This professional service draws attention to current and important items of news
 and members are directed to the hosts' websites

Australia

UN condemns Aboriginal treatment - 27 August
A senior United Nations human rights official has criticised Australia's measures to fight child abuse and alcoholism in Aboriginal communities. Prof James Anaya said the measures were discriminatory and stigmatised indigenous people. He spoke after a tour of Aboriginal townships prompted by complaints that the government intervention was racist. The restrictions include rules on how welfare payments can be spent and a ban on alcohol and hard core pornography. - BBC News website

New Zealand

Maori welcome new patent legislation - 21 August
Updated patent laws will better protect Maori culture and traditions, Maori lawyers told MPs yesterday. Parliament's commerce select committee is considering the Patents Bill, drafted to update 50-year-old legislation. Maori Law Society president Damian Stone told the committee yesterday that cultural intellectual property needed to be recognised. "We don't see this as any special favour to Maori - it's just a new category of knowledge that the intellectual property system hasn't got to just yet," Mr Stone said. - The National Business Review website

Balance needed on smacking issue - 25 August
Family lawyers want to see a balance struck between protecting good parents and punishing the bad. Prime Minister John Key has announced that the anti-smacking law will not be changed. Instead, there will be a review of police and welfare procedures. Paul Maskell from the Law Society Family Law Section hopes police and Child Youth and Family will take action. - NewstalkZB website

InfoUpdate : an Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society