Civil Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2014

This bill, passed by both houses on 25 June 2015, concerns bankruptcy, family law, and defining National Library material as part of the legal deposit scheme including the protection of movable cultural heritage. Purpose of the Bill As an omnibus Bill, the Civil Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 (the Bill) has a number of purposes. These include: amending the Bankruptcy Act 19661 to: – allow the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (Official Trustee) to act as a special trustee for a wider range of government agencies – provide that support (in the form of property or cash) provided by the National Disability Insurance Scheme is not divisible in bankruptcy – expand the offence of concealment to include electronic financial transactions – clarify the demarcation between indictable and summary offences (in line with the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)) and – clarify the locus or place where certain offences occur. amend the International Arbitration Act 19742 (the Arbitration Act) to clarify the retrospective application of that Act to certain arbitral agreements prior to 6 July 2010 amend the Family Law Act 19753 (the FLA) to: – enable information provided as part of proceedings (in particular, experts reports) to be shared with state/territory child welfare authorities and – provide appeal rights in relation to court security orders. amend the Court Security Act 20134 (the CSA) to allow for applications to vary or revoke court security orders amend the Evidence Act 19955 (the Commonwealth Evidence Act) in relation to self-incrimination certificates, as well as making minor amendments that mirror provisions in the Model Uniform Evidence Bill amend the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 19866 (the PMCH Act) to allow the continued functioning of the National Cultural Heritage Committee despite falls in membership numbers amend the Copyright Act 19687 to extend the existing legal deposit scheme to electronic format

Monthly economic review - May 2015

The Monthly Economic Review is an overview of the New Zealand economy. It includes the latest data on New Zealand’s economic growth, unemployment, inflation, merchandise trade and balance of payments figures, along with certain financial data (such as the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate). The unemployment rate, economic growth and central bank interest rates for several of our main OECD trading partners are also included. Each publication highlights a specific topic of interest. The Monthly Economic Review is produced eleven times per year

Superannuation 2008-09

From 1 July 2007 new taxation and preservation arrangements applying to Australia’s superannuation system took effect. It is not too much to say that the change enacted by the government during the course of the 2006–07 financial year constitute the largest overhaul of Australia’s retirement saving system since the advent of the compulsory superannuation system in the late 80 and early 90s. While much of the superannuation system has remained unaltered by these changes, many aspects have been comprehensively altered, especially the taxation of the benefits when paid to the individual. This paper outlines these and subsequent significant changes to Australia’s superannuation system since 1 July 2007

Socio-economic indexes for electoral divisions: 2006 Census

The Census collects data on a broad range of social and economic measures of the Australian population. While it is possible to compare electoral divisions on individual census data items, it is often more useful to compare divisions on the basis of a summary of related social and economic data items. This paper provides data on the four separate summary indexes derived from the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. This paper shows each electoral division ranked on the basis of each index. It also includes colour coded thematic maps of electoral divisions for each index

Striking a balance: the need for further reform of the law relating to industrial action

The paper focuses on the background to, and provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 relating to industrial action. It examines: • the benefits of collective bargaining • the role of a right to strike in voluntary collective bargaining systems • recognition of the importance of a right to strike by relevant international organisations – and of the need for limitations on that right • the development of a right to take protected industrial action in Australia • the nature of constraints which were imposed on the right to take industrial action in 1996 and 2005 • the need for further reform of the law relating to industrial action – with particular reference to concerns     expressed by the ILO and the mandatory secret ballot requirements

Overview of Commonwealth involvement in funding dental care

Recent calls for increased Commonwealth funding for dental services have been made in the midst of reports of long waiting lists and emerging evidence that poorer dental health is associated with lower socio-economic status. Although the National Oral Health Plan calls for action on dental health from all levels of government, the issue of responsibility for funding remains contentious. In particular, the role of the Commonwealth government in dental health provision has been the subject of considerable debate. This paper outlines the Commonwealth government’s role in funding dental health services in the past and prospects for future involvement in light of recent policy announcements

Electoral division rankings: Census 2006 first release

This paper provides an analysis by Commonwealth electoral division of socio-demographic data from the first release of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. The electoral boundaries used in this paper are those applicable to the next federal election

Electoral division rankings: Census 2006 second release

This research paper provides an analysis by Commonwealth electoral division of socio-demographic data from the second release of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. The electoral boundaries used in this paper are the current boundaries used at the 2007 federal election. This paper is an updated version of an earlier paper that was based on the first release of the 2006 census. It now includes tables covering the additional second release census data on the labour force, employment, occupation and education. The 60 separate tables in this research paper cover a broad range of census topics and broadly reflect the items most frequently requested from the Parliamentary Library

Tax deductible carbon sink forests?

Allowing tax deductions for certain expenses incurred in planting a carbon sink forest has become a controversial topic. This paper looks at the background to the tax deduction, explains why carbon sink forest are important in controlling emissions, outlines recent objections to this measure during the Senate debates over the period 24 to 26 June 2008 and provides additional background material on these matters. The discussion only concentrates on the tax deduction now available for the planting of carbon sink forests

Superannuation contributions: the soft option

Soft compulsion is a method to increase retirement savings by automatically increasing the individual employee’s superannuation contributions, but allowing the individual to opt out of this arrangement. It is based on the assumption that individuals, left to their own devices, will often fail to make sufficient superannuation contributions to ensure that they receive an adequate retirement income. It also assumes that most participants will not opt out of such a scheme if introduced. New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom have, or will have, a soft compulsion regime to boost retirement savings. Tasmania already has such arrangements in respect of its public sector workers, as do a number of private sector employers. The Commonwealth also has default member contribution arrangements in one of its superannuation schemes. There appear to be few practical obstacles to the introduction of such a regime elsewhere in Australia, though the success of such a regime would depend on its design. The introduction of a soft compulsion regime may significantly increase government outlays, depending on its design, and interaction with other parts of the retirement income and taxation systems, particularly the government superannuation co-contributions regime. Further research may need to be undertaken on the adequacy of current arrangements and the total resources available to retirees to clarify whether there is a need for a soft compulsion regime in Australia