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Various legal bodies including ALHR have presented a joint statement requesting the Australian government to execute the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Business.
The UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the principles in 2011. The principle required the government to protect citizens from business related abuse and it also required businesses to respect human rights.

“Australia has been reluctant in implementing the UN guidelines,” said Amy Sinclair, who is the current chair for Australian Lawyers for Human rights group and Human Rights Business.

“In order to implement the Guiding Principles, the Australian government needs to act with urgency to commence a consultative and interactive process for creating an efficient national action plan,” said Ms Sinclair while speaking with Aussie Lawyer Blog.

According to Ms Sinclair, the process is the best solution for this nation because it will make Australian businesses implement respect for human rights and achieve greater corporate responsibility.

She added that the joint statement lays important groundwork for the country’s execution of the Guiding Principles and provides comprehensive guidance drawn from a wide range of Australian NGOs.

The statement proposed an interactive and transparent process towards a national action plan to address those gaps and a comprehensive process of inquiry to analyse existing gaps in the country’s business-related human rights framework.

The issue will be advanced by a public consultation to be held later in the year.

Ms Sinclair added that the joint statement advocates for effective contribution to the agenda for these consultations, thereafter ALHR hopes that the Australian government will move decisively and swiftly towards creating a plan to execute the UN Guiding principles.

The Law Council of Australia together with the Australian Bar Association have come together in warning the government to be cautious on their next move of making proposals to reform anti-terrorism legislation.

Last week, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was overheard saying that he was planning to table a proposal that would extend the sentences of convicted terrorists. Even after their specified prison term gets over, the new proposed laws will enable the extension to criminals who are viewed as a great threat to the society. Currently, there is a similar scheme that has been put in place and it operates for extreme paedophiles and violent offenders in most of the Australian states.

When this proposal comes to pass, then courts will have the power to make decisions regarding this issue. Last week, Stuart Clerk, who is the current president of Law Council of Australia, warned the parliament to proceed with caution. Mr. Clark passed a message to the federal government saying that we should be keen not to compromise Australia’s belief and respect to the rule of law. However, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the country is secure and safe.

“The appropriate balance must be established between safeguarding the fundamental legal rights that are core to the country’s democracy and ensuring that the national security is stable,” said Mr. Clark.

In addition, he said that the people subjected to such orders should be given a chance to respond and if possible, the post-sentence should be heard before a Court of Law.

“The rule of law should not be ignored because its consequences are very high if the government choose to abandon its principles,” said Mr. Clark.

Many legal bodies have also expressed their concerns by calling for caution while approaching the new legislation. The Parliamentary Committee laid out their recommendations to the government on Security and Intelligence.

South Australian residents are now benefiting from new chat technology that enables them to get legal help online and live. ‘Legal Chat’ was launched in October, 2015 and it helps in connecting solicitors with the public. So far, the platform has connected more than 3,000 South Australian residents with different solicitors from the Legal Service Commission of South Australia.

There is a wide range of topics that people can choose to ask the commission lawyers by entering their questions online to initiate the chat. There has been a positive response from regional users. In addition, the project has resulted in improving client access and has allowed legal aid to expand the reach of its services for those living in the interior locations in South Australia. “The reason behind this is because the service is real-time and efficient,” said Chris Boundy, the commission’s manager.

As a matter of fact, many people are showing interest in Legal Chat as a way of seeking guidance regarding their legal needs. Mr. Boundy added that the number of users will significantly grow this year. The remote and regional parts of South Australia have relatively contributed to the Legal Chat inquiries by 15 per cent.

Other legal bodies are now embracing the technology, which was first introduced into the market by the South Australian Commission. “The program offers the convenience of logging queries online and it has benefited many people, especially the remote people,” said Mr Boundy while speaking to Aussie Lawyer Blog. He went ahead to say that delivery of free information to people would extend if digital transformation was embraced by everyone in the vast state.

Traffic from under-30s increases daily, hence showing that digital natives have embraced the alternative service. The program has been highlighted on social media platforms used by younger people such as Facebook and Twitter. The high demand of legal assistance has been dealt with accordingly, thanks to the ability of this service to leverage other overstretched means of reaching out to the people.

The number of fledging law firms has led to introduction of creative measures and initiatives implemented by the Queensland Law Society of late. “The QLS Ethics Centre has made it possible for the society to welcome a practice support consultancy,” said Amelia Hodge, current QLS CEO. The targeted beneficiaries from this program include recent start-ups and sole practitioners. Ms. Hodge added that the newly introduced service comes out strongly to protect the newly established practices and the good thing is that the service gets offered one-on-one. “That basically helps to promote highest productivity from the small firms,” said Ms. Hodge.

In addition, there are potential risks that have been identified by The QLS Ethics Centre and they will be attended to accordingly.

The service aims to stabilize small firms that are beginning to practice since they have few years of experience. The QLS also avails the services of senior practitioners to solicitors through the senior counsellor’s advice service. The program basically helps them get relevant solutions to some of the professional or ethical problems that they are facing.

Ms. Hodge stated clearly that the QLS has become a good consultancy source for start-up firms since they get help and all the support they need from the practice, whenever they approach them. “All these have been made possible thanks to the resources such as the commentary and the costs to the Australian Conduct Rules that can be easily accessed through the Queensland Law Society website,” said Ms. Hodge while speaking to Aussie Lawyer Blog.

However, in order to realize significant growth across all start-ups, small firms have been strongly urged to associate with other existing practices and partner with their colleagues. “Partnering with other small firms will ensure stable growth of all start-ups and will increase their productivity in the legal sector,” concluded Ms. Hodge.

The Commonwealth solicitor-general has urged Australian lawyers to handle legal issues with Australia’s international treaty obligations in mind.

Justin Gleenson SC who is also the current Commonwealth Solicitor-General, came out strongly and underscored the importance of solving everyday legal issues using Australia’s treaty obligations. While speaking to Aussie Lawyer Blog in regards to his statement, Mr Gleenson emphasised that the nation’s treaty agreements played a big role when it came to legal-problem solving. “However, often times it is left to the expertise of diplomats and that shouldn’t be the case,” said Mr. Gleenson.

He added that the Australian courts have been increasingly active in implementing and applying international treaties although it sometimes gets presented as domestic statutes. The law school offered limited opportunities for students to learn about the importance of treaties in Australia’s legal order. He said that the students missed a lot of knowledge since the nation is now looking forward to internationalising Australian law.

Mr. Gleenson stated that there has been an average of 31.8 or further 2,232 amending or original treaties that the nation has entered since World War II. He added that the Australian law schools should consider including the treaty-making sector in their curricula since it has not always been featured closely.

There is a wide variety of subjects covered in the Australia’s treaty obligations including human rights, public health, the environment, and international commerce. Hence it was important for all law students to grasp the contextual understanding of Australia’s international treaty obligations. Lawyers must also the key principles of treaty application and interpretation. Australia is a nation that is well-known for its spirit of internationalism.

Mr. Gleenson explained that one may need to apply the special rules of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties especially in cases where a body material may be examined in interpretation. Lawyers nowadays realise that they need the understanding of international law and principles for interpretation of the treaties. “This is important in solving Australian cases when lawyers present them as counsel and even when the judges decide them,” said Mr. Gleenson.

There is a new legislation that will take effect from July and it will require property lawyers to take further measures when it comes to validating luxury homes sellers.

A Clearance Certificate will be issued to sellers of estates that has a market value of $2 million and above. This will take effect as of 1st July, 2016. The Clearance Certificate will also act as a proof to verify that the property vendors are Australian citizens.

However, there is an alternative for foreign vendors whereby they will be required to pay tax even without the clearance certificate. They can satisfy the need of paying tax by simply providing 10% of the buying price to the ATO.
“It is important for property lawyers to follow the new process,” said Neville Senders, who is the current president of Real Estate Institute of Australia. Mr. Sanders stressed on this after throwing his support behind the new property law. He said that the GST was responsible for withholding tax process that came into effect in the real estate market.

He added that in order to ensure settlements proceeded without delay, lawyers and other legal professionals needed to get clearance certificates for their clients in a timely manner.

“A larger pool of lawyers may be affected by the rising property prices,” said Peter Maloney, who is the current CEO of GlobalX Legal Solutions. He added that imperative conveyancers and legal professionals should be prepared when these changes come into effect on 1st July because they will affect the growing number of luxury homes amongst Australian sellers and buyers.

In addition, the new law will help do away with unnecessary delays in the settlement process. “However, this can only be met if legal professionals take correct precautions,” said Mr. Maloney.

Various state legal bodies have opposed the new bills that are controversial and intend to give the police more powers. On Monday, there were two bills that were passed by the Parliament giving the state police new powers. One of the powers was related to serious crime prevention orders (SCPOs) while the other to public safety orders (PSOs).The NSW Law Society raised alarm and claimed that as much as the laws were meant to target criminal activities, it could also be used wrongly on individuals who were innocent and haven’t been charged with any offence.

The NSW Law Society raised alarm and claimed that as much as the laws were meant to target criminal activities, it could also be used wrongly on individuals who were innocent and haven’t been charged with any offence.

“The new bills add to the list of continuing trend of bills infringing individual liberties and rights,” said President Gary Ulman. He added that the new bills could seriously impact individual freedoms since they included serious orders meant for crime prevention against a wide range of people. Mr. Ulman said that the new law would prevent people from attending special venues in case the police issued ‘public safety orders’. He noted that the breach of such an order would lead to punishment extending to a maximum of five years prison term. As a matter of fact, there are some circumstances whereby the police are given powers to carry out warrantless search. Hence, this significantly expands police powers.

Gary Ulman said that the community needs to be concerned since he was also concerned with the new bills powers. He said the powers could lead to eroding popular human rights including right to be protected against double punishment, the right to access property, right to a fair trial, and the presumption of innocence.

The Bar Association condemned the proposal and described it as unnecessary and unconstitutional threat to human rights and individual freedoms. The statement was made following submissions released this week.

The Association added that regardless of whether an individual intends to commit or has committed any offence, the power to implement PSOs could lead to much interference with freedoms and liberty. It added that the powers would limit freedom of movement, expression, association and assembly to be granted to the police are very broad and did not consider any procedural safeguards. Therefore, it was subject to legally objectionable and flawed oversight given that there are numerous elements of injustice.

The NSW Bar association strongly opposed the bill because it occurred without any prior consultation with appropriate civil liberties organisations, law reform agencies or legal professional bodies. In addition, the Bar Association also claimed that the government hasn’t given sufficient answers explaining the reason behind granting the police such powers. To make matters worse, there has not been any explanation or public debate about the bill explaining why such far-reaching and broad powers need to be granted to the police.

A recent study carried out regarding family law revealed that 79 per cent of its cases revolved around domestic violence. The results were also based on the statistics derived from a national audit. While pointing to the drawbacks that contribute towards various domestic violence issues, the National Legal Aid has called for an urgent improvement in funding. In addition, the Panel managed to produce an advisory report that clearly addressed the cause to increasing incidence of domestic violence.

In order to support the domestic violence victims, the report made 28 recommendations that effectively highlighted the urgent need for sharing information, collaboration and greater integration. This month’s release of COAG Advisory Panel report further elaborated how the 2014-15 client case load was evident that family law matters were increasing.

Suzan Cox QC, who happens to be the National Legal Aid Chair, echoed the statement made by the Panel regarding fighting domestic injustices against children and their mothers. “We need to show concern and support for offended victims in family law cases by availing extra legal assistance to them,” said Ms. Cox while speaking to Aussie Lawyer Blog. She added that the commission has really played a big role in reducing domestic violence cases by gradually providing extra legal assistance over a long period.

Ms. Cox believes that the National Legal Aid has the potential to do more for victims if only there was adequate funding in regards to the recommendations of the COAG Advisory Panel and the Productivity Commission. She put it clear that the federal government set aside $15 million last year, to cater for the needs of domestic violence victims by providing them with adequate legal assistance over three years. In September 2015, an announcement was made confirming that the funding from the federal government also covered part of the Commonwealth Women’s Safety Package.

The Productivity Commission recommended an urgent funding of $120 million for legal assistance to domestic violence victims. Hence, Ms. Cox says that the commission has welcomed the funding although it is way much below the targeted sum. She suggested that territories and states could help in meeting the set target by increasing their funding by $80 million per year, as recommended by the Productivity Commission.

The National Legal Aid is there to provide effective legal assistance and support to children and women through its gradual milestones from child protection matters, family courts and intervention orders. “We should not shy away from these domestic violence recommendations and figures from the Productivity Commission because it will make the future bleak for many low-income families,” Ms. Cox said.

Last week, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights managed to advice the government on adopting a national policy to be used on business and human rights.

Earlier, the Australian Government officially announced that it was planning to carry out a national consultation regarding the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles covering Business and Human Rights throughout this year. In addition, the group of lawyers urged the government to consider being in line with other neighboring countries by creating a National Action Plan (NAP).

“It should be taken into account that NAP is one of the best resolutions that were co-sponsored by Australia back in the year 2011,” said Amy Sinclair, the chair of ALHR’s human rights and business group. They are policy commitments that show the UN Guiding Principles when it comes to Human Rights and Business. NAP has been fully initiated or launched by approximately forty nations all over the world. According to the ALHR, some of the great nations that have embraced these policy commitments include the US, Germany and the UK.

Fortunately, ALHR did a great job last month by submitting a policy paper urging the Australian government to embark on a consultation process that will be in the form of a multi-stakeholder. “We can now tell that the government’s commitment on this matter shows that it is willing and ready to seriously engage with business and human rights,” said Ms. Sinclair. In addition, “the government will surely have an easy time implementing the Guiding Principles since a NAP would provide guidance, direction and certainty regarding all these,” added Ms. Sinclair.

The ALHR’s chairperson also said that there is much hope from these consultations because they are clear intentions for developing a National Action Plan. “However, in order to achieve an effective result, it is equally important for the government to consider consulting a wide range of stakeholders,” said Ms. Sinclair.

The chairperson said that the country is in need of a public policy framework that provides adequate access to remedy by ensuring there is adequate business respect for human rights.

She concluded by saying that all types of members from the society should be included as stakeholders to ensure that all voices are well-represented. Therefore, the process for choosing stakeholders should be just and fair. The group of lawyers advised the government to avoid by all means, concentrating on one side. That may include assuming disempowered and vulnerable members of society or favoring those representing powerful business interests.