Australian Legislation Research Articles

Decommissioning Research Needs for Offshore Oil and Gas Infrastructure in Australia

When offshore oil and gas infrastructure is no longer needed, it is either removed, partially removed, left in place, or left in place but repurposed. These processes are collectively referred to as decommissioning. Australian legislation requires oil and gas companies to develop acceptable plans for the safe removal of all offshore infrastructure at the end of a project’s life. Over the next 50 years, the liability for this decommissioning in Australia is expected to exceed US$45 billion. Unlike countries such as Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, Australian decommissioning activities are in their infancy, with only three cases (to date) in Commonwealth waters where infrastructure has been left in place or partially removed as part of decommissioning. Differences between the Australian marine environment and that of other regions around the world where decommissioning-related research is better progressed include very low sedimentation rates, both tropical and temperate habitats, different species composition, low primary production, and frequent tropical cyclones, as well as unique sociodemographic and cultural characteristics. Accordingly, the outcomes of the decision support tools used in other regions to identify preferred decommissioning options may not be equally applicable in Australia. Here we describe research to support risk and impact assessment for offshore decommissioning in Australia, where full removal of infrastructure is the “base case” regulatory default, but other options including partial removal and/or repurposing might provide similar or better outcomes when environmental, social, economic and seafood safety aspects are considered. Based on our review we propose an integrated framework for research needs to meet legislative requirements for decommissioning and identify research gaps that need to be addressed to inform decision-making for decommissioning in the Australian context.

‘What the Boers Did Australia Can Do, and Do Ten Times Better’: The Impact of the Boers on Australian Defence Policy

The Boer Republics of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and Orange Free State influenced Australian defence policy before the First World War. Despite the demise of the Boer Republics at the hands of the British Empire, and the participation of Australia in their defeat, Australian parliamentarians explicitly advocated replicating Boer-style concept of citizen-soldiers to counter an attack on the Commonwealth. The Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) has received limited scholarly attention in Australia and the legislative legacy left by the Boers on early Australian defence policy has been near-entirely unmentioned. Impacted by the romanticised image of Boer society that permeated globally in the nineteenth Century and Australia’s experiences fighting in the Second Anglo-Boer War, Australian legislators used the Boers as inspiration for constructing defence policy. Deeply impressed by the manner in which the Boer Republics resisted British annexation, particularly in the context of Australian fears regarding Japanese expansionism, there was a sustained attempt to legislate a Boer-style military system in Australia.

Submission D 34: Ministerial Expert Committee Review of the WA Electoral System for the Election of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Submission D 34: Ministerial Expert Committee Review of the WA Electoral System for the Election of the Western Australian Legislative Council

Disparity in biodiversity offset regulation across Australia may reduce effectiveness

ABSTRACT Biodiversity offsets are a mechanism for allowing economic development to proceed while ensuring that this is not to the detriment of environmental and social values. In order to achieve this, biodiversity offsets need to include environmental, social and economic aspects in an equitable and effective way. Australian legislation and policy relating to biodiversity offsets was reviewed and rated according to the level of equity and effectiveness, in terms of transparency, measurability and enforceability, to achieve outcomes. In all jurisdictions, gaps were found in the transparency, measurability and enforceability of offset regulations. In particular, the Commonwealth, having the overarching responsibility for the protection of biodiversity, was found to be lacking in the ability to fill these gaps. These gaps could result in a loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function and services, as well as having economic repercussions for communities and developers. It also raises questions as to whether Australia is meeting its obligation as a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its ability to meet the corresponding Aichi Targets (and the subsequent Global Biodiversity Framework).

Supporting Primary and Secondary Teachers to Deliver Inclusive Education Educatio

With Australian disability discrimination legislation and educational policy promoting movement toward inclusive education, the building and supporting of inclusive education workforce capability is of paramount importance. This study investigated how principals in Australian primary and secondary educational settings support teachers to provide inclusive education and what these principals perceive to be barriers to supporting the education workforce to deliver inclusive education. The study used an online open- and closed-set survey. The findings demonstrated that principals in educational settings across the government, Catholic and independent sectors and across geographical regions offered largely similar professional learning opportunities to their staff, and expressed similar views about barriers and principals’ roles in supporting their teachers to deliver inclusive education. Participants overwhelmingly reported that their role in building teacher capability was as instructional leaders and brokers of workforce professional learning. There was a strong indication by principals of the need for teachers’ knowledge and skills to be developed and of the need for high quality, effective ongoing professional learning. Participants reported barriers to supporting teachers to deliver inclusive education, most commonly an insufficiency of time, finances, and access. Recommendations for better supporting teachers in primary and secondary settings to deliver inclusive education are made

The Australian tobacco plain packaging legislation: a case study on intellectual property enforcement and policy intervention to promote public health

The Australian tobacco plain packaging legislation: a case study on intellectual property enforcement and policy intervention to promote public health

The effect of changes to Australian Capital Territory mental health legislation on rates of emergency detention.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) changed from the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994 (ACT) to the Mental Health Act 2015 (ACT) on 1 March 2016. The objective was to find the association between legislative changes and detention rates. A cross-sectional study of involuntary order rates in the period 3 years before the legislative change was undertaken. Chi-squared analysis was performed to compare proportions. There was a statistically significant decrease in the proportion of Psychiatric Treatment Orders (PTOs) over the two periods, which could be impacted by the change from a period of detention for 7 days to a period of detention of 11 days in Period 2. On the other hand, the total number of Emergency Actions (EAs) increased in Period 2, where ambulance officers could detain patients. The change in mental health legislation in the ACT was associated with a change in detention rates, in particular a decrease in the proportion of PTOs and an increase in EAs. Further study needs to be undertaken, given changes to frontline supports since the study period ended.

Cross-jurisdictional review of Australian legislation governing outlaw motorcycle gangs

This paper presents a review of the key Australian legislation passed between 2009 and 2019 targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs). It identifies the key similarities and differences across the reforms and provides examples of the legislation being used to disrupt serious and organised crime activity by OMCGs. It also presents some of the barriers to effective enforcement of the legislation. There is limited information about the use and effectiveness of the legislation. The paper considers some of the objections raised in respect of these measures and suggests future directions for responding to OMCG-related crime.

Legal regime of subsoil use in Australia

The subject of this research is the Australian federal and regional normative legal acts that regulate subsoil use. The object is public relations in the sphere of land turnover, subsurface and natural resource management in the Commonwealth of Australia. The author describes the system and structure of normative legal regulation, as well as subsoil use in Australia. The work contains a list of sources of the Australian natural resources law; analysis of their content is carried out. Special attention is given to the legal regime of exploitation of subsoil resources of the continental shelf of the Commonwealth of Australia, licensing of subsoil use, the role of British monarchy in exercising the right of ownership of land by its subjects, and the authority for subsoil management. The scientific novelty of this article consists in the disclosure of legal regime of subsoil use in the Commonwealth of Australia in the context of amendments to Australian natural resources legislation, constitutional and administrative reforms. This work reflects the economic interest of the Russian Federation and domestic organizations of the fuel and energy complex in the Oceania Region, which defines its relevance. The presented materials can be used within the framework of comparative jurisprudence, lawmaking, for educational and other purposes. The author concludes on the preservation of public legal regime of subsoil use in Australia, namely with regards to turnover of licenses and shares therein.

The Inner Circle of the Winner's Circle: Exclusionary Treatment of Transgender and Gender Diverse Athletes in Elite Sports

Transgender and gender diverse athletes’ participation in elite sports has been a controversial topic of debate in mainstream media following several high-profile cases. Testosterone testing for female athletes can be discriminatory and exclusionary, particularly for transgender and gender diverse athletes, and is an area of ambiguity given the lack of consensus internationally on accepted testosterone levels for female athletes. This article intends to examine this issue from a social and theoretical perspective and use this to analyse the relevant Australian legislation governing the issue. An examination of the cases of Caster Semenya, Hannan Mouncey and Laurel Hubbard will be used to demonstrate the current attitude towards transgender and gender-diverse athletes in elite sports, and of the use of queer and gender theories will aid in analysis of the law and policy on gender diversity in elite sports in Australia.

Comparative Analysis of the Russian and Australian Legislation on Toxic Gases after Blasting

The article provides an analysis of Russian and Australian national documentation on occupational safety and industrial safety for toxic post-blast gases. The main purpose of the article is to present the results of research on the need for a recognized document that would be appropriate for the all countries conducting open cut blasting. The research was performed with two spheres of mine safety in mind, such as occupational health and safety to establish standards for environmental exposure to harmful gases and an industrial safety to establish the sequence of blasting operations to prevent the spread of post-blast gases. In addition, a brief description of the key parameters to be included in the documentation is included.

Submission: Australian Government Digital Identity Legislation Position Paper

Submission: Australian Government Digital Identity Legislation Position Paper

Using External Peer Review to Build Confidence of the Pelican Storage Site

[The CarbonNet Project is investigating the potential for a commercial scale, multi-user CCS network with geological carbon storage in the nearshore Gippsland Basin, Victoria in SE Australia. Sources of CO2 include the potential production of hydrogen from nearby Latrobe Valley coal fields by a consortium that is currently establishing a pilot project to produce and transport clean hydrogen from Victoria to Japan. CarbonNet has been investigating potential storage sites and has identified a preferred site called Pelican in the nearshore. It is a 10 km by 7 km, east-west trending structural closure with excellent injectivity and effective seals comprising laterally extensive tidal/lagoonal shales and seat earths underneath well-mapped coal beds. The process used to select the preferred site for appraisal followed international best practice, aligned to DNV GL Recommended Practice (DNV-RP-J203), and has been previously reported. CarbonNet has now acquired high quality 3D seismic data and undertaken a further range of seal and modelling studies that have confirmed the ability of the storage formation to securely and permanently store at least 125 Mt of CO2 injected at 5 Mtpa over 25 years. In order to progress to injection at the site, the Australian regulatory regime requires that it first be Declared to be an “Identified Greenhouse Gas Storage Formation”. The Regulations set out matters to be addressed including structure and faulting, reservoir, seal, geomechanics, geochemistry well integrity and plume migration. The Pelican site will represent the first site to be evaluated under Australian offshore legislation and as such, there is no precedent for the structure or degree of detail of the application although some general principles can be derived from analogous petroleum documentation. CarbonNet decided that the format of the application for a Declaration would comprise a series of technical modules each addressing a geological element of the application. A Summary Document is laid out to respond to each of the regulations in the form and sequence set out in the Regulations. The Summary Document layout suits evaluation by the regulator, while the supporting technical modules are suited to providing a coherent geological description. In order to build internal, stakeholder, and regulator confidence in the Declaration document, CarbonNet engaged a panel of international experts to review the document against regulatory requirements and international norms. Panel membership was developed with consideration of: • CO2 storage project expertise; • technical expertise (particularly seal); • research reputation; and • regulatory experience. DNV GL was engaged to additionally act as an independent chair/facilitator of the panel and to take advantage of its experience in setting standards for certification of projects. The balance of the membership, particularly their experience with existing projects, was invaluable in making an informed and credible assessment of the documentation. The panel was provided with the draft application for review with topics allocated to subject experts. Initial comments were collated by the chair/facilitator. The panel convened in Melbourne for a two-day meeting of CarbonNet presentations and panel discussion. It held a half day closed discussion to agree an assessment of the documentation. The panel’s assessment was that Pelican is a high-quality storage site compared to many other CO2 storage projects the panel had experience with. It was able to conclude that the documentation provided, and the technical work performed by the CarbonNet team, is of very high quality and, in the opinion of the panel, sufficient to meet all regulatory requirements pertaining to the Declaration for the Pelican storage formation. In particular, the seals for the site were effective to injected CO2 over relevant timescales. CarbonNet has completed a comprehensive study of the Pelican storage site over many years. CarbonNet has assessed the site to have world class reservoirs demonstrate high injectivity and nearby oil and gas fields demonstrate that the seal systems are effective. It has modelled the CO2 plume and is confident that the CO2 will remain safely and securely stored for many thousands of years. This conclusion is supported by the panel of international experts that reviewed the CarbonNet documentation. The support of the panel provides strong, independent support of CarbonNet’s position and confirms the site to compare favourably with other international CO2 storage projects. The panel report will form part of the submission to the regulator in support of its application for a Declaration of Storage at the Pelican site. It will also support the commercialisation process which commenced in late 2019.

Biodiversity in court: will the Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) make the EPBC Act irrelevant?

Two key pieces of Australian legislation regarding the protection of biodiversity and forest management are the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 and the Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) Act 2002. Both have significant deficiencies. A Federal Court ruling associated with a challenge to the Victorian Government-owned logging company, VicForests, by a community environmental group (Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc.) found that RFAs are exempt from the EPBC Act. There was an argument of legal interpretation concerning the exemption in the EPBC and RFA Acts relating to RFA forestry operations that are conducted ‘in accordance with’ an RFA. The Court held that ‘in accordance with’ only required that forestry operations be ‘conducted under’ an RFA rather than ‘in compliance’ with it. Therefore, the mere existence of the RFA is enough to exclude the biodiversity protections of the EPBC Act, even where there are extensive breaches of codes of practice for logging operations and logging is demonstrably unsustainable in terms of its environmental impacts. This amounts to the loss of the ‘safety net’ provided by EPBC Act to protect threatened forest-dependent species. The decision in the Federal Court highlights how deficient Australia’s environmental laws are in conserving the nation’s biodiversity, especially for forest-dependent threatened species. The ruling serves to further weaken already very weak legislation. Major reforms to the EPBC Act are urgently required.

Australian Legislation concerning Matters of International Law 2019

Australian Legislation concerning Matters of International Law 2019

Patient Privacy and Integrated Care: The Multidisciplinary Health Care Team.

This article explores legislative provisions in relation to patient privacy in the context of integrated health and social care and the development of multidisciplinary health care teams that include practitioners from private sector and government agencies in the health, education, child protection, family welfare, disability, aged-care, housing, local government and criminal justice sectors. The definition of a multidisciplinary health care team and the extent to which health information can be shared within the team is examined. Australian Commonwealth and State legislation provides for the sharing within a health care team of health information where that is for the primary purpose it was collected, and for a secondary purpose where that is directly related to the primary purpose, or might be reasonably expected by the patient for the provision of their care. For this purpose consent is not required.

Creating a market for IQOS: analysis of Philip Morris’ strategy to introduce heated tobacco products to the Australian consumer market

BackgroundPhilip Morris International has made efforts to expand the sale of its heated tobacco product, IQOS, into new domestic markets globally. In Australia, where heated tobacco products are prohibited, the...

The Definition of Member / Shareholder in the South African Companies Act: A Brief Comparison with Australian Legislation

AbstractThis article discusses relevant Australian case law with reference to the oppressive remedy in company law. In South Africa, only shareholders who are entered in the shareholders’ register can make use of the remedy, contrary to the Australian application. The Australian case law explains thelocus standiof shareholders who are not entered in the register. Reference is also made to South Africa's previous Companies Act 1973 due to theSmyth v Investecappeal court case, where the court applied the principles, relevant to an oppressive remedy under the 1973 act. In this regard, the appeal court's reasoning is compared to that of the Australian court; possible new perspectives relevant to South Africa's new Companies Act 2008 are also discussed. The Australian perspective is included to facilitate investigation of a South African court's approach to oppressive conduct concerning the narrow interpretation of “shareholder”. It is concluded that “shareholder” should also be interpreted to include a beneficial shareholder.

'Carrying on Business in Australia': A Study of Court Judgments

The concept of carrying on business in Australia appears frequently in Australian legislation and can have significant implications for those whose activities fall within its parameters. The purpose of this research note is twofold. The first is to explain why the concept of carrying on business in Australia is important, both by reference to the frequency with which the phrase or variants of it are found in Australian legislation, and also by reference to the key obligations imposed on those found to be carrying on business in Australia under the Corporations Act 2001 and the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. For instance, under the Corporations Act, a foreign company must not carry on business in Australia unless it is registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Once registered, the foreign company has numerous obligations, including to lodge certain financial information annually with ASIC and to have a registered office in Australia. In addition, the territoriality of certain provisions of the Corporations Act, including the directors' duties provisions and insider trading provisions, can depend on whether a business is carried on in Australia. The second purpose of the research note is to identify the factors that are relevant to determining when a business is carried on in Australia, based on an analysis of the case law in which courts have considered the concept.

The business – government nexus: Impact of government actions and legislation on business responses to climate change

AbstractAustralia has committed to reducing emissions under the Paris Agreement by 2030, in alignment with the United Nations' (UN) Sustainability Development Goal (SDG) climate action. This articleinvestigates the responses of Australian high-emission businesses to Australian government action and legislation in relation to climate change, specifically the carbon tax, and how this knowledge can assist in delineating future carbon legislation.A qualitative study of the responses of 17 high-emission businesses and three industry associations to carbon legislation during the implementation of the carbon tax in Australia identified the use of resistive, reactive or cooperative strategies by the businesses. Issues related to carbon legislation identified by businesses included differences in time orientation, multiple regulations, political uncertainty, international positioning and the need for long-term and consolidated policies. Given these findings, this article argues that well-designed top-down legislative measures are necessary to steer businesses towards a carbon-neutral regime.