Law Council welcomes SCAG’s dedication to addressing nationwide points

15 August 2025

The Law Council of Australia was happy to see Ministers from each jurisdiction come collectively at immediately’s Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) to sort out issues of nationwide significance.

“It was very positive that every state and territory was represented as it demonstrates a willingness to work cooperatively to pursue vital reforms that will make our community safer and address existing, unacceptable inequalities within our justice system,” Law Council of Australia President, Juliana Warner mentioned.

“This contains settlement to work in the direction of higher consistency and mutual recognition of Working With Children Checks (WWCC) and establishing a nationally focussed steady checking system to detect new prison historical past data related to WWCC holders.

“The want for uniformity of requirements and enhanced data sharing was a key focus of suggestions arising from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and we proceed to assist strikes in the direction of implementation of those targets.

“The Law Council commends SCAG for its deal with Closing the Gap Justice Targets. We welcome the sturdy, joint federal management demonstrated by Senator the Hon Malarndirri McCarthy, Minister for Indigenous Australians, becoming a member of the federal Attorney-General to stress the significance of lowering unacceptably excessive incarceration charges of First Nations Australians. We agree that this underpins lowering deaths in custody.   

“However, the Law Council is alarmed by the newest Closing the Gap figures, which present that efforts to deal with overrepresentation in grownup Indigenous incarceration are going backwards. 

“We are additionally failing to scale back the overrepresentation of Indigenous younger folks within the justice system. Just earlier this week, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research revealed that the variety of First Nations kids and younger folks in NSW detention has risen by 36 per cent over the previous two years—they now comprise a particularly excessive 60 per cent of your complete NSW youth detention inhabitants. This is just one a part of a dire nationwide image.

“Urgent, nationwide, coordinated motion is required to mitigate the dangers related to such unacceptably excessive charges of detention. Every jurisdiction now must observe with tangible actions to Close the Gap – simply discussing these issues at SCAG isn’t sufficient.

“The Law Council can also be inspired to study that SCAG heard from its Bail and Remand Reform Working Group. A higher deal with the results of legal guidelines which restrict the provision of bail is sorely wanted, given the ever-increasing proportion of individuals in custody who haven’t been convicted of an offence and the detrimental results detention can have on younger folks specifically. The presumption of innocence is the keystone of our justice system, and that is too usually missed in growing insurance policies on bail and remand. The security of each communities and youngsters can also be paramount.

“The Law Council is appalled by the rise in antisemitism and broader forms of hate crimes and we welcome the development of a national hate crimes register. If implemented correctly, a national database can facilitate evidence-based assessments of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in responding to hate-motivated behaviour, including criminal conduct driven by antisemitism and Islamophobia across Australia, as well as identifying trends over time. We look forward to the opportunity to consult with Government where the expertise of the legal profession might be used to improve social cohesion and civil and criminal law responses.”

The Law Council helps in-principle the proposed enlargement of the National Strategic Framework for Information Sharing between the Family Law and Family Violence and Child Protection Systems (National Framework), which is able to improve data sharing preparations to deal with household violence in household legislation property issues.

The National Framework continues to play an essential function in selling a constant course of for data sharing between the household legislation courts and state and territory businesses, with the goal of selling the security and wellbeing of households and youngsters in household legislation proceedings.

“We also support the referral of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) report Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence to the Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Working Group,” Ms Warner mentioned.

“The ALRC report accommodates a variety of essential suggestions, particularly these which go to a well-resourced authorized help sector that may present assist to complainants and victim-survivors of sexual violence at crucial levels of the authorized course of and an enlargement of restorative justice choices to complement to the prison justice system.

“In its submission to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, the Law Council known as for higher precedence to be accorded to legislation reform in regard to folks with cognitive impairment or poor psychological well being in accordance with Australia’s obligations below the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“Therefore, we had been gratified SCAG agreed to ascertain a cross-jurisdictional working group on the National Statement of Principles regarding Persons Unfit to Plead or Not Guilty by Reason of Cognitive or Mental Health Impairment.

“Finally, we welcome the SCAG’s efforts to respond to the abuse of older persons, and to enhance civil protections and remedies for individuals in or at risk of forced marriage.”

Contact: Kristen Connell, P. 0400 054 227, E. [email protected]

Last Updated on 15/08/2025

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