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Federal
Non-corporate Commonwealth Entity
Justice and Law Enforcement

Australian Law Reform Commission

Portfolio: Attorney-General's

http://www.alrc.gov.au/

Annual Budget

$6M

2026-27 Budget (Budget Paper No. 4)
+9.1%vs prior year ($5M)
Total Revenue

$8M

2024-25 Total Revenue
Staff

25

Headcount (2024-25)
Budget Commentary

Material upward shift in 2026-27 funding (+9.1%, $0M change). 2025-26 estimated actual $5M → 2026-27 budget $6M. Source: Budget Paper No. 4, Agency Resourcing tables.

Major Digital Projects
3

Case Management Solution (CMS) Program

Administrative Review Tribunal

Tier 2
DCA: Medium-Low
Active

Total Budget

$29.6M

Digital Budget

$29.6M

January 2022June 2027

This project will establish a new single case management system for the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART), replacing multiple outdated legacy systems that the ART currently relies on. The new, whole-of-agency case management system will improve ART users' digital experience and staff productivity to support the ART’s statutory objectives.

Evidence Management Modernisation Program (EMM or EMMP), formerly Digital Litigation Solutions

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

Tier 3
Closed

Total Budget

$22.7M

Digital Budget

$3.6M

January 2023June 2025

This investment is modernising how digital evidentiary material is managed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Commonwealth) by introducing a digital solution and establishing an internal digital evidence capability to more effectively manage large volumes of digital evidence. This involves transitioning from legacy systems and establishing optimum support arrangements for an efficient prosecution service.

Secure Court Information Management System (SCIMS)

Attorney-General’s Department

Tier 3
Active

Total Budget

$15.1M

Digital Budget

$15.1M

July 2024June 2028

The Australian Government requires the development and delivery of a digital, remote-access court information management system that is secure, accredited and highly available. SCIMS is necessary to support the electronic presentation and protection of classified material (up to and including SECRET) for legal matters that deal with national security information materials in the lead up to, and during court proceedings.

Ideas relevant to this department

8 tagged

Reform proposals on YourGov that name this department as a delivery partner — drawn from citizen voice, government strategy, research, international examples and gap analysis.

STRATEGY SUMMARY

To make evidence-based recommendations to government that promote effective and fair laws, and an efficient and accessible justice system, while contributing to legal education and scholarship. [CP p.9]

VISION

Just laws that are systematically modernised and improved through independent law reform. [CP p.9]

PURPOSE

To make evidence-based recommendations to government that promote effective and fair laws, and an efficient and accessible justice system, while contributing to legal education and scholarship. [CP p.9]

Strategic priorities

· 6

1

bring the law into line with current conditions and needs

2

remove defects in the law

3

simplify the law

4

adopt new or more effective methods for administering the law and dispensing justice

5

promote uniformity between states and territories

6

provide improved access to justice

Outcomes

· 1

Outcome 1: Informed government decisions about the development, reform and harmonisation of Australian laws and related processes through research, analysis, reports and community consultation and education

The ALRC’s outcome objective is to provide Informed government decisions about the development, reform and harmonisation of Australian laws and related processes through research, analysis, reports and community consultation and education (Outcome 1).

KEY ACTIVITIES

  • conducting inquiries into aspects of Australian law and related processes for the purposes of law reform

Values

· 5

excellence

integrity

independence

accountability

respect

Performance measures

· 7

CodeMeasureTarget 2025-26Latest resultStatus

CCE01

number of consultation papers and the number of reports to government

4

2

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

CCE02

percentage of inquiries completed on time in accordance with the terms of reference set by the Attorney-General

100%

100%

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

CCE03

number of citations or references to ALRC consultation documents, reports and recommendations in Parliamentary debates and committee reports, court citations and decisions, and academic publications and other publications

100

96

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

CCE04

number of submissions received for each inquiry

50

149

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

CCE05

number of consultations held for each inquiry

25

230

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

CCE06

breadth of community engagement in the work of the ALRC through the number of subscribers to the ALRC’s email updates, visitors to the website, and public attendees at ALRC seminars

250

6,941

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

CCE07

number of publications, presentations, and speaking engagements of ALRC staff

25

42

Annual Report 2024-25 · p.23
Achieved

Ideas distilled from this entity's strategy & evidence

· 8

Data & Performance

Increase citations of ALRC reports in legal documents

Implement targeted outreach and engagement strategies to boost citations of ALRC reports in court decisions and academic publications.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Medium
Medium

2025-26.pdf [CP p.23]

Technology & Innovation

Adopt Singapore’s legal tech framework

Implement Singapore’s legal tech framework to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of ALRC’s research and recommendations.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

deloitte.com-government-public.txt

Citizen Participation

Expand public engagement initiatives

Beyond current community engagement, launch a nationwide public consultation campaign to gather diverse perspectives on proposed law reforms.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
Large

2025-26.pdf [CP p.23]

Data & Performance

Build a public dashboard for law reform progress

Create a public dashboard showing real-time progress on current law reform inquiries and past recommendations.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

speculative

Case Processing

Streamline the inquiry submission process

Simplify and streamline the process for submitting inquiries and feedback to the ALRC.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

2024-25.pdf [AR p.23]

Regulation & Policy

Enhance data analysis in ALRC reports

Go beyond current report analysis by incorporating advanced data analytics to provide deeper insights into law reform recommendations.

Impact: High
Effort: Medium
Medium

2025-26.pdf [CP p.10]

Regulation & Policy

Implement a feedback loop for recommendations

Establish a structured feedback loop to continuously gather and incorporate stakeholder feedback on ALRC recommendations.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

2024-25.pdf [AR p.23]

Strategy & Reform

Adopt global best practices for law reform

Adopt global best practices from the World Bank Governance Global Practice to enhance the effectiveness of ALRC’s law reform initiatives.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

association-worldbank.org-governance.txt

Data & Performance

Increase citations of ALRC reports in legal documents

Implement targeted outreach and engagement strategies to boost citations of ALRC reports in court decisions and academic publications.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Medium
Medium

2025-26.pdf [CP p.23]

Technology & Innovation

Adopt Singapore’s legal tech framework

Implement Singapore’s legal tech framework to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of ALRC’s research and recommendations.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

deloitte.com-government-public.txt

Citizen Participation

Expand public engagement initiatives

Beyond current community engagement, launch a nationwide public consultation campaign to gather diverse perspectives on proposed law reforms.

Impact: Very High
Effort: High
Large

2025-26.pdf [CP p.23]

Data & Performance

Build a public dashboard for law reform progress

Create a public dashboard showing real-time progress on current law reform inquiries and past recommendations.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

speculative

Case Processing

Streamline the inquiry submission process

Simplify and streamline the process for submitting inquiries and feedback to the ALRC.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

2024-25.pdf [AR p.23]

Regulation & Policy

Enhance data analysis in ALRC reports

Go beyond current report analysis by incorporating advanced data analytics to provide deeper insights into law reform recommendations.

Impact: High
Effort: Medium
Medium

2025-26.pdf [CP p.10]

Regulation & Policy

Implement a feedback loop for recommendations

Establish a structured feedback loop to continuously gather and incorporate stakeholder feedback on ALRC recommendations.

Impact: Medium
Effort: Low
Small

2024-25.pdf [AR p.23]

Strategy & Reform

Adopt global best practices for law reform

Adopt global best practices from the World Bank Governance Global Practice to enhance the effectiveness of ALRC’s law reform initiatives.

Impact: High
Effort: High
Large

association-worldbank.org-governance.txt

Legislation administered

· 5

Act

1996

Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996

The entity administers this Act to conduct law reform inquiries and provide recommendations to the government.

Act

1993

Future Acts Regime under the Native Title Act 1993

The entity reviews and recommends reforms to the future acts regime in the Native Title Act 1993.

Inquiry

N/A

Surrogacy Laws

The entity conducts an inquiry into surrogacy laws to identify legal and policy reforms.

Inquiry

N/A

Human Tissue Laws

The entity reviews human tissue laws to consider reforms related to organ and tissue donation, retrieval, and transplantation.

Inquiry

N/A

Justice Responses to Sexual Violence

The entity examines justice responses to sexual violence and recommends reforms to improve the criminal justice system.

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