The contribution of the Senate to criminal law reform

This article discusses the contribution of the Senate, and in particular, its committee system, to criminal law reform in Australia. The discussion includes both qualitative and quantitative evidence of the nature and volume of inquiries conducted into criminal law Bills and references between 1987 and 2016. It also examines examples of specific inquiries in this area of the law. A comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the Senate committee system with other law reform mechanisms, such as the Australian Law Reform Commission, is undertaken. It is evident that although there remain aspects of the Senate committee process that are not ideal for effective law reform, such as the level of politicisation present, there are many positive elements, and these could be used to inform the design of other law reform mechanisms.