Minister attendance at final justice meeting in Australia

Justice Minister Simon Power travelled to Australia to attend the final meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) in Adelaide.

SCAG is comprised of the Attorneys-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, its states and territories, and New Zealand's Minister of Justice. Norfolk Island has observer status.

“The final meeting addressed "a number of challenging contemporary justice issues, including cyber crime, social media and privacy, and match-fixing in sport,” Mr Power said.

SCAG will transition into the Standing Council on Law and Justice (SCLJ) under the Council of Australian Governments’ new Standing Council System. The membership will be the same as SCAG.

As with SCAG, SCLJ will provide a forum for Attorneys-General to discuss and progress matters of mutual interest, and will seek to achieve harmonised action in the areas of responsibility of its members.

The broad themes of the work SCLJ will cover are: criminal justice, indigenous justice, access to justice, social justice and the protection of rights, applying the rule of law in evolving circumstances, and minimising regulatory burdens through the harmonisation of laws.

“I’m confident these meetings will continue to be a valuable forum for New Zealand and Australian Ministers to share experiences in relation to justice issues facing our countries,” Mr Power said.

The meeting's communique can be found at Australian Attorney General Robert McClelland's website.