Legislation to protect whistle-blowers in Victoria

Protection afforded to whistleblowers under Victoria's Whistleblower Protection Act - benefits and costs of providing protection - types of disclosures that are protected and people who can claim protection under the Act - determining if a matter involves a public interest disclosure - investigation of disclosures by the Ombudsman, and other public bodies - action upon completion of an investigation - protection afforded to the Ombudsman.

Judicial responses to the protected confidential communications legislation in Australia

The article examines the background, aims and scope of recent legislation enacted in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia to protect from disclosure in court of "confidential communications" generated in the context of counselling persons who allege that they were victims of sexual offences. In drafting the "confidential communications" legislation, the legislators undertook a difficult task of balancing the public interest in therapeutic confidentiality that would encourage victims of sexual assaults to report these offences and seek psychological and psychiatric care on the one hand, and the public interest in fairness of the trial, which may be prejudiced by exclusion of evidence pertinent to the forensic process on the other. In South Australia this task was fulfilled with greater success than in New South Wales and Victoria.

Data protection and privacy: the Australian legislation and its implications for IT professionals

The notion of privacy takes on a completely different meaning when viewed from the perspective of an IT professional, an organisation using technology to support strategic directions or a member of the public. This paper looks past the technical issues involved in data protection and examines some of the business, social and regulatory aspects that have become important to those involved in the management, storage and dissemination of electronic information. The paper documents some of the legislative developments in privacy and data protection and examines what these developments mean for IT professionals for whom the link between data captured, stored and processed into information and the resulting effect on privacy is important. The Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 based on work done by the Council of Europe, the OECD and the European Union provides some general guidelines but only for the public sector. However, new legislation imminent. Thus, IT professionals need to be aware of the changing situation and examine their organisation’s current practices to ensure compliance with future laws.

A Look at Corporate Code of Conduct Legislation

Over recent years, there has been a growing perception among civil society in the developed world that multinational corporations are engaged in socially and environmentally exploitative practices that they would never get away with, or even attempt, in their home countries. Whether right or wrong, that perception and its political and economic ramifications have driven a global movement for more responsible corporate behavior. As part of that global movement, three common law jurisdictions—the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom—have seen legislation introduced to enforce standards of practice for multinational corporations based in those countries in respect of their overseas activities. None of those Bills has yet passed into law, but they are worthy of analysis as attempts to transform hitherto amorphous concepts like 'corporate social responsibility' into concrete legislation. This article compares and critically analyses the three Bills, making recommendations as to how they could be improved, with particular emphasis on the need to forge stronger links between the legislative provisions and international human rights law.

GST legislation plus 2002 : featuring key sectional commentary and cross-references

A unique annual legislation book that makes understanding, interpreting and applying the evolving GST legislation easier for all practitioners.

Criminal legislation Victoria 2003

Fully annotated Crimes Act 1958 (Victoria) and Summary Offences Act 1966 (Victoria). Extracted from two-volume looseleaf service 'Bourke's Criminal Law Victoria'. Cross-referenced to cases, other acts and regulations and other publications dealing with the topics under discussion. Reflects the law as amended to 1 January 2003. Includes table of cases and index. Nash is a practicing QC and former academic at Monash University. Bagaric is a barrister and solicitor.

GST legislation plus 2003 : featuring key sectional commentary and cross-references

A unique annual legislation book that makes understanding, interpreting and applying the evolving GST legislation easier for all practitioners.

GST legislation plus 2004

Provides a comprehensive set of GST and related legislation in easy- to-read layout, plus extensive history notes and annotations. Includes annotations to Australian GST rulings, section-by-section overviews, defined term locators and relevant overseas case precedents.

Wellbeing of Australians : income security

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index monitors the subjective wellbeing of the Australian population. Our first survey was conducted in April 2001 and this report concerns the 15th survey, undertaken in May 2006. Our previous survey had been conducted seven months earlier in October 2005. This intervening period contained a number of significant events. The first Australian terrorist threat was marked by the arrest of people in Sydney and Melbourne alleged to be plotting an attack. In December rioting took place in Sydney between Muslim and non-Muslim youths, but whether this was due more to religious differences or a ‘turf-war’ is unclear. Then, in May 2005, the new Industrial Relations legislation came into force. Each survey involves a telephone interview with a new sample of 2,000 Australians, selected to represent the national population geographic distribution. These surveys comprise the Personal Wellbeing Index, which measures people’s satisfaction with their own lives, and the National Wellbeing Index, which measures how satisfied people are with life in Australia. Other items include a standard set of demographic questions and other survey-specific questions. The specific topic for Survey 15 is the extent to which people feel that their source of income is secure.