Law Report

ABC Australia

From courtroom dramas to miscarriages of justice, to how the law affects you — and so much more. The Law Report is your accessible guide to the big legal stories unfolding in Australia and across the world.

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26 episodes
Avg 29 min
English

Episodes 26

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Tuesday · 28 min
The rapid rise of AI use in employment law disputes
A Sydney computing academic made headlines when he won a landmark case at the Fair Work Commission by relying entirely on artificial intelligence. The Law Report explores concerns over the rapid rise in the use of AI by self-represented litigants in employment law disputes.
August 14 · length unknown
01 | Can a stranger inherit everything you own?
An elderly man goes into respite care and meets a nurse he's never known before. Within days she's bought him a will kit and had a document drawn up that leaves everything to her. He dies weeks later. Was that his clear settled wish, or something else entirely? Proving the difference is where it gets hard. And messy. When it comes to wills, how big an issue are fraud and undue influence? And what sorts of questions arise over how a will is made? Melbourne lawyer and elder financial abuse s
August 14 · length unknown
02 | The will written on a frozen fish packet
A frozen fish packet. An unsent text. A tractor fender. Courts have accepted all of these as valid wills. You want to write a will and make sure that your assets go to those who you think deserve your generosity. So, how can you make sure the will is binding? Does it need to be a formal document, printed out and signed with a pen? Or can a valid will be a word document, an email or text message? Can it be written on a frozen fish packet or the wall in your home? Wills expert Professor Pru Vin
August 14 · length unknown
03 | He worked the farm for decades and got nothing
You work the family farm your whole life, then it's left to someone else. When drafting a will, the law says you don't have to be fair or equal in deciding who will receive your estate. So, after you pass away, can disgruntled family members or friends challenge your will in the courts? Conflicts over inheritance arise in many families but are particularly fraught and complex in farming families. Andrew Lawson of the Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law at the University of New England e
August 14 · length unknown
04 | Asked to be an executor? What you're really signing up for
If a relative asks you to be the executor of their will, should you accept? What can go wrong and what do you need to know before you agree to take on the role? When disputes arise, executors are the ones left to clean up the mess, often navigating difficult family dynamics. And saying yes to being an executor can make you personally liable for someone else's debts. Sydney lawyer Donal Griffin explains what the job involves, from settling the deceased's tax and debts to the risk of being held pe
August 11 · 29 min
Alan Jones on trial
The criminal trial of former radio broadcaster Alan Jones has begun in the Local Court in Sydney.
August 4 · 29 min
How should the law respond to cults and groups that coerce and control?
The Victorian parliament has published a groundbreaking inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups. Among the inquiry's recommendations are world-first laws to criminalise coercive control behaviours by groups.
July 28 · 29 min
The legacy of William Ah Ket, Australia's first lawyer of Chinese descent
It's 150 years since the birth of William Ah Ket, Australia's first lawyer of Chinese descent. He was involved in two significant legal victories that kicked back against laws that discriminated against Asian Australians in the early 20th century. The Law Report explores the life and career of this remarkable Australian, his achievements and how his legacy resonates today.
July 21 · 29 min
Fifty years of 'no-fault' divorce in Australia
This year marks 50 years of the Family Law Act – legislation that revolutionised the way Australians divorce. Two former family law judges sit down with Damien Carrick to revisit a time before no-fault divorce, when unhappy spouses often employed private detectives to prove adultery.
July 14 · 29 min
The dilemmas of parole board decision making
What is it like to have the responsibility of deciding if a violent offender should be released from prison and allowed back into the community?
July 7 · 29 min
New employment law pathway to hear sexual harassment complaints
In a legal first, the Federal Court has handed down a sexual harassment decision under protections recently introduced to the Fair Work Act.
June 30 · 29 min
Who should pay when prison guards or police officers cause injury?
If a child is injured by tear gas in a youth detention centre, are the authorities liable? And can a protester injured by police during a demonstration seek damages?
June 23 · 29 min
Why a UK court upheld the Palestine Action terror ban
The Court of Appeal in London ruled that it was open to Britain's home secretary to designate the Palestine Action protest group as a terrorist organisation.
June 16 · 29 min
Should a complainant's counselling records be used in a sexual assault trial?
The Law Report looks at the Victorian government plans to ensure health and counselling information is not used in court without the consent of victim survivors, who will also be given the choice to pre-record their evidence ahead of trial.
June 9 · 29 min
Is there a place for AI in boardrooms and the courts?
Artificial intelligence is revolutionising all parts of the economy and our institutions — corporate boardrooms and the courts are not immune.
June 2 · 29 min
A bushfire starts on your property and spreads to your neighbours - are you liable for their losses?
A court has found that a South Australian farmer was responsible for setting fire to a pile of vegetation that was left smouldering and reignited six months later, causing a devastating bushfire.
May 26 · 29 min
Trump's war on journalists: libel or lawfare?
There's been a wave of defamation suits from within the Trump administration targeting the US news media. Is it legitimate litigation or lawfare?
May 19 · 29 min
America's Erin Patterson? The Kouri Richins poisoning case
In a case that's transfixed the US, a woman who wrote a children's book about grief following her husband's death has been sentenced to life in prison for his murder.
May 12 · 29 min
Does EMDR therapy taint a witness's recollection?
Imagine you are a victim of crime and need therapy to help deal with a traumatic memory. Would you go ahead if it meant that your case might not be prosecuted because the treatment could deem your evidence unreliable or inadmissible in court?
May 5 · 29 min
What does an election look like when there are no financial ground rules?
There are no political donation laws in Victoria following a High Court decision that overturned legislation in place for nearly a decade.

Showing 1–20 of 26 episodes