The Law Society has long advocated for a nationally coordinated approach that works with Indigenous Australians to decide how policies and targets are developed and delivered, particularly in relation to the over-representation of Indigenous people in the justice system.

The new National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the first between all three levels of Australian governments and representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, is an historic step in our nation’s commitment to work collectively across all jurisdictions and close the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The National Agreement has 16 national socio-economic targets that will track progress in improving life outcomes, including:

• By 2031, reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in incarceration by at least 15 per cent
• By 2031, reduce the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people (10-17 years) in detention by at least 30 per cent
• By 2031, reduce the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care by 45 per cent
• A significant and sustained reduction in violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children towards zero.

While we absolutely support the reforms, they must come with adequate resourcing and capacity building for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector, to ensure they are properly positioned to utilise their strengths.

We will consider how the Law Society can best engage with the process of developing state-based, community co-designed solutions to meet the new priorities and close the gap in life outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

In other significant developments, NSW Attorney General the Hon Mark Speakman SC has introduced the Defamation Amendment Bill 2020 to NSW Parliament, marking the culmination of stage one of a NSW-led review of defamation law in Australia.

The Council of Attorneys-General (CAG) agreed to the Amendments to the Model Defamation Provisions at last week’s CAG meeting. Other decisions to flow from CAG included an in-principle agreement to the proposed broad policy design for a National Register of Enduring Documents, an agreement to form a working group to consider developing a nationally consistent approach to the regulation of access to digital records upon death or loss of decision-making capacity, and a decision to defer consideration of the proposal to raise the age of criminal responsibility for at least 12 months.

Richard Harvey, President, Law Society of NSW

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