Review of the Use of Legal Professional Privilege in Commonwealth Investigations
21 March 2025
On 14 March 2025, the Law Council lodged a submission to the joint review of the use of client legal privilege (CLP) in Commonwealth investigations, being conducted by the Attorney-General’s Department and Treasury. The submission was produced in response to a Discussion Paper published in late 2024, which formed part of the Government’s proposal to strengthen regulatory arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose in light of systemic issues raised by the PwC matter.
The Law Council’s submission emphasises the importance of CLP in the administration of justice, and highlights the professional obligations (including ethical duties) on the legal profession to protect the confidentiality of their client’s information, including privileged communications, except where the client has authorised disclosure, or disclosure is compelled by law.
In strongly cautioning against any additional penalties or coercive powers in response to perceived concerns from Commonwealth regulators about the use of CLP, the Law Council’s submission focuses attention on:
- options for narrowing information requests from federal regulators to minimise the volume of communications potentially subject to legal privilege;
- ensuring regulators are seeking information on the characteristics (rather than the substance) of a communication when considering whether to accept a claim of privilege; and
- the need for consistency across federal regulatory bodies with regards to administrative procedures for CLP claims.
The Law Council’s submission was developed in collaboration with its CLP Working Group and incorporates contributions from the Law Society of New South Wales, Law Institute of Victoria, New South Wales Bar Association, Queensland Law Society, and the Law Society of South Australia.
It is expected that a further Issues Paper will be released later in 2025, allowing the Law Council a further opportunity to engage with the joint review prior to a final report being published.
Last Updated on 24/03/2025
Share
Tags
Most recent items
Law Council
Commonwealth Law Conference 2025 Malta
Law Council