New South Wales is the first Australian state to test drivers for cocaine use. All Australian states now have random driver drug testing, similar to random breath testing for alcohol….
Category: Law
Open data – too much sharing, too little care
Who’s reading your health information now? There can be benefits from sharing health and other personal information among health care professionals and researchers. But any such sharing must be based…
2018 a busy year for elections
A spate of elections in 2018 could well change the Australian political landscape. There is the strong possibility of a Federal election, and the states of South Australia, Victoria and…
Effective security means better systems
The Australian urban streetscape has long featured video surveillance via high definition cameras. But there is more to security than high quality hardware – you need the right systems and…
Consumers to own their own data, with new bill
The Federal Government has announced plans to legislate a national ‘Consumer Data Right’ bill, which will allow customers of banks, utilities and telecommunications companies better access to their transactional data….
Copyright Agency sues NSW Government
The Copyright Agency says it has been ‘pushed to the last resort’ and is suing the NSW Government over the non-payment of fees for copyrighted material being shared within and…
Victoria remains odd one out on licencing
Victoria has rejected a recommendation to lower the driving age to 17. It will remain the only jurisdiction in Australia that does not allow unaccompanied driving until age 18. The…
Councillors behaving badly put on notice
The NSW Government has released a draft of an updated Model Code of Conduct for councillors and council staff in the state. It has been released for consultation, with submissions…
Feds tell satirist not to be funny
The National Symbols Office has written to satirical news site The Juice Media asking it to stop using a parody of the Australian government logo on its ‘Honest Government Adverts’…
Experts raise concerns on AI in law and government
A US artificial intelligence thinktank has raised serious concerns about the use of the technology in government, and especially in the legal system. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the use of…