NCJ Number
159198
Date Published
1995
Length
56 pages
Annotation
This report highlights the work of the Queensland Law Reform Commission (Australia) for 1994-95, whose responsibility is to review the law applicable to Queensland with a view toward its systematic development and reform.
Abstract
The major work of the Commission in 1994-95 pertained to assisted and substituted decisions, consent to medical treatment of youth, and Uniform Succession laws of Australia. Regarding assisted and substituted decisions, the Commission proposes a comprehensive scheme of legislation that would apply to all people with a decisionmaking disability, regardless of the cause of their disability. It recognizes that people with a decisionmaking disability have a right to the greatest possible degree of self-determination and to adequate and appropriate support in their decisionmaking when it is required. In its preliminary recommendations pertinent to consent to medical treatment of juveniles, the Commission's primary concern has been that the law should not hinder juveniles' access to appropriate treatment. The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General of Australia has approved the development of uniform succession laws for the whole of Australia. The Queensland Law Reform Commission has been requested by the Queensland Attorney General to coordinate this project. The Commission has focused on achieving consistency in the succession laws across the States and Territories without word-for-word uniformity. During the year the Commission's final reports on Female Genital Mutilation and De Facto Relationships (Wrongful Death) were delivered to the Attorney General. Information is provided on conferences. Appended information on working papers, legislative action on reports, publications relating to working papers, and financial information