Unit 4 Aos 2

Question 1

What are the 4 reasons for law reform?

Answer 1

-Changes in beliefs,values and attitudes
-Changes in technology require new guidelines for the community
-Responding to social conditions
-Enhance community protection by imposing regulations or restrictions on damaging behaviors

Question 2

What does the reason for changing law reform, “Changes in beliefs,values and attitudes” refer too, provide example

Answer 2

Changes in beliefs,values and attitudes; Laws must reflect community values, therefore when their have been changes beliefs,views and values law made be reformed in order.

Example:Changes in Laws towards LGBTQIA+ community.
-Marriage amendment act 2017 (allowed for marriage equality)
- adoption amendment 2015 to allow same sex couples to lawfully adopt children within Australia
-births,deaths and marriages registration amendment act in 2019 (vic) to allow transgender victorians to be able to choose their gender on their birth certificates without having to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

Question 3

What does the reason for changing law reform, “Changes in technology require new guidelines for the community “ refer too, provide example

Answer 3

Changes in technology require new guidelines for the community:laws need to be altered and updated to control and regulate new inventions and oppurtunities and reduce the likelihood of people being harmed or exploited.

Example
- Privacy legislation amendment (enforcement and other measures) act 2022, (cth) to increase the sanctions that can be imposed on an individual or company for serious or repeated privacy breaches.

Question 4

What does the reason for changing law reform, “Responding to economic conditions” refer too, provide example

Answer 4

Responding to economic conditions:Laws must be made in alignment with changing economy, laws that regulate the buying, selling and production of goods and services.

Example
-Fair work amendment (secure jobs,better pay) act 2022 (cth) was passed by the commonwealth parliament to reform Australia’s industrial relations laws and improve terms and conditions of employment for Australian workers.

Question 5

What does the reason for changing law reform, “Enhance community protection by imposing regulations or restrictions on damaging behaviors” refer too, provide example

Answer 5

Enhance community protection by imposing regulations or restrictions on damaging behaviors:

-Criminalisation of the tampering or removal of condoms during sex without consent.

Prompted Victorian parliament to amend sexual offence legislation following a VLRC inquiry into the justice system Response to sexual offences. deterring individuals from committing this offence and better protecting public safety.

Question 6

What are petitions and how can they influence law reform? Provide example

Answer 6

-Petitions-A formal request put before a parliament to reform the law in a particular area, with the names of supporting citizens collected to show public support.

-2019, e petition over 400,000 signatures called for commonwealth to declare a climate emergency and introduce legislation to reduce human made climate change, delivered to commonwealth parliament and presented by independent Zali Steggall

Pros
-Cheap and easily organise (People are more likely to get involved, more participation, can be more effective for calling for action)
-Unlikely to gather negative media attention.
-May be taken directly to a member of parliament with interest in that area (can help influence law reform directly within parliament)

Cons
-May not result in action in parliament as it is less visible
-Unlikely to receive large scale media attention.
-Unlikely to result in community networking and increasing support in law-reform

Question 7

What are demonstrations and how do they influence law reform? provide examples.

Answer 7

-Demonstrations:
An organised group of people coming together in public to show their support for legal change. This may be as part of a protest, march or rally.

Australia day protests-Thousands of demonstrators gather around Australia calling for a change towards Australia day the 26th of January due to its negative association of the poor treatment towards indigenous peoples.

Pros
-Visible and effective as a public statement of pressure
-Likely to ignite public debate and media coverage,increasing politicans awarness of public opinion.
-Encourages networking and public dialogue

Con
-Difficult to organise and coordinate
-Likely to gather negative media attention due to its visibility and likelihood of protests.( may cause harm, which will damage the reputation of a cause)
-Requires a high turn out (which is hard to illicit) in order for it too be effective.

Question 8

What does the “use of courts” refer too and how can individuals use it to influence law reform? provide an example.

Answer 8

-Use of courts:Challenging the constitutional or legal validity of actions whether by government, individuals or corporations before the courts in order to have them declared invalid or highlight the need for change.

-Masson V parsons case (2019)-Sperm case
High courts ruling to accept Mr Massons appeal formed a new precedent that meant that sperm donors actively involved in a child’s life may be recognized as a parent and have parental rights. 800,000 dollars, occurred over a span of 5 years (2014-2019).

Pro
-Visible and effective as a public statement of pressure
-Likely to ignite public debate and media coverage,increasing politicians awareness of public opinion.
-May lead to new common law principles which can be codified by parliament.

Cons
-Cost and time ( 800,000 spent, over a span of 5 years, delayed time,not timely law)
-Requirement for standing
-Judicial conservatism

Question 9

How does traditional media influence law reform?

Answer 9

-Informing and raising awareness
-Influence community opinion
-Allows a forum to report/allows politicians viewpoints to be open to public scrutiny.

Question 10

How does social media influence law reform?

Answer 10

-Enabling connections for pressure groups to organise demonstrations.
-Enabling contact and scrutiny of public opinion between the public and politicians.
-Increasing contact between politicians and the general public through applications such as Twitter and Facebook.
-Collecting and gathering international support and pressure in response to perceived injustices.
-Informing the public and allowing comment on information.
-Allows for public dialogue/debate and communication of views to politicians
-Allows parliament and government to monitor user views and asses the level of community support for law reform

Question 11

Example of how media influences law reform

Answer 11

Example: “Who cares” 4 corners,ABC special
ABC-Television current affairs program, delivered a 2 part investigative report in 2018

Media uncovered:
-Inadequate nutrition/care for continence issues in aged care homes
-Physical abuse/emotional abuse
-Innapropriate use of medication/chemical restraint

Lead to:
-Public outrage which was expressed/shared on social media this lead to the governor general.pm calling for a royal commission into aged care services.

Question 12

Sample answer for:Analyse Role of media in influencing law reform

Answer 12

Both traditional and social media play a role in educating the public on the need for law-reform and allowing the public to place political pressure on politicians.

Traditional media including broadcast and published media from organisations and reporters plays a role in informing and raising awareness on the need for law reform.
The importance of this role is highlighted in the ABCs 4 corners investigative TV report “who cares” which exposed issues in the quality of care in aged care homes.the program informed the public of widespread mistreatment of aged care residents showing footage of chemically restrained residents,poor food quality and physical abuse filmed on undercovered cameras.This is significant in contributing to law reform as by informing the public,traditional media allows individuals to develop informed views on the need for law reform.Furthermore, social media allows them to press for law-reform by expressing views publicly online.

Social media plays a role in allowing parliament and government (who hold the power to reform the law) to asses levels of community support for law reform.This was evident following the broadcast of the “who cares” special where viewers took to online apps to express their outrage over poor regulations and standards in age care facilities.By reading comments,looking at shared posts and footage on social media, politicians were able to identify strong public support for further action, into law reform.As a result the governor general on behalf of the prime minister scott morison called a royal commision sparking an extensive inquiry into law reform on the issue.This shows how both social and traditional media work together to inform public opinions on law reform and to provide a means of sharing views/pressure in the politicians.

Question 13

What is the VICTORIAN LAW REFORM COMMISSION (VLRC)?, what are its 4 main roles

Answer 13

-Central agency for law reform in victoria.Statutory authority established in 2000 established under the victorian law reform act 2000.The VLRC is victorias independent body investigating the need for law reform on matters referred to by the attorney general, a senior governor minister or small matters of community concern ongoing law making body.

Its main role is too
-Inquire:to examine and report on any personal proposal or matter referred to the governor attorny general for law reform.Includes community consultation,research,community consultation and reporting on projects.

-Investigate:To investigate any minor issues that the VLRC believes are of general concern to the community and report to the attorney general.Members of the public are able to suggest areas of concern to the VLRC

-Monitor:To monitor and coordinate law reform activites in Victoria, this includes making suggestions to the attorney general.The VLRC makes suggestions to the attorney general in new references relating to areas where law reform is necessary

-Educate:to undertake educational programs and inform the community about its function and law reform.

Question 14

How is the VLRC effective/Ineffective?

Answer 14

Effective:
-VLRC has the ability to create more informed recommendations, through the use of supporting evidence.
-VLRC has government suppport and so the government is more likely to employ reccommendations made by the VLRC.
-VLRC operates independently, cannot be influenced by judiciary, legisaltive or executive powers.
-VLRC has the power to take on projects including minor areas of community concern as well as major issues as referred to by the attorney general.

Ineffective:
-Time: Law reform can be delayed while the commission accepts submissions and public consultation, law reform can be delayed
-Cost: VLRC has limited resources, unable to take on major community concerns unless referred to by the Attorney general.
-VLRCs reccommendations are not binding on parliament
-Employed by the attorney general who may hold undue influence over them.

Question 15

Example:Victorian Law Reform Commission inquiry relating to law reform in the civil or criminal justice system

Answer 15

VLRCs inquiry into the justice systems response to sexual offences was able to influence law reform.

positives
Was informed- undertook 18 months to undertake 99 community consultations and here over 70 submissions, allowed commissioners to deliver informed recommendations on offences and processes where reform was required,informed nature of these recommendations encourages parliament to implement them allowing VLRC to successfully influence reform in this matter.

VLRC has government support and so government is likely to implement the VLRCs recommendations, seen in 2021 as the andrews labour government implemented most of the VLRC recommendations, included criminalising “stealthing” and image based abuse, also included introducing an “affirmative consent model”

Negatives
Time:Time taken to complete a detailed inquiry and collect required submissions delayed law reform. Took 18 months for the inquiry, and after report was released in 2021 another year for the Vic government to review the recommendations and pass the bill through parliament. As a result VLRCs ability to implement timely law reform was limited.

Not binding on parliament:Not binding on parliament, so parliament could have chosen to not implement any of the recommendations made by VLRC.Therefore meaning that their ability to influence law reform is weak.

Question 16

What is a royal commission?

Answer 16

Investigation, that is independent of the government, into a matter of great importance. Called by the Governor or Governer general on the advice of the government and on behalf of the monarch.Royal Commissions hold the power to hold public hearings, call witnesses under oath and compel evidence

Question 17

Provide an example of a recent Royal Commission inquiry, what was its effective/ineffectiveness?

Answer 17

Royal commission into aged care Quality and Safety
Established on the 8th of october 2018 by the governer general of the commonwealth of australia.Gave its findings in march 2021.

Effectiveness
–Royal commissions have the ability to create more informed recommendation and report into the need for law-reform than the government can: Royal commission collected over 8,000 submissions,calling witnesses under oath and consulting with organisations to give insight into the need for law reform.

-Royal commision raises public awareness of the need for law reform and was extensively discussed on traditional and social media.

-Royal commission was called by government and has government support and so the government is highly likely to implement their recommendations. Includes the establishment of increased wages for Aged care workers and increased regulation, increase regulation on he use of chemical and physical restraints on residents.

-The royal commission operates independently and so cannot be unduly influenced by the judiciary,legislative or executive (separation of powers)

Ineffectiveness:
-(time) Law reform was delayed while the commission accepted submissions and public consultation and timely law reform was limited. Took from 2018- 2021 to deliver findings and parliament has taken more time time to study these recommendations.

-(cost)Royal commission is expensive and as such only major issues are dealt with using one which can result in reluctance and delay in calling them
-The royal commissions recommendations are not binding on parliament: Evident in the fact parliament has not yet implemented the recommendation to pass a new act to replace the aged care act 1997 which the commission said should be implemented by july 2023.

-Royal commission is called by the governor general who may hold undue influence over them.

Question 18

What are the 4 reasons for constitutional reform?

Answer 18

-Too recognise Australia’s first nation peoples:No mention of first nations people within the commonwealth, has lead to inconsistencies in the laws across individual states.Over the years there have been calls to amend the australian constitution to recognise first nation australians. These have included the proposed establishment of the first nations voice to parliament, this body would have been enshrined within the constitution to allow first nations peoples too provide advice to the commonwealth parliament on policies or laws that impact directly affect first nations people.Furthermore constitutional reform is used to honour and recognise first nations people within the constitution.

-Increase the protection of rights:Calls to change the constitution to protect basic democratic freedoms, or to clarify/broaden the existing express rights.i.e suggestion of bill of rights, or the call for the freedom of speech to be included within the constitution rather than just in statue law.

-To change commonwealths law making powers:In the past, the commonwealth parliament has sought to change the constitution to provide it with more power. In response to High court decisions which held that the commonwealth did not have specific power to legislate in relation to certain matters.Some of these examples of past referendums include in 1911 the commonwealth proposed to change the constitution to extend its power to control companies, labour and employment (including wages and conditions).In 1919,commonwealth sought to alter the constitution to extend its powers in relation to air navigation and aircrafts.

-To reform australia’s political system: Suggestions to change the constitution in relation to the timing of federal elections to allow more people to be members of the commonwealth
parliament and to substantially change our political system so that it becomes a republic.
-Increase the term of the house of representatives from three years to four years
-allow more people to be eligible to sit parliament (eg dual citizens)
-Become a republic

Question 19

What is required to change the referendum?

Answer 19

Parliament
-Bill proposed by parliament, introducing the change to the consitution
-Passed by both houses with an absolute majority

The people (double majority)
-Majority of voters in Australia (the nation) must vote yes
-Majority of the states (4/6)

Double majority provision has been proven difficult to achieve with only 8 out of 46 referendums being successful.

Governor General:
If a double majority is gotten, then the governor general will grant royal assent and the constitution is changed.

Question 20

What are the 4 key factors affecting the success of a referendum, explain?

Answer 20

-Bipartisan support for the proposal:Approval by two or more political parties often means support from the 2 major parties, the Australian labor Party and the liberal party. Success of a referendum often depends on whether it has support from the major political parties.History suggests that the success of a referendum often depends on whether there is support from the two major political parties.Because majority support is needed in at least four states, state premiers can be influential in the outcome of the referendum.

Whether the voters themselves are seeking change:
Whether the people themselves support and actively promote the change (known as “peoples ownership”), or whether it is owned and supported by the government itself.If voters themselves are driving a change, they may be more willing to vote “yes”.In contrast if government is driving change,Australians may be more distrusting because of a potential general distrust of politicians.

Nature of the proposal:Whether the proposed change is straightforward and accessible or complex and difficult to understand.The 1967 which was passed was thought to have a proposal straightforward in nature if its confusing, public may be apprehensive to vote yes.

-Education about the proposal: The Constitution is rarely subject of mainstream media analysis, and the general public often has little knowledge of the constitution,government and parliament structures. This can create challenges when voters are asked to consider changing something they know very little about.Therefore one of the likely success factors is the extent to which there has been a strong information and education campaign in the lead up to the referendum setting out the details and explaining the proposal and need for change. Often a booklet is sent to all voters, including a straightforward explanation of the structures of government.As well as providing a clear explanation of the key elements in the yes and no cases.Also misinformation about the proposal.

Question 21

What was the 1967 referendum?

Answer 21

1967 referendum:
Up until 1967 Australian constitution did not give the commonwealth the power to legislate for first nations people nor did it include first nations people within the national censuses.
-The constitution gave the commonwealth the power to make laws in relation to any race, other than “the aboriginal race”.This means that law-making in relation to aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people was left to the states.

The 1967 referendum proposal
-Proposed whether there should be a change to the Australian constitution to allow the commonwealth to make laws about first nations people that allow first nations people to be formally recognised and counted within the national census
-The proposed change was unanimously passed in the commonwealth parliament.
- The unanimous support from parliament ultimately meant the “no” case was not being presented to voters, meant that voters were not faced with 2 strong opposing opinions, rather

Referendum results
*The referendum passed with overwhelming
support.
*90.77 per cent of voters in Australia,
and a majority of voters in all states, voted in favour of
both proposals for change.

Question 22

Why was the 1967 referendum significant?

Answer 22

The constitutional reform allowed the Commonwealth Parliament
to move into a law-making area that it was previously denied.
*The very high level of support across all states sent a clear
message to the Commonwealth that it needed to act to address
the inconsistencies in state law in regard to First Nations people.
*The Commonwealth Parliament was able to use its powers to override laws that were racially discriminatory. E.g., it passed legislation in 1975 that overrode Queensland laws that treated Aboriginal people differently from others
*It allowed the Commonwealth to legislate in relation to land rights, and eventually led to the passing of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), which allowed First Nations people to claim land rights.
The formal inclusion of First Nations people in the national census enabled the Commonwealth to make informed decisions about policies based on population and distribute Commonwealth funds based on that population.

Question 23

What was the 2023 voice to parliament referendum?

Answer 23

The 2023 referendum proposal:*For decades, First Nations people have advocated for their ability to participate in and be consulted about decisions and laws that affect First Nations people and their rights, and for formal recognition in the Australian Constitution.
*In 2023, an amendment to the Constitution was proposed to
formally recognise First Nations people and to enshrine a
Voice to Parliament. This amendment would see Chapter IX
and section 129 (below) added to the Constitution.
-Proposal question was put to Australian voters on 14 October 2023:
A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.Do you approve this proposed alteration?

-The referendum was unsuccessful
-60.06% of voters in Australia rejected the referendum question.All states and the northern territory had a majority of “No” votes.

Question 24

why was the 2023 Voice to parliament referendum significant?

Answer 24

*The lack of bipartisan support was likely a significant factor in the outcome of the referendum. Of the 45 referendums held in Australia, only 8 have succeeded and those have all had bipartisan support.
*Australians generally lack knowledge of the Constitution and the way it works. The ‘yes’ campaign may not have been able to explain the change clearly enough. The ‘no’ campaign raised concerns about the lack of detail, with the message ‘if you don’t know, vote no’.
*The referendum may have highlighted embedded racism that continues to impact on people’s beliefs and voting behaviours in relation to First Nations people.
*Some people may have voted ‘no’ because they did not believe the proposal went far enough.
Significant for Future constitutional reform
*It is possible a referendum may be held on the question of becoming a republic.

Question 25

Why was the 2023 voice to parliament unsuccesful refer to the requirements to have sucessful referendum?

Answer 25

2023 voice to referendum illustrated difficulty in security a double majority vote from the public, showed how referendums are often ineffective.

The 2023 voice referendum which aimed to establish a constitutionally protected Aboriginal advisory Voice to parliament failed to secure a majority in australia or in any of the six states.
Occurred due to a lack bipartisian support (coalition formally supported “no” campaign,raising concerns about the lack of clear model for how the voice would operate)
Nature and the education about the referendum was unclear, with public education regarding arguments regarding the “yes” campaign which included a pamphlet were labelled unclear.