FCA decides novel climate change case

Daily wrap  

• Torres Strait community leaders in ‘deepest pain imaginable’ as federal court dismisses landmark climate case | Climate crisis | The Guardian
   

  • Pabai v Commonwealth of Australia (No 2) [2025] FCA 796

    [1] The central issue in this difficult and novel case is whether the common law tort of negligence can and does provide Torres Strait Islanders with a remedy for what they claim has been the Commonwealth of Australia’s unreasonable and inadequate response to the existential risks posed by climate change and the impacts that it is having on the Torres Strait Islands.
     

  • Federal Court's Michael Wigney laments 'tragedy' in Torres Strait climate ruling — Capital Brief [paywall]
     

• ‘I am not anti-conservative’: sweary top legal official’s teal connection [The Australian paywall]

  The Administrative Review Tribunal deputy president reveals she has campaigned for a teal MP many times, and concedes she sent a slew of tweets ­attacking conservatives, including one labelling a former PM a ‘f..kwit’.
   

  • Question on notice and answer (download)
     

• Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon's legal team withdraws from alleged murder case - ABC News
   

• Mark Latham denies abuse claims made in court documents by former partner | Mark Latham | The Guardian
   

• NSW police yet to withdraw protest charge against Hannah Thomas as promised as she pleads not guilty | New South Wales | The Guardian
   

• NACC reforms ‘are vital to hold officials publicly to account’ [The Australian paywall]

  The former chief of Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog, IBAC, Robert Redlich, wants reform to ensure the troubled National Anti-Corruption Commission holds corrupt officials to account.
    

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Editor’s picks

• Defining death: ALRC examines laws around human tissue and organs - Law Report - Apple Podcasts

  In Australia, 'what is death' and other legal definitions, such as what constitutes human tissue, have not kept up with advances in medical science. There are also different rules around the use, donation or access to human tissue, blood and organs across the states and territories. In its first review of the legislation in almost 50 years, the Australian Law Reform Commission is in consultation to harmonise and modernise the current complex suite of human tissue laws.
   

• Law Council of Australia - Statement on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
   

• Chaplin v Secretary, Department of Social Services [2025] FCAFC 89

  [1] The issues in this appeal from a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal arise in relation to an issue of historic importance to some recipients of Youth Allowance paid under the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) and administered in accordance with the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Cth): Re Secretary, Department of Social Services and FTXB [2024] AATA 3021 at [190] (hereafter “T”).
   

• US supreme court allows Trump to resume gutting education department | US supreme court | The Guardian
   

• Denmark proposes copyright laws to protect against deepfakes - Law Society Journal
   

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