Australia’s Legal System

There are a number of conditions that give rise to the need for law reform. They are reflections of a diverse changing society. The global spread of humanistic ideology and increased fragmentation of the community, as a unit, has led to the increasing value of family. There are a number of conditions in a changing society that give rise to the need for law reform eg. the changing composition of society, societies values as well as technology, which is demonstrated in media scandal of Sofia Vergara and Nick Loeb. It is recognised that every agency does influence reform on almost every condition.

The basis of Australia’s legal system is British, and this suited the population of Australia under the White Australia Policy. However, as multicultural nature of Australia emerged it became necessary for the law to change with the composition of society. The Australian Law Reform Society established in 1975, it conducts enquiries – known as references at the request of the Attorney-General of Australia. The ALRC is concerned with only reform, it can not intervene with individual cases and is not a ‘watchdog’. Although it seems as if the ALRC has limited power over eighty per cent of its recommendations are either partially or substantially implemented.

In relation to changing composition of society, the ALRC released Multiculturalism and the Law 1992. The report discussed the role of law and its relation in multicultural society, contained in the report was the role of the law in multicultural family and possible reform. It reported that the law must be more flexible in the view of the family in multicultural society, that is; viewing the wider family rather than just the nuclear family. In relation to children the report also discusses that reform should take place to ensure decisions made are informed of all relevant relationships a child may have with wider family members before custody decisions are made. The report resulted in the Draft Law Reform (Multiculturalism) Bill 1992 (Cth). A suggest bill that changed parts of Australian law that did not fully relate to the changing composition of the nation. The bill contained amendments that affected families and their treatment under the law.

Over the past two to three decades, what is seen as acceptable and just in the community has altered dramatically. This is applicable to the needs and concepts of justice for family members. As society forms new concepts of justice it needs to actively convey these concepts to the appropriate bodies in order to enact reform. Lobby groups are agencies that act within the community. They act to put pressure on more formal agencies of law reform in order to bring about change in the law. The Men’s Rights Agency is a lobby group that acts to ensure fathers rights especially in situations within family law. They recognise the need for women to also have equality but feel over reaction has caused an imbalance in men and women’s rights. Changing concepts of justice within the members of the group also portray that men wish to challenge the concept that a mother is more often the appropriate candidate for custody. Lobby groups play a key role in law reform because they enable ordinary people with limited financial or social status to put pressure on governments. This pressure means that governments must pay attention to those in Lobby Groups or face losing each one of their votes, and perhaps numerous others who support their cause.                                                                                                                                                                      When existing law is out of date, new laws must be introduced or old laws amended to ensure effectiveness, equality and overall, justice. It is nearly impossible to prevent these failures in the current system. This is because society is moving so fast and law reform is an intense process that can take up to two years in the form of changing a law.

The Royal Commission is another agency that is active in promoting law reform, by investigating issues and reporting its findings to parliament. The Wood Royal Commission into Police Corruption showed that society and government had failed to protect children from abuse and paedophiliac.  For example ss part of its response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service, the Government introduced two bills into the Legislative Assembly in November 1997: the Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Bill 1997 and the Ombudsman Amendment (Child Protection and Community Services) Bill 1997. There was also legislation introduced in federal parliament such as the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) act 1998 (NSW). It is to be noted that this legislation did not come into effect until July 2000. This highlights the time that it takes for laws to be changed or reformed, and therefore redresses the existing problem.