A federal Human Rights Act would allow complainants to take their cases to federal court if conciliation failed to resolve their claims, under a proposed model of the law unveiled Wednesday.
The ACCC will monitoring the pricing and supply of essential services such as energy and telecommunications as well as interest rates in 2023 as cost of living pressures continue to bear down on consumers.
The Albanese government has started a public consultation after ditching provisions from sex harassment legislation which would have forced parties to bear their own costs in discrimination litigation, noting that lawyers favour an ‘equal access’ costs model.
The question of power to make a common fund order at the end of a class action was no longer a hypothetical one and it was time to send the issue to the Full Federal Court. That’s what the 7-Eleven class action judge was told 15 months ago but he failed to heed the advice, resulting in a court deeply divided and funders clamouring for reform.
A local court magistrate showed apprehended bias by not allowing a self-represented plaintiff to take notes during cross-examination, a judge has found.
A landmark Federal Court class action against private health insurer Medibank will be a test case for when privacy claims can sidestep the regulatory path, and whether group members can prove they suffered loss from exposure of their data.
The Australian Law Reform Commission has recommended the government abolish exceptions for religious schools in federal anti-discrimination legislation, but permit schools to give preference to prospective applicants on religious grounds.
The Albanese government is inviting submissions on a federal judicial commission tasked with dealing with alleged misconduct by judges, saying the commission will strive for transparency and will not adopt a disciplinary model.
The Albanese government has succeeded in advancing labor reforms that it says will strengthen access to wage bargaining, encourage job security and gender equity, and bolster the role of the Fair Work Commission.
The Labor government’s National Anti-Corruption Commission bill cleared its final hurdle on Tuesday, passing the House of Parliament after amendments in the Senate that expanded the powers of the NACC Inspector.