Past policy positions and musings of new Liberal leader Sussan Ley offer insights into future directions on renewable energy, environment laws, and more.
Articles on Law reform
Displaying 21 - 40 of 169 articles
In the first 25 years of the century, Australia elected its first female prime minister and introduced paid parental leave, but how much have things really improved for women?
Low-cost, untraceable firearms can now be made in suburban garages. Laws to deal with them are inconsistent and put community safety at risk.
Responding forcefully to the growing number of antisemitic attacks is important. However, strengthening the laws alone may not be enough to result in real change.
If you’re convicted of sexual abuse, your friends and family can tell the court how good you are, with the hope of a more lenient sentence. There are calls for this to change.
While still a small minority of sexual offenders, abuse perpetrated by women in Australia has increased by more than 200% since 2008. The system isn’t set up to deal with it.
Under current laws in most states and territories, the life of an unborn child is legally indistinguishable from that of the mother.
National Cabinet unveiled a $4.7 billion partnership, starting July 1 2025, to address domestic violence. It’s funding that’s sorely needed and enthusiastically welcomed, but needed immediately.
Koalas in trouble, land clearing at speed – nature in New South Wales is not well. Now the government is proposing significant changes to its ineffective biodiversity laws.
Irwin’s legal team threatened to sue Pauline Hanson’s party for defamation, but no legal proceedings have been initiated. Australia’s patchy laws in this area likely put a stop to it.
Banning political donations may sound like a good idea, but Peter Malinauskas’ plan raises political and legal risks.
Confiscating firearms from alleged abusers might seem like a good idea, but it’s unlikely to make much of a difference.
Gender violence has captured the attention of policy makers and the public. There’s many things that can be done, both in the short and long term.
Equal shared parental responsibility will no longer automatically be considered to be in a child’s best interest. That’s a good thing, particularly in domestic violence situations.
The fact that the presidency is attempting to get away with minimal regulation of bulk interception raises doubt about its commitment to ending intelligence abuse.
The judgment will also benefit spouses in Muslim marriages, which were legally recognised in a 2022 Constitutional Court judgment.
The inquiry into justice responses to sexual violence is taking a holistic approach, which is a welcome step in the right direction. But there’s still elements missing from the terms of reference.
We’re all familiar with a green ‘G’ or a red ‘MA’ on a movie poster, but those ratings don’t have any basis in what we know about child development. They’d be much more useful for parents if they did.
Australia has a once-in-a-decade opportunity to fix environmental law. A new Wentworth Group report says the cumulative impacts from multiple projects must be considered.
Nearly everyone agrees the 68-year-old Adoption Act is not fit for purpose. So where is the political will for change, and how much longer do families touched by adoption have to wait?
Top contributors
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Professor (Practice), Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University
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Professor of Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University
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Associate Professor, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University
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Emeritus Professor in Law and Criminal Justice, Adelaide University
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Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Canberra
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Professor of Law; Kim Santow Chair of Law and Social Justice, University of Sydney
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Emeritus Professor Monash University, Monash University
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Arie Freiberg is a Friend of The Conversation.
Emeritus Professor of Law, Monash University
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CEO, Sentencing Advisory Council
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Eleanor Rathbone Chair of Sociology, University of Liverpool
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Lecturer in Law, Adelaide University
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Professor, Centre for Women's Studies & Gender Research, Sociology, Monash University
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Associate Professor of Leadership, Swinburne University of Technology
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Dean, School of Law, Deakin University
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Professor of Evidence Law, University of Sydney