PIACBulletin16 - Public Interest Advocacy Centre

PIACBulletin 

No 16 • December 2002 

P UBLIC 

I NTEREST 

Journal of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre 

Stolen generations victory 

Alexis Goodstone, Solicitor 

A DVOCACY 

C ENTRE 

ACN 002 773 524 ABN 77 002 773 524 

ISSN 1039-9070 

CONTENTS 

Stolen generations victory 1 

From the Director 2 

Reparations tribunal supported 2, 4 

Habeas corpus applications seek release of asylum 

seekers from indefinite detention 3 

Medical negligence reforms will harm health care 4 

Peace advocate Neri Javier Colmenares visits PILCH 5 

National Pro Bono Workshop launches new Centre 6 

Patient records go electronic 7 

PILCH News and Views 8 

Our Strong Women 10, 11 

The Indigenous Justice Project 11 

Litigation Report 12 

Policy Report 13 

UCAP Report 14 

Working at PIAC – on reflection 15 

PIAC Staff 15 

edited by Simon Moran, Sarah Mitchell 

and Andrea Durbach 

PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE 

Level 1, 46-48 York Street 

Sydney NSW 2000 

Ph: 612 9299 7833 

Fx: 612 9299 7855 

piac@piacasnau 

wwwpiacasnau 

Copyright PIAC December 2002 

Designed and produced by: 

The Human Rights and Equal 

Opportunity Commission estimated 

in its Bringing them home report that 

one in six witnesses who appeared 

before its National Inquiry had been 

subjected to sexual or physical abuse 

Since the tabling of the Report in 1996, 

PIAC and PILCH have sought to 

secure compensation for their stolen 

generations clients Legal proceedings 

initiated in the Supreme Court 

were unsuccessful and many clients 

were unable to sustain proceedings 

which were adversarial, protracted 

and expensive 

In a recent test-case, in which PIAC 

sought to explore an alternative process, 

Mrs Valerie Linow, an Aboriginal woman 

from NSW and a member of the stolen 

generations, was awarded $35,000 by the 

NSW Victims Compensation Tribunal 

(VCT) The compensation was awarded 

for sexual assaults that occurred while 

Mrs Linow was a domestic worker on a 

rural property in NSW Mrs Linow had 

been removed from her family by the 

Aborigines Welfare Board at the age of 14 

years old 

The award of compensation, awarded by 

a tribunal which considers claims for 

harm arising from criminal acts, has been 

heralded as a first for the stolen 

generations 

Mrs Linow’s claim was based on the 

psychological trauma she suffered as a 

result of sexual assaults Her application 

included police documents that revealed 

the early stages of a police investigation 

and reports from a psychiatrist The VCT 

makes its decisions based on 

documentary evidence and does not 

usually conduct oral hearings The 

procedure in the VCT was an important 

consideration for our client, as Mrs Linow 

did not feel emotionally strong enough to 

be subjected to cross-examination about 

the events which led to her removal and 

the facts of the assaults 

In her initial claim before the VCT, the 

Tribunal Assessor accepted, on the 

balance of probabilities, that the applicant 

(Mrs Linow) had been “subjected to a 

series of indecent and sexual assaults by 

the alleged offender” Her claim was 

however denied because the Assessor 

was not satisfied “that the injury was 

caused as a result of the sexual assaults” 

The Assessor’s determination went on to 

note that if Mrs Linow had been reared in 

a loving family, she would not have 

suffered from the psychiatric disorders 

In other words, the claim failed because 

the effects of the removal from her family 

had caused such extreme psychological 

harm that the subsequent sexual assaults 

did not, in the view of the Assessor, cause 

Mrs Linow harm 

The initial decision was overturned on 

appeal in October 

The success of Mrs Linow’s case gives 

some hope to other members of the 

stolen generations who suffered similar 

harm and are able to demonstrate such 

harm by way of documentary evidence 

Similar schemes to the VCT in other 

states, may take a different approach 

What remains uncompensated, is the act 

of removal itself and its harsh 

consequences that continue to plague the 

lives of many Indigenous communities 

For this reason, PIAC will continue to 

advocate for the establishment of a Stolen 

Generations Reparations Tribunal # 

wwwlawbookcocomau 

PIAC Bulletin No 16 • December 2002 

1

An invitation 

From the Director 

To celebrate 21 years of rocking the boat, PIAC and PILCH would be delighted if you 

would join Roy Slaven and HG Nelson to party in the public interest on 

Friday, 28 th February, 2003 

At the Tattersalls on Elizabeth Street, Sydney 

From 630pm 

There will be jazz and champagne, fine fare and fundraising 

Tickets: $220-00 (inclu gst) or $110-00 (concession) 

Seating is limited so it is advisable to book soon 

Call Fabiola Rofael on (02) 9299 7833 to make a reservation or email frofael@piacasnau 

Tables of 10 will be available 

I look forward to seeing you in February 

Reparations tribunal supported 

Amanda Cornwall, Senior Policy Officer 

PIAC has called for state and federal 

governments to review their programs for 

the stolen generations and to establish 

reparations tribunals for the stolen 

generations The call was made at the 

launch in September of restoring identity, 

the final report of the Moving forward 

consultation The call was echoed by 

project partners, the Aboriginal and Torres 

Strait Islander Commission, the National 

Sorry Day Committee, the Human Rights 

and Equal Opportunity Commission and 

Northern Territory stolen generations 

groups The South Australian, Western 

Australian, Victorian and Queensland 

governments made public statements 

about what they are doing to implement 

the report 

Restoring identity reveals that many 

government and church programs since 

the publication of HREOC’s Bringing them 

home report, have failed the stolen 

generations It reflects the views of 

Indigenous people who were consulted 

during the project and calls for the 

adoption of a number of 

recommendations: 

• programs to ensure effective access to 

government and church held personal 

and family records for Indigenous 

peoples; 

• counselling services that target members 

of the stolen generations effectively and 

meet their needs, especially at times of 

family tracing and reunion; 

• an appropriate forum, or tribunal, for 

Indigenous peoples to tell of their 

experience of forcible removal and have 

it officially acknowledged; 

• recognition by governments of the 

distinct identity of the stolen generations 

and consultations to ensure that 

programs meet their needs; and 

• compensation for the harm caused by 

forcible removal policies, especially 

where crimes were committed against 

people in state care 

The measures recommended offer an 

important model for all governments keen 

to demonstrate a commitment to the 

needs of the stolen generations They are 

modest and can be achieved with minimal 

financial cost 

In our discussions with some state 

governments, PIAC has been 

encouraged to discover that some of the 

recommendations have been 

implemented The Victorian 

Government has established a Stolen 

* p 4 

2 PIAC Bulletin No 16 • December 2002

Habeas corpus applications seek release of 

asylum seekers from indefinite detention 

Alexis Goodstone, Solicitor and Dr Annemarie Devereux, Senior Solicitor 

As the Australian Government 

strengthens its resolve to back an 

invasion of Iraq, it continues to hold 

Iraqi refugees in detention centres 

for indefinite periods, unable to 

send them back to a country which 

seems destined to encounter major 

destruction and destabilisation 

A significant number of Iraqi and Kuwaiti 

asylum-seekers have been detained in 

immigration detention centres in 

Australia since 1999 Their applications for 

refugee status have been rejected, all of 

their appeals have been exhausted and 

they now await removal The Australian 

Government has to date been unable to 

remove them In the case of the Iraqis, 

this is due to the practical difficulties in 

returning them to Iraq, including the 

requirement by a country through which 

they would transit, that they sign a 

voluntary consent to return In the case 

of Iraqi asylum-seekers, many refuse 

consent; in the case of Kuwaiti asylumseekers, 

Kuwait will not accept their 

return 

In a number of cases before the Federal 

Court, PIAC will represent some of these 

refugees, arguing that: 

• in the absence of reasonable prospects 

of removal within a set time period, the 

detention amounts to “indefinite 

detention”; 

• Parliament has not authorised such 

indefinite detention; and 

• the government must either remove 

our clients from Australia or release 

them from detention while 

negotiations for their removal continue 

The primary relief sought in each case 

will be an order in the nature of 

mandamus, compelling the Minister for 

Immigration and Multicultural and 

Indigenous Affairs, Mr Ruddock, to 

remove our clients If such relief can not 

be implemented “as soon as reasonably 

practicable”, it will be submitted that the 

nexus between the lawful purpose for 

their detention and their custody has 

been broken and that the court should 

make an order in the nature of habeas 

corpus, ordering their release until they 

can be removed from Australia 

PIAC will argue that the Migration Act 

1961 should be construed in a manner 

consistent with international human 

rights guarantees as defined in the 

International Covenant on Civil and Political 

Rights (ICCPR) In particular, our clients 

will seek to enforce the right to freedom 

from arbitrary detention 

We will also argue that the “time-limited” 

interpretation of “pre-removal” detention 

is the only one consistent with the 

Commonwealth’s constitutional power to 

detain persons for the purposes of 

migration and detention, that is that 

there is a time limit on the power to 

detain for the purpose of removal 

The claims will rely on the recent 

decision of Merkel J in Al Masri v 

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural 

and Indigenous Affairs [2002] FCA 1037 (15 

August 2002) In this case, brought by a 

Palestinian refugee in a similar situation, 

Merkel J found that where there is “no 

real likelihood or prospect of an 

applicant’s removal in the reasonably 

foreseeable future, an applicant’s 

continued detention is unlawful” 

Despite the decision, which has 

important implications, and Mr Al 

Masri’s release, the Department of 

Immigration was subsequently able to 

arrange for Mr Al Masri’s removal to 

Gaza 

Notwithstanding the factual conclusion 

to Al Masri’s detention, the Minister for 

Immigration appealed the Al Masri 

decision to the Full Federal Court The 

Minister argued that there is no time 

limitation on ‘pre-removal’ detention, ie 

that the government has the power to 

detain indefinitely for the purpose of 

removal The Human Rights and Equal 

Opportunity Commission (HREOC) 

intervened as amicus curiae (“friend of the 

court”) during the appeal, presenting 

argument on the human rights principles 

applicable in this area of law The decision 

of the Full Federal Court is pending 

The cases raise issues central to the rights 

of asylum-seekers to receive fair and just 

treatment Previously, there did not 

appear to be any limits on the 

Commonwealth’s power to detain 

asylum-seekers pending their removal 

This was the consequence of a broadly 

drafted statutory regime that had largely 

been untested in the courts Al Masri and 

other cases to come afford an opportunity 

to establish limits on the 

Commonwealth’s detention power and 

protect asylum-seekers from a form of 

detention which is clearly abhorrent to 

human rights law and principles 

A report on visits to immigration 

detention facilities by HREOC’s Human 

Rights Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski 

was tabled in Federal Parliament on 22 

October 2002 The report lists as one of its 

major concerns the length of time in 

detention The full report is available on 

the HREOC website at: 

http://wwwhumanrightsgovau/ 

human_rights/idc/indexhtml # 


3

Medical negligence reforms will harm 

health care 


PIAC, the Australian Consumers 

Association and the Heath Issues Centre 

have joined together to urge state and 

federal governments to provide longterm, 

sustainable solutions to the crisis 

in medical indemnity and insurance 

Regrettably, the Commonwealth and 

NSW governments have taken the 

position that a short-term appeasement 

of some elements of the organised 

medical profession is sufficient to 

solving a complex problem with 

ramifications for the entire community 

The Commonwealth Government 

proposals are seen as an attempt to 

shore up an indemnity and insurance 

system that is not commercially viable 

by subsidising high-risk practitioners 

and limiting consumers’ right to sue for 

negligent care The proposals are 

contained in the reports of the Review 

of the Law of Negligence commissioned 

by the Federal Government, known as 

the Ipp Review 

PIAC is particularly concerned about a 

proposal that the role of judges in 

deciding the appropriate standard of 

care provided to a patient be replaced 

by “peer professional opinion” The 

proposal was recommended by the Ipp 

Review and is part of the Civil Liability 

Amendment (Personal Responsibility) Bill 

2002, introduced into the NSW 

Parliament on 23 October The bill 

allows the court not to rely on “peer 

professional opinion” if it considers the 

opinion is ”irrational” 

The provision would reverse important 

improvements in health care over the 

past decade that have supported an 

evidence-based approach to appropriate 

health care It has the potential to 

protect poor practitioners to the 

detriment of consumers and undermine 

the quality and safety of health care in 

Australia 

The provision is a return to the Bolam 

principle, a principle adopted by the 

English courts that makes decisions 

about a doctor’s standard of care a 

matter for medical judgement, not a 

matter for the courts Bolam was rejected 

by the Australian High Court in 1992 in 

Rogers v Whitaker (1992) 175 CLR 479 

Even in England, there has been a move 

away from Bolam given its potential to 

undermine evidence-based medicine 

The need for the amendment has not 

been established The Ipp Review 

recommends the amendment on the 

basis that judges are making medical 

decisions for which they are not 

qualified However, no examples of the 

claim are provided in any of the 

submissions to the review or in its 

report 

Reparations tribunal 

supported 

continued from p 2 

Generations Taskforce to provide a voice 

for the stolen generations and achieve 

co-ordination of government programs 

The Queensland Government’s 

Community and Personal Histories 

Section has provided access to historical 

state records about Aboriginal and 

Torres Strait Islander peoples and 

PIAC and the other consumer groups 

support a single national insurer, with 

cross-subsidies between the high and 

low risk areas of practice In the longterm, 

these groups support a “no fault” 

compensation scheme for people 

injured while receiving health care, 

similar to schemes operating in New 

Zealand or Sweden A number of 

medical colleges and many presidents of 

medical training colleges, also support 

this position 

PIAC supports the more considered and 

evidence based reforms to the medical 

indemnity and insurance industry put 

forward by the Australian Health 

Ministers Advisory Council Medical 

Indemnity Working Party and 

Consultative Forum PIAC has been a 

member of the Consultative Forum 

since its inception last year The 

Working Party has provided detailed 

proposals to Health Ministers on 

structured settlements, long-term care 

and most recently, published a review of 

legal processes # 

assisted many people to piece together 

family histories and genealogy since 

1992 More than half the archivists and 

historical researchers are Indigenous 

peoples 

Community initiatives and activities at 

the local level are also part of achieving 

rehabilitation The success of the Journey 

of Healing, as a community initiative 

with minimal funding, in bringing 

people together for reconciliation and 

healing, demonstrates the benefits of 

local and regional initiatives # 


Peace advocate Neri Javier Colmenares 

visits PILCH 

Andrew O’Keefe, PILCH secondee solicitor (Allens Arthur Robinson) 

The role of the International Criminal 

Court (ICC) in a world increasingly 

confronting acts of terror and war was 

the subject of a lunchtime PILCH 

seminar by Neri Javier Colmenares, a 

Filipino human rights lawyer and peace 

advocate His address was attended by 

representatives of the Red Cross, the 

Attorney-General’s Department, the 

Australian Government Solicitor, the 

National Council of Churches and 

solicitors from several PILCH member 

firms 

After years of negotiations, the ICC was 

approved when 120 states signed the 

Rome Statute in 1998, and formally 

established when over 60 states ratified 

the agreement on 1 July 2002 The Court 

has jurisdiction to try individuals for four 

types of crime, being genocide, war 

crimes, crimes against humanity, and 

“the crime of aggression” Unlike the ad 

hoc tribunals that the UN has previously 

established to deal with crimes in, for 

example, Rwanda and the former 

Yugoslavia, the ICC is a permanent body, 

and its establishment represents the first 

time in history that such a Court has 

been recognised as having universal 

jurisdiction over crimes committed by 

individuals 

Of the four species of crime which the 

ICC is empowered to judge, only 

“aggression” has been left undefined by 

the signatories, mostly due to a concerted 

campaign of opposition mounted by the 

USA Although there is already opinio 

juris on the meaning of “aggression” in 

international law (which revolves around 

the notion of unjustifiably and forcibly 

toppling a head of state (see, for example, 

the ICJ Nicaragua Case), the Rome 

Neri Colmenares and Andrew O’Keefe at PIAC — Photo: Jim Wellsmore 

signatories have left the question open 

until they meet again in 8 years’ time In 

Neri’s opinion, this failure to focus on the 

crime of aggression is of acute concern in 

the current climate of the “War on 

Terror ” 

Mr Bush’s dictum at the outset of the War 

on Terror was unequivocal: “Either you 

are for us or you are against us” With 

that statement, the US declared a state of 

world war, or global aggression, in which 

each and every nation was implicated 

merely by its political position on a 

potential conflict The danger lies in the 

fact that once a person or group is 

labelled as “terrorist”, they are by 

definition an enemy of the US and its 

allies in the global war And once enemy 

groups are identified, the “coalition 

against terror” is given justification for 

interferences with the sovereignty of 

nations 

By way of example, Neri noted the case 

of the Abu Sayaff in the Philippines The 

Abu Sayaff (a group originally armed and 

trained by the US to fight the Soviets in 

Afghanistan) have for some years 

conducted a campaign of Muslim 

separatism against the Philippine 

government This campaign has never 

threatened the US, but by virtue of the 

methods employed by the Abu Sayaff to 

agitate against the Filipino government, 

the group has been defined as “terrorist” 

Therefore, according to the logic of the 

War on Terror, the US has a right to wage 

battle against it And in fact the US, like 

Frankenstein against his monster, has 

already sent nearly 2,000 soldiers to the 

Philippines to conduct military 


5

operations against the Abu Sayaff 

According to Neri, this situation will 

inevitably lead to armed conflict in the 

Philippines, and US allies in the War on 

Terror will inevitably be asked to 

support the battle Australia, as an ally, 

may thus be dragged into a war that 

breaches Filipino sovereignty 

The War on Terror thus not only has the 

power to kill people, but also the 

capacity to destroy societies, says Neri 

By pitting nations against each other, 

the War on Terror as currently waged 

strikes a blow against long-term 

international peace And by pitting 

citizens within countries against each 

other, the War is able to break down the 

notion of shared humanity on which the 

stability of nations, especially 

multicultural nations, relies “Once that 

happens, all manner of human rights 

abuses are possible, be they official 

(such as the internment of citizens as 

prisoners of war or ‘suspects’, merely by 

virtue of their ethnicity), or otherwise 

(such as the sharp rise of vilification of 

women who are easily identifiable as 

Muslim)” 

By defining “aggression”, says Neri, the 

Rome signatories may encourage nations 

to be “less unrestrained’ in the 

declaration of war In that way, the ICC 

may be not only be a forum to achieve 

justice, but may also become an effective 

instrument for peace At the same time, 

by virtue of the ICC’s indictment 

mechanisms, NGOs campaigning for 

international justice have a real 

opportunity to play a role in the 

prosecution of aggressors before the ICC 

So once the appropriate definitions are in 

place, those NGOs could offer every 

citizen of the world an opportunity to act 

as a watchperson in the war on 

aggression # 

National Pro Bono Workshop launches 

new Centre 

Andrea Durbach, PIAC Director and PILCH Co-ordinator 

Late last year, the Attorney General, 

the Hon Daryl Williams AM QC MP, 

announced that PIAC, with national 

project partners, had been awarded 

the tender to establish a National Pro 

Bono Resource Centre The National 

Centre, initially housed at PIAC and 

now operating from premises at the 

University of New South Wales, was 

launched in August at a National 

Pro Bono Workshop held in Sydney 

In his opening address to the National 

Pro Bono Workshop, Professor David 

Weisbrot, President of the Australian 

Law Reform Commission and Chair of 

the National Pro Bono Task Force, 

highlighted a key principle which 

informed the work of the Task Force: 

“that the provision of pro bono services 

should be driven by client needs, and not by 

what lawyers are prepared to offer …There 

is an urgent need to ‘map client needs’ – and 

the availability and accessibility of 

corresponding legal resources” 

This exercise will be a major initial 

focus of the new National Pro Bono 

Resource Centre, launched by the 

Attorney General, the Hon Daryl 

Williams, at the National Pro Bono 

Workshop The establishment of a 

National Pro Bono Resource Centre was 

the “centrepiece” of the Task Force 

Report’s Recommended Action Plan 

which asserted a national need for a body 

that would develop strategies with key 

stakeholders to ensure the provision of 

targeted, quality pro bono legal services 

The Task Force envisaged that the new 

centre would seek to achieve these 

services by: 

• “promoting a culture receptive to pro 

bono work; 

• improving outreach services and 

community education; 

• providing tools and training to willing 

lawyers; 

• providing ‘matchmaking’ opportunities 

that will enable skills and resources to 

be sent from wherever they are located 

to wherever they are most needed; 

• removing structural barriers; 

• sharing information about successful 

programs in Australia and overseas” 

Many of these objectives and the legal 

needs of rural and remote communities 

were discussed during a one-day 

intensive forum convened by the Public 

Interest Law Clearing House NSW 

(PILCH) and PIAC and funded by the 

Commonwealth Government 

“Overcoming Barriers: A National Workshop 

on Pro Bono” brought together 70 people 

from across Australia with expertise in the 

provision of legal services to explore 

opportunities for, and barriers to, pro 

bono work The workshop was also 

designed to assist the future work of the 

National Pro Bono Resource Centre 

Gordon Renouf has been appointed the 

inaugural Director of the NPBRC with Jill 

Anderson as the Centre’s Policy and 

Research Officer and Liz Cotter, as 

Administrator The NPBRC can be 

contacted on 02 93857381 # 


Patient records go electronic 


Earlier this year, PIAC’s senior policy 

officer, Amanda Cornwall, completed 

a Churchill Fellowship study tour 

examining electronic health records 

schemes in Canada, England, 

France, Ireland and Germany The 

study focussed on the potential 

benefits of schemes that link patient 

information across the health system 

and on measures to protect privacy 

and confidentiality 

Development of electronically linked 

patient records is a priority in many 

countries as part of a new era in health 

service delivery They are part of a vision 

for health care services using telephone 

call centres, websites, internet linked 

patient records and telehealth Usually 

they are linked to software programs that 

support decision-making by health 

professionals, providing up-to-date 

information and automatic checks, such as 

adverse drug reactions 

Electronic Health Records schemes (EHRs) 

have been designed to perform a number 

of different functions The most wellestablished 

schemes are used to process 

financial claims, such as hospital billing, 

health insurance claims and government 

benefits Some current schemes keep basic 

patient information that would be useful 

to travellers, such as allergies, 

immunisation status and blood type 

The more ambitious schemes aim to 

provide a comprehensive, summary 

lifetime patient record across the whole 

health system The primary purpose of 

these schemes is to assist health care 

providers in diagnosis and treatment The 

schemes will also provide government 

and insurers with much more information 

for use in health service financing and 

planning, and for research purposes 

The Australian public has generally 

embraced the benefits of electronic health 

records, but only if the confidentiality and 

security of their medical record is 

protected People want to be able to 

control what information will be shared by 

each health care professional who is 

treating them Many are also concerned 

about the security of information 

transmitted over the internet Another risk 

is unauthorised browsing of patient 

records if security measures and audit 

trails are not in place Effective privacy 

laws and security measures are therefore a 

fundamental requirement for EHRs 

During her study tour, Amanda met with 

privacy commissioners, officials from 

departments of health, representatives of 

professional associations, insurers, health 

infomatics experts, academics, and 

consumer advocates All of the countries 

Amanda visited are developing and 

planning EHR schemes Like Australia, 

they are based on publicly funded health 

systems In all of the countries, including 

Australia, a high priority is a scheme that 

provides a complete record of patients’ 

medications as so many injuries occur due 

to incomplete information about a patient’s 

current or past medication history 

Health Ministers in Australia have strongly 

supported EHR projects and have 

provided substantial funding for their 

development The Federal Government 

has initiated development of 

HealthConnect, an internet based network 

providing for national collection, storage 

and exchange of summary patient 

information across the health system The 

Better Medication Management System is 

also planned, to provide a nationally linked 

patient medication record using records 

held by doctors, pharmacists and 

hospitals The NSW Government has 

announced NSW EHR*Net to provide 

web-enabled access to a life time summary 

record of patient information held by the 

NSW public health system Participation in 

these schemes will be voluntary for patients 

The projects are in the research and 

development stage, with field tests to be 

conducted during 2002-2003 and 

introduction scheduled for late 2003 or 

2004 Privacy laws have been introduced 

at the national level and in some states 

and territories The result is a confusing 

patchwork of laws rather than a clear and 

consistent national privacy standard 

The report of the study tour, Connecting 

patient records, makes a number of 

recommendations about EHR schemes in 

Australia based on the experiences of 

Canada and Europe It recommends that 

the field tests for the EHR schemes in 

Australia should test the ability of EHRs to 

improve the quality of health care, not just 

specific functions of the schemes EHRs 

are only a tool, they can not in themselves 

improve communication between 

providers and patients, which is crucial to 

good health care The report also 

recommends that field tests need to be 

conducted for a sustained period to 

discern valuable lessons Field tests in 

England have provided a wealth of 

information about the best design of EHRs 

after testing for 2 years 

The report recommends that governments 

need to do more to achieve a nationally 

consistent framework for privacy laws in 

the health sector, a fundamental building 

block for EHRs It also recommends that 

privacy commissioners play a more active 

and public role in providing advice on the 

privacy and security aspects of EHRs In 

France and Ontario, Canada, for example, 

the privacy commissioners provided 

publicly available reviews of proposed 

EHR schemes 

Connecting patient records, which has been 

sent to state and federal governments for 

their consideration, is available from 

PIAC # 


7

PILCH News and Views 

NSW Law and Justice 

Foundation Justice 

Awards 

Freehills solicitor and past PILCH 

secondee Peter Olds was presented with 

the PILCH Award at the NSW Law and 

Justice Foundation 2002 Justice Awards’ 

dinner on 11 November 2002 

The award was presented to Peter in 

recognition of the outstanding 

contribution he made to the PILCH 

Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) 

Project during and following his 

secondment Since December 2001 

PILCH had been part of a working 

group formed to provide an organised 

response to the expected large number 

of asylum seekers applying for 

permanent protection in 2002-2003 

Peter was instrumental in initiating a 

PILCH project to seek the assistance of 

PILCH member lawyers to provide 

access to legal services to asylum 

seekers holding temporary protection 

visas and seeking permanent 

protection Over 150 PILCH member 

lawyers offered their assistance on a 

pro bono basis Training of the 

volunteer lawyers is now complete and 

assistance is being co-ordinated by the 

project co-ordinator at the working 

group member Refugee Advice and 

Casework Service 

Practising in the Public 

Interest 

The PIAC/PILCH Practising in the Public 

Interest Course is now entering its third 

year and is being conducted twice a 

year with participating universities 

In July 2002 PIAC and PILCH 

conducted the course as a Winter 

School in conjunction with the 

University of Western Sydney (Nepean) 

and Macquarie University PILCH firm 

Gilbert & Tobin hosted the course 

As part of the Winter School law 

students from the two universities 

undertook placements with PILCH 

member firms Blake Dawson Waldron, 

Gilbert & Tobin, Allens Arthur 

Robinson, Freehills and Mallesons 

Stephen Jaques Students also 

undertook placements with the 

Environmental Defender’s Office, 

Clayton Utz, the Human Rights and 

Equal Opportunity Commission, the 

office of the Hon Dr Meredith 

Burgmann MLC, Maurice Blackburn 

Cashman and the Legal Aid 

Commission of NSW 

PILCH referrals of note 

National Pro Bono Research Centre 

PILCH member firms Allens Arthur 

Robinson, Harmers Workplace Lawyers 

and Freehills have provided extensive 

pro bono legal services to assist with 

the establishment of the Centre 

Tax 

With changes to the definition of 

“charity” announced by the Federal 

Treasurer in August, many 

organisations have approached PILCH 

for assistance in attaining tax 

concessions and deductibility status 

Freehills assisted a newly incorporated 

charity that distributes food to needy 

families to apply for a range of tax 

benefits Coudert Brothers have been 

assisting with drafting submissions on 

an appeal against a decision of the ATO 

on behalf of a family support service 

Blake Dawson Waldron has been 

examining the constitution of a 

philanthropic funding organisation to 

ensure compliance with ATO 

deductibility guidelines 

Incorporation 

Gadens Lawyers provided advice to a 

peak refugee support and advocacy 

body on its options for incorporation 

Mallesons Stephen Jaques has been 

assisting three large charities with a 

feasibility study on amalgamation 

Deacons has been advising in the 

establishment of a corporate structure 

for a regional group that provides 

emergency assistance to women and 

children in situations of domestic 

violence PricewaterhouseCoopers 

Legal is providing similar advice for the 

publishers of early reading materials for 

children 

Workplace issues 

Corrs Chambers Westgarth are 

providing legal advice to a child-care 

centre about its potential duties toward 

pregnant staff members in light of a 

recent NSW Court of Appeal decision 

A company which publishes 

educational resources for marginalised 

groups is being assisted by Baker & 

McKenzie in relation to a key staff 

member’s migration to Australia Peter 

Maiden, barrister, has advised a peak 

body for disability service providers on 

the ramifications of assisting disabled 

clients to access sex workers Gilbert & 

Tobin have provided PILCH with pro 

forma costs agreements for use by pro 

bono lawyers and are advising on the 

consequences for costs awards of acting 

pro bono 

Refugees 

Graham Jones Lawyers have drafted a 

contract designed to protect the 

anonymity of refugees and asylum 

seekers who make comments to the 

media, in order that their families in 

their home countries are not 

endangered Freehills’ Canberra office 

provided an advice on registration 

requirements for solicitors who had 

volunteered to assist refugees with 

applications for permanent protection 


Stephen Lloyd, barrister, prepared 

submissions and appeared in a 

deportation matter in which it was 

argued that the best interests of the 

children involved had not been 

sufficiently considered And Sally 

Habibi at Carroll & O’Dea has agreed 

to provide assistance with the 

translation of legal documents into 

Arabic so that lawyers for refugees and 

asylum seekers in detention may 

provide clients with advice in a 

comprehensible form 

Discrimination 

Minter Ellison advised a disabilities 

legal service on the implications of the 

Civil Liability Act 2002 for 

discrimination actions Kate Eastman, 

barrister, advised in a disability 

discrimination matter in which a child 

had been excluded from schools on the 

basis of learning difficulties Mark 

Brabazon, barrister, gave advice on 

jurisdictional issues and merits in an 

appeal brought to the Administrative 

Decisions Tribunal for matters of 

alleged racial discrimination Bill 

McManus, barrister, has agreed to 

advise on issues surrounding a dispute 

between an employment agency and 

two intellectually disabled job-seekers 

Dr Holger Sorensen of Ground Floor 

Wentworth is advising a group of 

disabled clients upon their entitlements 

to monies accrued as interest on their 

savings and held in trust 

Other matters 

Allens Arthur Robinson advised a 

community group on its planned 

appeal against a development consent 

which had the effect of significantly 

lessening local access to recreational 

facilities John Robson, barrister, is 

assisting a residents group with the 

drafting of documents in their appeal 

against the planning minister’s consent 

Chris Greiner, Partner, Blake Dawson Waldron and PILCH President with Peter Olds, 

Solicitor, Freehills, winner of the PILCH Award at the NSW Law and Justice 

Foundation 2002 Justice Awards 

to a waste terminal Mr Peter Bruckner 

of 5 Wentworth Chambers settled 

appeal documents in a victims 

compensation matter The client’s 

subsequent victory was described in 

the media as a “major victory for the 

stolen generations” 

PILCH News 

The convening of the National Pro 

Bono Workshop provided a timely 

opportunity for members of the Boards 

and staff of PILCH organisations in 

NSW, Victoria and Queensland to meet 

and address issues of common interest 

and concern The meeting, hosted by 

PILCH member firm Blake Dawson 

Waldron, considered proposals to 

create a national identity and network, 

opportunities to undertake joint and 

national projects and ways in which 

PILCH could assist the work of the 

NPBRC 

Secondee solicitors continue to play a 

vital role in maintaining the PILCH 

— Photo: Thanks to the Law and Justice Foundation 

assessment and referral scheme as well 

as assisting with PILCH projects, 

training and promotional activities 

During its ten years of operations 

PILCH member firms have provided a 

total of 32 solicitors on secondment to 

the Clearing House 

Bassina Farbenblum, solicitor from 

Minter Ellison, completed a three 

month secondment in August 2002 

Our current solicitor on secondment is 

Andrew O’Keefe from Allens Arthur 

Robinson Andrew completes his 

secondment in November and will be 

followed by solicitor Sharon Sekulic 

from Mallesons Stephen Jaques 

PILCH member firms Freehills and 

Allens Arthur Robinson have agreed to 

provide secondee solicitors in 2003 If 

you are able to provide secondee 

solicitors to PILCH during next year, or 

have any queries in relation to 

secondments, please contact Sandra 

Stevenson or Andrea Durbach at 

PILCH on 02 9299 7833 # 


9

Our Strong Women – Indigenous Women, Law 

and Leadership Project 

At a celebration in Darwin on 12 August 

2002 the National Network of Indigenous 

Women’s Legal Services (NNIWLS) 

launched its national advocacy training 

program, Our Strong Women Indigenous 

Women, Law and Leadership The program 

is a joint project of NNIWLS and PIAC 

and is funded by the Commonwealth 

Office of the Status of Women under the 

National Women’s Development 

Program 

Carolyn Grenville, Training Co-ordinator 

PIAC’s training co-ordinator, Carolyn 

Grenville, has been working closely with 

the NNIWLS to present a series of twoday 

workshops for Indigenous women in 

nine locations around Australia During 

this year, Carolyn has conducted 

workshops with women in Darwin, 

Broome, Port Augusta, Kalgoorlie, 

Townsville and Brisbane 

The training aims to enhance community 

leadership skills amongst Indigenous 

women and promote their status and 

interests at a community, regional, state 

and national level It also seeks to change 

policies and improve the quality and 

delivery of services to Indigenous 

communities 

Participants learn about systems of 

government, challenging government 

decisions, effective campaigning and 

community representation In addition, 

they learn media, negotiation and 

lobbying skills 

The Darwin workshop saw Indigenous 

women travel from Katherine and Alice 

Springs as well as Darwin For the 

Broome workshop, Indigenous women 

came from across the Kimberley and the 

Pilbara and many participants travelled 

long distances from Kununarra and 

Fitzroy Crossing 

All workshops, which attracted capacity 

attendance, have produced advocacy 

action plans initiated and designed by 

participants for working towards 

achieving specific objectives Participants 

Photos show participants at the Broome 

and Darwin workshops of the Our 

Strong Women, Indigenous Women, 

Law and Leadership program, August 

2002 — Photos: Carolyn Grenville 

have reported that the workshops have 

made them feel empowered, have 

increased their knowledge across a range 

of activities and enabled them to use the 

new networks and skills for concrete 

purposes For example, women who 

attended the workshop in Broome have 

committed to establish the first Pilbara- 

Kimberley Aboriginal Women’s Network 

and women in Darwin have undertaken 

to work on ensuring that Indigenous 

women have a stronger voice in the 

Northern Territory and to achieve a 

specialist legal service for Indigenous 

women in Darwin Port Augusta women 

mapped out plans to work for a new 

counselling and healing centre in town 

* p 11 


The Indigenous Justice Project – One Year On 

Shahzad Rind, Solicitor 

The Indigenous Justice Project was 

initiated by PIAC in 2001, with financial 

support from PILCH member firm, 

Allens Arthur Robinson The project 

aims to: 

• strengthen PIAC’s links with Indigenous 

organisations; 

• identify public interest issues which 

impact on Indigenous people and 

communities; and 

• conduct litigation, policy work and 

training on behalf of and for indigenous 

clients 

In November last year, I was employed as 

the project’s inaugural solicitor I had 

previously worked as a solicitor with the 

Aboriginal Legal Service, primarily in 

criminal law, and with ATSIC, in the area 

of commercial law My first year at PIAC 

has been packed with a variety of new 

challenges I have worked with 

Indigenous clients, particularly in the 

area of race discrimination and visited 

numerous Indigenous organisations to 

assess the needs of Indigenous 

communities In addition, I have worked 

on PIAC’s Stolen Generations project and 

with PIAC’s Utility Consumers Advocacy 

Project (UCAP) to design a scheme which 

will resolve non-payment of accounts by 

Indigenous clients at the ‘Block’ in 

Redfern and manage future payment 

arrangements in consultation with the 

‘Block’ residents, community 

organisations and Energy Australia 

I also have presented aspects of PIAC’s 

training course, Work the System and 

lectured law students at Tranby 

Aboriginal College on the legal system, 

public interest litigation and stolen 

generations litigation While working at 

PIAC I have become an executive 

member of Ngalaya Aboriginal 

Corporation, a non-profit organisation 

committed to assisting Aboriginal and 

Torres Strait Islander people interested in 

a legal career at all stages of their 

education and professional development 

I am also a member of the NSW Law 

Society Indigenous Lawyers Taskforce 

which aims to increase the numbers of 

Indigenous lawyers within the legal 

profession and I participate in the UTS 

mentoring program which seeks to 

prepare Indigenous law students for the 

realities of legal practice 

My first year at PIAC has exposed me to 

an incredible array of work and people 

and issues On both a professional and 

personal level, I have gained an insight 

into areas of law which can bring about a 

positive change to some of the legal 

issues which impact on the indigenous 

community in NSW, particularly in areas 

not traditionally undertaken by the 

Aboriginal Legal Service which tends to 

focus more on criminal and family law 

Our Strong Women 

continued from p 10 

Workshops in 2003 

Further workshops are planned for 

February 2003 in Hobart and 

Melbourne A workshop will also be 

held in NSW and the possibility of a 

workshop in Canberra is also being 

explored 

Indigenous women interested in the 

project should contact: 

• Our Strong Women project coordinator 

Libby Carney, Indigenous 

Legal Worker, Aboriginal Women’s 

Outreach Project at the Top End 

Women’s Legal Service in Darwin on 

08 8941 9989, or 

Importantly, PIAC is an autonomous 

organisation and can assist Indigenous 

clients in seeking redress across a broad 

range of legal issues, using a variety of 

strategies I hope to continue to build our 

links with the Indigenous communities in 

NSW and to learn from each other and 

share our experiences of the legal system in 

providing an informed and professional 

service to the community 

I wish to acknowledge the kind support of 

all PIAC staff and Allens Arthur Robinson, 

specifically David Robb, Francene Kanaar 

and Phillip Cornwell 

Postscript: 

Following a review of the Indigenous 

Justice Project, we are delighted to 

announce that Allens Arthur Robinson 

have confirmed that they will renew 

their funding of the Project for a further 

two years Shaz Rind will continue on in 

the position as PIAC’s Indigenous 

Solicitor # 

• Carolyn Grenville at PIAC on 02 9299 

7833, 

who will put you in touch with your local 

workshop organiser 

Postscript 

Our Strong Women project coordinator 

Libby Carney has just 

reported that one of the Our Strong 

Women – Indigenous Women, Law & 

Leadership graduates, Dianne Borella, 

has successfully been elected to sit on 

the Yilli Reung ATSIC Regional Council 

for Darwin Libby writes: “Dianne 

decided to nominate for the ATSIC 

elections during the OSW course We 

identified a need for more Indigenous 

women to run for council and she has, 

and she did it” # 


11

Litigation Report 

Simon Moran, Principal Solicitor 

The last 6 months have seen PIAC’s 

litigation practice initiate a significant 

number of cases in relation to the 

rights of asylum seekers As discussed 

in the habeas corpus article 

earlier in the Bulletin, much of the focus 

of this work is on the rights of asylumseekers 

held in indefinite detention 

Government Accountability 

The case of refugee Simon Odihambo, 

addresses the rights of minors when making 

applications for refugee status Simon was 

an unaccompanied minor when he arrived 

in Australia, having stowed away on a boat 

in Mombassa, Kenya Simon’s application 

for refugee status was refused by both the 

Minister for Immigration and by the 

Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) on review 

His application to the High Court, which 

seeks special leave to appeal the decision of 

the Full Federal Court focuses on the need to 

ensure that minors making applications for 

refugee status be provided with 

independent legal assistance before the RRT, 

as opposed to the assistance of the Minister 

for Immigration, who is deemed to be the 

guardian of minors in detention John 

Basten QC and Robert Lindsay are briefed 

to appear before the High Court 

A community organisation concerned with 

high-rise developments, Save Our Suburbs 

(SOS), sought registration as a political party 

in time to participate in the 2003 State 

Elections Although the application 

complied with legislative requirements, the 

State Electoral Commissioner elected not to 

register SOS until they had complied with a 

test set by the Commissioner Counsel 

Jeremy Kirk, argued before Justice Burchett 

of the Supreme Court that the test imposed 

by the Commissioner was ultra vires and 

sought an order of mandamus that the 

Commissioner register the party on a date 

before the cut-off date for registration for 

the 2003 State election While determining 

that the Commissioner’s policy was ultra 

vires, Burchett J did not order the backdated 

registration of SOS as the Commissioner 

did not have power to backdate 

registration The Commissioner decided 

not to appeal the decision and Parliament 

subsequently amended the Parliamentary 

Electorates and Elections Act to validate the 

Commissioner’s test, deem the registration 

of SOS to have been on 1 March 2002 and 

gave the Commissioner power to amend 

the Register of Parties accordingly SOS can 

now fully participate in the 2003 State 

Elections 

The rights of the child and the principles of 

the Teoh case, were the key focus of a case 

which challenged the cancellation of our 

client’s permanent resident visa on the 

grounds that he did not pass the character 

test under the Migration Act given his 

criminal record Mr Untan came to 

Australia from Romania as a refugee 20 

years ago and has an Australian wife and 

three Australian children The cancellation 

of his visa means that he will be deported 

to Romania Mr Untan applied to the 

Federal Court for a review of the decision to 

cancel his visa arguing that the Minister 

had failed to consider certain evidence 

concerning the best interests of his children 

and the interest of his wife as their 

guardian Branson J found that there had 

been a denial of procedural fairness to Mr 

Untan’s wife (who represented the 

childrens’ interests) however the privative 

clause rendered the decision immune from 

judicial review 

Consumer Protection 

In August 2002 the long-running problem 

gambling test case Reynolds v Katoomba RSL 

Club came to an end when the High Court 

refused an application for special leave to 

appeal The Court of Appeal rejected Mr 

Reynold’s contention that the Club had 

engaged in unconscionable conduct and it 

breached its duty of care to Mr Reynolds by 

cashing cheques for him when they knew he 

was a problem gambler While the case has 

been on foot a number of significant 

legislative changes to the Registered Clubs Act 

and the Liquor Act which protect the rights of 

consumers 

In November Coroner Milledge handed 

down her findings in the coronial inquiry 

into the death of Jessica Michalik at the Big 

Day Out in 2001 The Coroner heard 

extensive evidence during a five week 

hearing at which Jessica’s father, Mr George 

Michalik was represented by PIAC and 

James Hmelnitsky of counsel The Coroner 

found that the promoters of the BDO had 

not assessed the safety risks to patrons and 

that they were dependent upon a reactive 

plan as ‘their pro-active approach was sadly 

lacking’ She made ten recommendations, 

“The Jessica Recommendations”, which 

included the establishment of a working 

party, auspiced by Workcover, to develop 

industry standards for safety at rock festivals 

and the establishment of a regulatory 

authority for licensing events 

Update 

PIAC’s litigation continues to be involved a 

number of discrimination actions, many of 

which involve complaints of race 

discrimination by indigenous clients Age 

discrimination is the subject of two appeals 

to the Full Federal Court in the matter of 

Peacock v HREOC & the Commonwealth, in 

which PIAC is acting for the complainant 

who has alleged that age was a decisive 

criterion applied when a public service 

employer refused an award of discretionary 

retirement provisions 

Bassina Farbenblum has taken up a one year 

position as a solicitor with PIAC Her 

position is funded by the Public Justice 

Project The objective of the Project is to 

sponsor junior lawyers to undertake public 

interest litigation The Project is sustained by 

donations from organisation and 

individuals Already Bassina has made a 

significant impact instructing counsel in the 

Untan and Peacock matters # 


Policy Report 

Dr Patricia Ranald, Principal Policy Officer 

Local councils seek 

consultation in Trade in 

Services (GATS) 

negotiations 

In an unprecedented move to link local 

and global regulation, Marrickville, 

Waverly and Leichhardt councils and 

the NSW Local Government 

Association Conference recently passed 

resolutions asking for the Federal 

Government to consult about the 

implications for local government of 

the WTO negotiations on Trade in 

Services (GATS) PIAC and other 

community organisations have been 

raising these issues with councils as 

part of their community education 

campaign about the impact of GATS on 

essential services 

The GATS agreement signed by 

Australia and other governments in 

1994 treats services purely as traded 

goods and promotes international trade 

in them Although some GATS rules 

apply to all services, many only apply 

to those services each government 

agrees to list in the agreement GATS 

has some rules which recognise the 

right of governments to regulate 

services and to provide and fund public 

services, and most public services have 

not been included in the agreement 

However, there are now proposals to 

change these rules 

Governments are being asked to 

increase the range of services included 

in the GATS agreement Requests in the 

negotiations from the European Union, 

for example, asked for Telstra, Australia 

Post and water services, which would 

mean privatisation of these services 

There are also proposals to change 

GATS rules to reduce the right of 

governments to regulate by declaring 

that some regulation of services should 

be “least trade restrictive” 

GATS rules are binding on all levels of 

government but there has been little if 

any consultation with local 

government about the negotiations and 

their implications 

A recent study by the Canadian 

Environmental Law Association (found 

at wwwpolicyalternativesca) identified 

areas of local government services and 

regulation which could be affected by 

the GATS negotiations The services 

identified included water and sewerage 

services, waste management, zoning 

regulations, library services and 

community services like childcare 

The resolutions passed by local councils 

and the NSW Local Government 

Association Conference stressed that 

public policy regarding the regulation, 

funding and provision of essential 

services should be made democratically 

by governments at the national, state 

and local level, and that such services 

should not be included in trade 

agreements They called for full 

transparency and consultation on GATS 

with state and local government See 

wwwaftinetorgau for a copy of the 

resolution 

PIAC Submission on 

ASIO anti-terrorism 

legislation defends 

human rights 

In October the Senate voted to refer the 

ASIO Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) 

Bill to the Senate Legal and 

Constitutional Committee for inquiry 

The terms of reference include the 

development of an alternative regime 

not conducted by ASIO to obtain 

information relating to terrorism, and 

the protection of civil and political 

rights 

This is a considerable victory for 

human rights advocates given that the 

government sought to use the Bali 

bombings as a pretext for the bill to be 

passed 

Although the bill contained some 

changes in response to concerns raised 

about lack of legal representation, it 

was rejected by the Opposition parties 

because it still enables detention 

without charge for obtaining 

information This includes detention of 

children aged 14-18, denial of legal 

representation to adults for up to 48 

hours, and strip searching of detainees 

PIAC’s submission argues that the bill 

violates UN human rights conventions 

on the liberty and security of persons 

by allowing arbitrary detention without 

charge and without adequate access to 

legal representation It also argues that 

the bill violates the Convention on the 

Rights 

of the Child The PIAC submission is 

available on the PIAC website at 

wwwpiacasnaupublications 

PIAC obtains additional 

funds for AFTINET trade 

and human rights work 

PIAC has obtained funding to employ a 

part-time campaigner to work on 

AFTINET over the next calendar year and 

for campaigning expenses for community 

education and lobbying leading up to the 

next WTO Ministerial Meeting to be held 

in September 2003 Thanks to the Mercy 

Foundation, UnitingCare NSWACT, the 

Sisters of Charity Foundation, the 

Australian Education Union and the 

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union 

for this important contribution # 


13

UCAP Report 

Trish Benson, Senior Policy Officer and Jim Wellsmore, Policy Officer 

Social Responsibility in 

Utilities 

A successful conference on the theme of 

Social Responsibility in Utilities was held 

by UCAP on 11 September The 

conference was opened by the NSW 

Minister for Energy, the Hon Kim 

Yeadon, who emphasised the strength 

of the consumer protection 

arrangements in NSW Participants and 

speakers were drawn from a range of 

community and consumer 

organisations as well as utility providers 

and representatives of the government 

We were delighted that delegates 

included representatives of the recently 

established Consumers’ Utility 

Advocacy Centre (CUAC) from 

Victoria 

Speakers discussed the legislative 

framework for providing households 

with essential services in energy and 

water and how this can facilitate a 

greater emphasis on positive social 

outcomes Several examples were 

highlighted of the utility businesses’ 

existing social justice initiatives 

EnergyAustralia has responded to an 

approach by a Migrant Resource Centre 

to vary its policy on waived security 

deposits for newly arrived refugees 

Both EnergyAustralia and Country 

Energy have begun providing capital to 

community organisations for the 

creation of “no interest loans” schemes 

which are directed towards funding 

purchases of new energy efficient 

appliances by households The 

conference was a small step in 

encouraging the providers to rethink 

their role as good corporate citizens by 

supporting initiatives in the 

communities they serve 

Consumer Protection 

Review 

The NSW Ministry of Energy and 

Utilities has commenced its scheduled 

review of the consumer protection 

arrangements in electricity and gas This 

aims to take account of the initial 

experience with retail competition and 

“customer choice” Many of the changes 

foreshadowed for the regulations are 

limited to “tidying up” One major issue 

being considered is the possible 

introduction of pre-payment meters for 

NSW household users of energy PIAC 

has long since established the conditions 

under which it would favour households 

being given the option of taking up this 

new technology While it is vital that 

customers have the choice over whether 

to accept these new meters, we 

understand also that commercial realities 

may discourage retailers from offering 

these new meters 

Importantly, residential users of 

electricity continue to enjoy price 

protection where they choose not to 

switch to new competitive retail 

contracts The Independent Pricing and 

Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has 

introduced minor changes to the price 

caps it previously determined for these 

“standard” customers The costs allowed 

by the standard retailers have risen 

slightly and some customers will 

experience price rises higher than the 

CPI This compares favourably with, for 

example, South Australia where 

households are likely to see electricity 

prices rise by 25% with the 

commencement of competition In 

particular, PIAC welcomed the rejection 

once more of calls for households to face 

much higher prices as a means to 

fostering competition between retailers 

Undergrounding 

In other news concerning the costs of 

electricity, PIAC also welcomed the 

release of the Tribunal’s report to the 

Minister for Energy on the proposal to 

underground all electricity cables in 

metropolitan areas PIAC had argued that 

the costs of widespread undergrounding 

would outweigh the benefits for all but a 

minority of households Further, we had 

argued that the community ought to 

consider whether the resources needed 

to complete such a massive project would 

better be allocated to areas such as health 

and education It was pleasing that the 

Tribunal echoed many of these 

arguments in its final report The 

recommendation to the government is 

that undergrounding be funded by those 

communities who support and can afford 

such a scheme at a local level 

The price of water 

The current focus of UCAP in relation to 

water is on prices The Tribunal is 

conducting its scheduled review of the 

prices permitted for the four regulated 

water supply agencies and the Sydney 

Catchment Authority It is not expected 

that significant changes to prices will 

result from the Tribunal’s next 

determination However, it is becoming 

clear that a greater effort is required from 

both the likes of Sydney Water and 

household users in order that overall 

water consumption remain within 

environmentally appropriate limits PIAC 

has welcomed recent proposed changes 

to the Operating Licence for Sydney 

Water, in particular, which will ensure 

more detailed information in future 

about the water use behaviour of 

residential, commercial and industrial 

consumers # 


Working at PIAC – on reflection 

Mustafa Qadri, PIAC Volunteer 

With the knowledge that my time at PIAC 

as a College of Law placement shall soon 

come to an end, I have good cause to reflect 

on what has been a thoroughly engaging 

four months, both professionally and 

personally 

The role of the placement is a flexible one 

Although I was placed in PIAC’s Litigation 

Division, the majority of tasks that I 

undertook involved casework I often 

undertook research on a number of policy 

projects This included assisting in 

preparation of a PIAC workshop on 

International Human Rights Law, an 

ongoing research proposal on a Federal Bill 

of Rights, and extensive analysis of the 

hearings and findings of the Senate 

Committee on a “certain maritime incident”, 

the sinking of Siev-X As I soon found, the 

volume of work and the variety of tasks 

undertaken greatly depended upon the 

level of enthusiasm and effort one brought 

to the position 

Apart from helping staff with their case or 

policy work, the College of Law placement 

is the primary contact point between 

members of the public and the organisation 

This in itself afforded me the opportunity to 

interact with people and deal with issues I 

would not have been able to do in more 

traditional, commercial legal environments 

It also taught me the virtues of being a good 

listener Quite apart from any assistance that 

PIAC was able to provide them, people who 

contacted us often simply wanted someone 

to understand their situation, and I always 

enjoyed the challenge of determining the 

law applicable to the information they 

relayed to me The people who contacted us 

were typically those that had been unable to 

obtain legal information, advice or representation 

from any other legal service This often 

meant that the legal issues raised by their 

matters were complex and challenging 

Consequently, a typical day at PIAC would 

consist of casework in a number of different 

areas of the law, attending to numerous 

inquiries from the public, either in person or 

over the phone, and conducting research in 

relation to one of PIAC’s policy projects 

Within the litigation department the types 

of cases that I dealt with included matters 

relating to: discrimination on the basis of 

race, age or disability; all areas of refugee 

law; several indigenous civil cases; as well 

as some administrative and constitutional 

law Notwithstanding this, it must be said 

that, as the placement, I came in contact 

with most areas of civil law in one shape or 

form 

As a recent graduate from the University of 

Technology, Sydney, I found it refreshing to 

begin my professional life in a working 

environment that was always 

accommodating, that offered a wide array 

of legal tasks, and that was constantly 

challenging PIAC staff were always 

supportive and willing to share their 

knowledge and expertise I would strongly 

recommend the College of Law placement 

position to any law graduate who is 

interested in learning about public interest 

law and working with a great bunch of 

people # 

Andrea Durbach 

Director of PIAC and 

Co-ordinator of PILCH 

email: adurbach@piacasnau 

Madeleine Bennison 

Financial Manager 

email: mbennison@piacasnau 

Jane King 

Centre Co-ordinator 

email: jking@piacasnau 

Sandra Stevenson 

PILCH Solicitor 

email: sstevenson@piacasnau 

Fabiola Rofael 

Administrator 

email: frofael@piacasnau 

PIAC Staff 

Simon Moran 

Principal Solicitor 

email: smoran@piacasnau 

Dr Annemarie Devereux 

Senior Solicitor 

email: adevereux@piacasnau 

Alexis Goodstone 

Solicitor 

email: agoodstone@piacasnau 

Shahzad (Shaz) Rind 

Solicitor 

email: srind@piacasnau 

Bassina Farbenblum 

Solicitor 

email: bfarbenblum@piacasnau 

Melissa Pinzuti 

Legal Secretary 

email: mpinzuti@piacasnau 

Dr Patricia Ranald 

Principal Policy Officer 

email: pranald@piacasnau 

Amanda Cornwall 

Senior Policy Officer 

email: acornwall@piacasnau 

Trish Benson 

Senior Policy Officer (UCAP) 

email: tbenson@piacasnau 

Jim Wellsmore 

Policy Officer (UCAP) 

email: jwellsmore@piacasnau 

Carolyn Grenville 

Training Co-ordinator 

email: cgrenville@piacasnau 

Sarah Mitchell 

Policy Administrative Officer 

email: smitchell@piacasnau 


15

Printed by Ligare Pty Ltd, Riverwood NSW 

16 PIAC Bulletin No 16 15 • December June 2002 2002

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