Chapter 1


Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1        On 23 June 2010, the Senate referred the provisions of the Civil Dispute Resolution Bill 2010 (the Bill) to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report by 30 July 2010. On 23 July 2010 the committee tabled a short report which stated that as a result of the prorogation of Parliament, the committee had resolved not to continue the inquiry into the Bill and noted that if the Bill were reintroduced in the new Parliament, the Senate could again refer it to the committee for inquiry.

1.2        The Bill was reintroduced into the House of Representatives on 30 September 2010 by the Attorney-General, the Hon. Robert McClelland MP. The Senate again referred the provisions of the Bill to the committee on 30 September 2010 for inquiry and report by 22 November 2010. The reporting date was subsequently extended to 2 December 2010.

Purpose of the Bill

1.3        The object of the Bill is to ensure that, as far as possible, people take 'genuine steps' to resolve disputes before certain civil proceedings are instituted in the Federal Court of Australia (Federal Court) or the Federal Magistrates Court.[1] The overall aims of the Bill, as noted in the Explanatory Memorandum (EM), are:

  • to change the adversarial culture often associated with disputes;
  • to focus on resolution before parties become entrenched in litigation; and
  • to ensure that, where disputes proceed to court, the issues are properly identified, ultimately reducing the time required for the court to determine the matter.[2]

1.4        The EM states that the Bill 'draws on' recommendations of the National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council (NADRAC) in its report, The Resolve to Resolve: Embracing ADR to Improve Access to Justice in the Federal Jurisdiction.[3] The Attorney-General's second reading speech also indicated that the Bill is an initiative formulated in accordance with the strategic framework for access to justice announced by the Australian Government in September 2009.[4]

Conduct of the inquiry

1.5        The committee advertised the inquiry in The Australian newspaper. Details of the inquiry, the Bill and associated documents were placed on the committee's website. The committee also wrote to 35 organisations and individuals, as well as the Commonwealth and state and territory governments, inviting submissions by 27 October 2010.

1.6        The committee received 11 submissions which are listed at Appendix 1. Submissions were placed on the committee's website for ease of access by the public.

1.7        The committee held public hearings in Melbourne on 4 November 2010 and Canberra on 11 November 2010. A list of witnesses who appeared at the hearing is at Appendix 2, and copies of the Hansard transcript are available through the internet at https://www.aph.gov.au/hansard.

Acknowledgement

1.8        The committee thanks those organisations and individuals who made submissions and gave evidence at the public hearings.

Scope of the report

1.9        Chapter 2 provides a brief outline of the key provisions of the Bill, and Chapter 3 discusses the key issues raised in submissions and evidence.

Note on references

1.10      References in this report are to individual submissions as received by the committee, not to a bound volume. References to the committee Hansard are to the proof Hansard: page numbers may vary between the proof and the official Hansard transcript.

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