Courts and media rights to access and publish what's doing.

The coalition of media organisations, Australia's Right to Know has published The Review of Suppression Orders and Access to Court Documents in Australia ( ARTK Report), highlighting excessive secrecy associated with the judicial branch of government. The report details the growth of suppression orders across the country, the wide variations and lack of consistency in the judicial approach to granting applications for orders, and the problems for the media in accessing court documents.

Here is a summary from AAP and some commentary from Richard Ackland on the report and associated issues, including (off on a little tangent) observations about instances of media self-interest in not reporting on some matters close to home.

The Standing Committee of Attorneys General at a meeting in Brisbane last week saw a "commitment of the States and Territories to further develop the framework for a national electronic register of suppression orders."Communique and Summary of Decisions.

That's something but there is a long way to go on this one.