Indigenous law programs
Sharon Scully
Law and Bills Digests Section
The Government has announced funding of $17.7 million in 2008–2009 to
continue night patrol services in the Indigenous communities identified
by the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).[1] This is in addition to the $3.9 million that
the Attorney-General’s Department has already committed to night patrols
services since the 2007–2008 Budget.[2]
It should be noted that prior to the Government’s announcement of the
NTER on 21 June 2007[3], the Attorney-General’s Department had been funding
night patrol services for several Indigenous communities and town camps
in the Northern Territory since 2004–2005. [4]
The amount allocated to night patrols services in this year’s Budget
is an increase from the 2007–2008 Budget estimates for the Attorney-General’s
Department, where approximately $13.3 million was committed to the Department’s
prevention, diversion, rehabilitation and restorative justice services
for Indigenous Australians, of which night patrols were a part.[5]
The NTER involves several government
departments and its aims include protecting children from abuse and ensuring
the safety of families in remote communities. Night patrol services aim
to break the cycle of violence by measures such as:[6]
- moving a person from a situation of risk to a safe place
- diffusing situations involving violence, and
- providing advice, information and referral to other services, such
as counselling.
Expenses for the program are provided for 2007–08 and 2008–09 only, with
future funding subject to consideration in the 2009–10 Budget (following
an evaluation of the Northern Territory Emergency Response).[7]
For further information regarding budget measures relating to the Indigenous
community, please refer to ‘Indigenous Affairs’ by John Gardiner-Garden
in the Social Policy section of the Budget Review 2008–09.
Public Order and Safety: Legal Aid
Diane Spooner
Law and Bills Digests Section
Allocation of legal aid payments to the States and Territories falls
within ‘payments for specific purposes’ in ‘National Partnership payments’.
As part of the Commonwealth’s support for public order and safety services,
the following existing payments will continue to be paid from 1 January
2009 as part of the National Partnership payments:
$159.4 million in 2008–09, to the States’ legal aid
commissions for the provision of legal assistance in Commonwealth matters.[8]
For the 2008–09 Budget year, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland
are included in the National Partnership payments with the other States
and Territories. Prior to this, payments towards legal aid for these three
States were classified as Australian Government own-purpose expenses.[9]
Expenses for the overall ‘public order and safety’ function comprise
support for the administration of the federal legal system and the provision
of legal services, which includes legal aid to the community. The expenses
also include law enforcement and intelligence activities, in addition
to the protection of Government property.[10] The total amount allocated for public order and safety increases
from $3,788 million in 2007–08 to $3,807 million in 2008–09.[11]
The Government will also provide $11.0 million over three years from
2007–08 to 2009–10 for the Expensive Commonwealth Criminal Cases Fund.[12]
This will allow the state-based legal aid commissions to meet trial costs
in relation to national security trials running in Victoria and New South
Wales, without loss to their usual allocation of funding for their other
legal aid functions and services.
As part of the ‘Closing the Gap’ measures set out in the Budget, the
Attorney-General’s Department has been allocated $2.0 million in 2008–09
to continue funding for additional legal aid services in support of the
Northern Territory Emergency Response. On-going funding needs in this
area will be reviewed before the next Budget.[13]
Funding for the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program
Sharon Scully
Law and Bills Digests Section
The Government has announced funding of $19.2 million in 2008–2009 to
continue the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program (the NDMP).[14]
Under the previous Government, the NDMP was funded by what had then been
the Department of Transport and Regional Services (renamed the Department
of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government).[15]
The NDMP is a national program, which aims to identify and deal with
natural disaster risk priorities.[16] Funds are made available, through the NDMP, for projects that
mitigate the impact of natural disasters in Australia.[17] These projects encompass pre-disaster and post-disaster management
measures and may include:[18]
- risk management studies
- disaster mitigation strategies
- warning systems, and
- community awareness and readiness measures.
The NDMP is funded by State, Territory and Commonwealth Governments,
as well as local agencies and contributors from the private sector, with
the Commonwealth Government contributing up to a third of approved costs.[19]
National Capital Authority
Angus Martyn
Law and Bills Digests Section
The Australian Labor Party’s desire to make substantial funding cutbacks
to the National Capital Authority (NCA) was foreshadowed by Lindsay Tanner
in March 2007.[20] Subsequently,
the Rudd Government reversed a decision of the Howard Government to provide
funding towards the redevelopment of Canberra’s Constitutional Avenue
as part of the ‘Griffin Legacy’.[21] The withdrawal of funding for this project resulted in a forecast
saving of $46.5 million over 2007–2011.[22]
In terms of the 2008–09 Budget, the funding received from the Commonwealth
for NCA departmental items has fallen to $13.657 million as compared to
$18.750 million for 2007–08, a reduction of over 25 per cent.[23]
The Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories
is currently holding an inquiry into the role of the NCA, with a reporting
date of 30 June 2008.[24]
The NCA was also the subject of a recent report published by the Australian
National Audit Office.[25]
Australian Federal Police and national security
For information regarding budget measures
relating to the Australian Federal Police and national security, please
refer to the section on security and policing by Nigel Brew, Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Security in the Budget Review 2008–09.
Kali Sanyal
Economics Section
The Commonwealth Government announced in the
Budget 2008–09 a new framework for federal financial relations, with a
commitment to provide the foundation for far-reaching economic and social
reforms to be undertaken as part of the Council of Australian Governments’
(COAG’s) work program.
In March 2008, COAG committed to a comprehensive new economic reform
agenda for Australia, with a particular focus on healthcare, water resources,
regulatory and competition reform and the broader productivity agenda.
The measures are intended to address issues concerning the productive
capacity of the economy, sustainability of the natural environment and
the social inclusion of disadvantaged people.
Focus of the reform agenda[26]
The entire framework largely focuses on committed working arrangements
to improve governance and funding between the federal and state governments.
A key decision in this regard was to change the framework in order to
modernise payments for specific purposes.
The new framework for federal financial relations will commence on 1
January 2009 (the reform of healthcare funding will commence on 1 July
2009), with all aspects actively monitored by COAG. A new Intergovernmental
Agreement will be developed to underpin the new framework and entrench
the concept and practice of cooperative working relationships between
governments.
A multi-jurisdictional approach to economic and social reform
Reform of Consumer Protection Laws
Currently, Australia hosts a costly and untidy web of state, territory
and federal consumer protection laws. In order to streamline the process,
the Productivity Commission (the Commission) was commissioned to review
Australia's consumer policy framework in December 2006. It published a
draft report in December 2007.
Conflicting state and federal consumer protection laws tend to cost the
economy up to $4.5 billion each year. Consumer protection laws so
far are covered by national laws, yet overlapped by separate and discontinuous
state fair trading provisions, leading to uncertainty and unjustified
costs to business and unfairness for consumers. The simplified rules—for
example, product recall laws for unsafe toys and other consumer goods—are
expected to prove to be a good cooperative arrangement between federal
and state agencies.
In its final report, the Commission said on 8 May 2008:
‘… though only very broad quantification is possible,
the Commission's reform package could provide a net gain to the community
of between $1.5 billion and $4.5 billion a year.’[27]
While accepting the recommendations, the government observed that the
report provided a unique opportunity to examine Australia's approach to
consumer policy and ensure that the legal and regulatory framework provides
the best outcomes possible for Australian consumers.[28]
The government will now consider the recommendations and, as agreed by
COAG, respond formally at the end of October 2008.
According to a media report, the state and federal ministers had reached
a broad in-principle agreement to proceed with changes that have been
on the policy agenda for more than a decade, which would represent a significant
breakthrough to make consumer protection more efficient.[29]
Reform of Corporations Laws
In the background of the sub-prime crisis in international financial
markets, a few Australian companies are exposed to credit risk. In the
final week of April this year, Geelong-based Chartwell Enterprises collapsed,
allegedly owing 80 investors about $70 million. The demise of Chartwell
Enterprises follows the Opes Prime and LIFT Capital collapses. The Minister
for Corporate Law, Nick Sherry, acknowledged that these crises, and the
volatile international economy, prompted the government to take appropriate
reform measures in the federal corporate regulatory regime.[30]
Accordingly, a greater vigilance regime by federal regulators is proposed.
The key issue around financial disclosure on covered short selling in
the financial markets, and pertinent state and Commonwealth powers on
the matter, is now on the agenda of COAG. The general disclosure documentation
that individual investors rely on is simply too complicated. As such,
work began on simplification of disclosure documentation, particularly
around identifying risk. Difficulties with state and territory regulation
(such as complexity and overlap regarding financial services), should
be regulated nationally.
In its present form, the Corporations Act is deficient in respect to
covered short selling in the financial markets.[31] The Australian Security and Investment Commission
(ASIC) in some areas of financial services regulation can not act on matters
relating to the legislations embedded in state laws. The federal government
thus wants to introduce a change in the federal state reform measures
for the purpose of seeking the transfer of some state powers on financial
services into the Commonwealth jurisdiction. Most of those powers would
fall within the remit of ASIC after the transfer of power.
Budget Allocation
Prior to the Budget 2008–09, the government announced such reform measures
in consumer protection laws and corporations laws by resolving the differences
with the state governments. Consequently, these initiatives have featured
into an expanded COAG reform agenda, which the government allocating an
amount of $25.2 million over five years.[32]
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