16 Commission  held  face  to  face  consultations,  except  with  rural  indigenous  groups, where tele-conferencing was used. 3.2.3  Public Submissions The most useful submissions generally contain critical analysis of the law or provide evidence  of  the  practical  operation  of  the  law  that  would  otherwise  be  difficult  or impossible  to  obtain.    The  preparation  of  submissions  of  this  calibre  involves significant effort and resources on the part of those making them.  All Commissions face   the   constant   dilemma   of   how   to   elicit   submissions   from   persons   and organisations  who  have  a  genuine  interest  in  a  reference  and  the  best  of  intentions about providing their input, but who ultimately may not be able to find the time to contribute their views.  There are no easy answers as to how participation in the law reform  process  can  be  made  more  accessible.    On  a  practical  level,  the  QLRC  is always  willing  to  take  oral  submissions,  which  can,  to  a  certain  extent,  reduce  the work  that  would  otherwise  be  involved  for  a  respondent  in  preparing  a  written submission. Occasionally, submissions may be skewed by organisations and interest groups who exhort  their  members  to  send  pro-forma  submissions.    The  Tasmania  Law  Reform Institute,  in  its  recent  report  on  Adoption  by Same  Sex  couples,  received  a  total  of 1300  submissions:  only  195  of  which  were  not  duplicates.²⁹    Such  an  issue  will probably  have  polarised  community  views,  have  been  well  publicised  in  the  media and with interest groups with strong opinions at either end of the debate.  Of course, the  original  submission  is  considered  but  its  duplicate  goes  only  to  assessing  the weight of community opinion behind a particular position; it adds very little else. 3.3 Use of Media The media is an important tool for informing the general public about what references the QLRC is undertaking, as well as communicating the progress of those references                                                 29   Tasmania Law Reform Institute Media Release (29 May 2003), at http://www.law.utas.edu.au/reform/MediaReleaseAdoptionFinRep.pdf, visited 18/03/2004.