The statutory responsibilities of the State’s key public integrity agencies – the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the Office for Public Integrity (OPI) and Ombudsman SA – were recently changed by the South Australian Parliament.
Simultaneously, the way reports of corruption, misconduct and maladministration in public administration are dealt with and the reporting obligations that apply to public officers were significantly changed as well. (more…)
Did you know that there are formal requirements for signing deeds? To streamline this process, the University has recently authorised specific officeholders to sign deeds under a Power of Attorney.
A deed is a special type of legal document under which a party makes a binding promise to do something. Unlike ordinary agreements, deeds do not require parties to exchange something of value, such as a fee for a service. (more…)
In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was the first legal document to articulate fundamental human rights that must be protected.
Article 4 states that
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude: slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Despite this declaration, there is growing evidence that forms of slavery persist and permeate the global economy.
In 2018, the Australian Parliament passed the Modern Slavery Act 2018 which established a reporting process for all large Australian businesses and entities – like universities (more…)
In their personal capacity, University staff can be involved in a variety of activities outside of the University. Where those activities relate to an area of academic expertise or are connected to employment or status at the University, we all need to carefully draw a line between our personal interests and those of the University.
Academic freedom and freedom of speech are a part of laws regulating the higher education sector and academic activities. In March 2021, the Australian Parliament amended the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Cth) (the HESA) to specify that one of the specific purposes of the higher education sector is “the promotion and protection of freedom […]
The Freedom of Information Act 1991 (SA) (FOI Act) gives anyone a right to access documents held by public agencies such as universities. The object of the FOI Act is to promote openness and public accountability. In this spirit, all documents within the scope of an FOI request must be made available to the person […]
The Foreign Arrangements Scheme commenced on Tuesday 10 March 2021. The scheme introduces a formal notification requirement that applies to foreign arrangements entered into by all Australian state and territory entities, including public universities. The Scheme is established by the Commonwealth legislation Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 (the Act). Under the […]
Over recent decades, Australia’s economy and the higher education sector have benefited from an expansion in global engagement opportunities. With increasing connectivity through travel and technology, international student numbers grew and collaborative research projects thrived. More recently, the positive benefits to Australia have been qualified by defence and security agencies which see a down-side to […]
When we think of data breaches, we usually think of delinquent hackers exploiting technical or human flaws in IT systems to hunt down the personal information of others. But in many cases the risk that private information will fall into the hands of the wrong person is much closer to home – and more everyday […]
Are you aware of a notifiable event which has occurred in your area, but you haven’t got around to reporting it? The opportunity still exists to provide your notifiable event report to the Legal & Risk Branch – but it needs to be done before Monday 14 December 2020. A notifiable event may be a […]