Privilege in perspective: client legal privilege in federal investigations

This report recommends 45 changes to the handling of claims of client legal privilege over material sought by federal investigatory bodies and royal commissions of inquiry. The inquiry found general support for maintaining privilege as a fundamental right of clients, which only should be abrogated or modified in exceptional circumstances. However, privilege must be balanced with the other public interest in ensuring efficient, effective investigations. The central idea behind the ALRC’s recommendations is the need for a single federal statute addressing the application of privilege in all federal investigations. It identified over 40 federal investigatory bodies with coercive information-gathering powers, as well as Royal Commissions. These include: law enforcement agencies, such as the Australian Federal Police; bodies concerned with the collection or administration of public funds—such as the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink; the major corporate regulators, such as ASIC and he ACCC; and a number of smaller, specialised regulators focusing on specific industries, such as the Fisheries Management Authority