Introduction: On 18 December 2013, the High Court handed down its decision in Unions NSW v New South Wales. The Court ruled that electoral funding provisions enacted in NSW in 2012 were invalid because they infringed upon the implied freedom of political communication in the Commonwealth Constitution. This e-brief outlines the decision and considers its...

This paper summarises the debate about mandatory sentencing, outlines various measures adopted in New South Wales to place limits on judicial discretion in sentencing, and reviews mandatory sentencing laws in other Australian jurisdictions.

This paper examines recent cases of political corruption in New South Wales, in light of corruption offences and law reform in other Australian states and the United Kingdom. Introduction In recent years a number of high profile inquiries by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) have resulted in findings that persons in public office –...

Following the debate surrounding Crown Limited’s unsolicited proposal to build and operate a six-star hotel and VIP casino at Barangaroo, this paper explains NSW Government policy on unsolicited proposals. Introduction The NSW Government’s process for dealing with unsolicited proposals from the private sector has recently been the subject of much debate. The debate has centred...

Summary This paper reports on 11-year trends in NSW State finances between 2003-04 and 2013-14 (inclusive). For some of the key indicators, the paper also shows trends for the last two (53rd and 54th) Parliaments, and for the first three years of this (55th) Parliament. This paper sets out the key trends but only briefly...