Ministers meet in Brisbane to discuss national law reforms

Harmonisation of Australian laws about powers of attorney will be discussed when the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meets in Brisbane this week.

SCAG is a national Ministerial Council that provides a forum for federal, state, territory and New Zealand Attorneys-General to discuss matters of mutual interest and progress law reform.

Queensland Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Kerry Shine will host the two-day meeting which begins today.

Mr Shine said Queensland would lead discussion on achieving more effective mutual recognition of powers of attorney between jurisdictions.

"Powers of attorney give a person the legal power to make decisions on behalf of another person, either in relation to their personal or financial affairs," Mr Shine said.

"Currently there are problems with the transferability of powers of attorney between jurisdictions.

"Both government and legal stakeholders have identified the economic and social costs this is creating for the community.

"With an ageing and increasingly mobile population, there is a real need to harmonise the various laws relating to substitute decision-making.

"The SCAG Harmonisation conference in September found this issue required priority action."

Mr Shine said other items Ministers would consider at this week's meeting included:

• classifying laser pointers with output above 1 milliwatt (mW) as weapons under criminal law and prohibiting their possession
• development of a nationally consistent prohibition against the naming of children in criminal proceedings
• draft model provisions to harmonise laws governing suppression/non-publication orders relating to court proceedings
• journalist shield laws

Media contact Chris Taylor 0419 710 874