What we do

The NSW Law Reform Commission provides law reform advice to the NSW Government on issues referred to us by the NSW Attorney General.

We report our findings and recommendations to the Attorney General. We may, for example, recommend ways to improve, simplify or modernise a law.

The Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW) sets out our role and functions.

Below, we outline the typical stages of a law reform review. Our approach may change depending on the size, complexity, and timing of a review.

The Attorney General asks us to review a law

The Attorney General first needs to refer a law to us for review. This is called a reference.

We can only review a law if the NSW Attorney General asks us to.

The Attorney General also issues a document called the terms of reference. This sets out the scope of our review and lists issues we should consider.

Research and early consultations

We gather information to identify concerns about the law.

This can include:

reading court cases to understand how the law works in NSW
looking at similar laws across Australia and other countries
considering statistics, and
reading books, articles and reports.

We might meet with experts and community groups to ask if they have concerns about the law. These early meetings are called preliminary consultations.

Consultation paper and submissions

We may publish a consultation paper that:

explains the law that we are reviewing
sets out a range of ideas for addressing any problems with the law, and
asks people and organisations to tell us if they think the law should change and, if so, how.

Everyone is welcome to share their views on the issues and options that we outline in a consultation paper. These responses are called submissions.

Visit how to make a submission for more information.

Sometimes, we run public surveys to gather more feedback. This is another way you can have your say about the law.

Further consultations

We might meet with people and groups to gather more information and ideas for improving the law. These meetings are known as consultations.

We often consult with a range of people and groups, including legal experts, community groups, government agencies and people affected by the law.

Final report

We consider our research and everything we have heard in submissions and consultations. If we identify a problem with the law, we recommend ways to fix it.

We give the Attorney General our views and recommendations in a final report.

Government response

The Attorney General must present the report to both Houses of the NSW Parliament within 14 parliamentary sitting days.

The NSW Government decides how it will respond to the report. For example, the Government may propose new laws or change existing laws in response to our recommendations.

Last updated:

04 Apr 2025