects of democratic decision-making. By reducing voter privacy, data-driven political campaigning practices disrupt voters' abilities to self-articulate preferences, views, and affinities, to produce and circulate ideas, and to collectively deliberate and scrutinise. This conception offers an explanation of the societal value of voter privacy which can inform coherent legislative responses to the issues presented by data-driven political campaigning.
