Book Review: Control of Government Action: Text, Cases and Commentaries

It has been many years since the Fitzgerald Inquiry raised issues of government transparency and accountability to the level of everyday legal issues readily discussed by lawyers and the broader community.

Since then, control of government action (and administrative law generally) has continued to embed itself as a significant area of legal activity. And the legal pathway has continued to become a mainstream option for those interested in challenging individual decisions of public servants and in holding the government to account, generally.

Professors Robin Creyke and John McMillan have produced an excellent contribution to this area of the law in the form of the (2012) 3^rd edition of the text Control of Government Action: Text, Cases and Commentary. This work is aimed at both the university and professional markets. It covers critical areas of administrative law, such as: judicial review; ombudsman offices; constitutional aspects and the separation of powers; natural justice; policy and the use of policy in government; and breaches of statutory duty. It also focuses on recent developments and emerging themes, for instance: review of decisions by integrity agencies; access to information laws; and High Court decisions, such as Kirk v Industrial Court of NSW (2010) 239 CLR 531 (on unlawful decision making).

The blurb on the back cover of the work is not hyperbole when it refers to the book as being “highly respected” and covering “the breadth and depth of Australian administrative law.” Those commendations are well earned.

Louise Floyd

3 February 2013