17 and inviting interested persons to make submissions to those references.  However, using the media creates its own difficulties. The  media  often  has  its  own  criteria  for  the  importance  of  news  and  will  therefore only  publish  material  that  it  considers  newsworthy.    In  about  mid-September  2003, ABC  Radio  News  had  organised  an  interview  with  Penny  Cooper,  Director  of  the QLRC,   regarding   the   reference   on   Abrogation   of   the   Privilege   against   Self- Incrimination.    However,  a  busload  of  refugees  recently  released  from  detention, arrived in Brisbane.  This event eclipsed the newsworthiness of the QLRC interview and so it did not proceed.  I do not wish to suggest that the arrival of recently released detainees  is  not  important;  simply  that  the  prioritising  of  news  items  by  the  media means that one cannot rely on the media to give prominence to a law-reform issue, even if it may have a greater long-term impact on people’s lives.  The media, as is often   noted,   also   has   a   tendency   to   “sensationalise,   personalise   and   trivialise information”³⁰ which does not assist the public to properly understand the work of the QLRC.    For  example,  in  the  Health  Care  of  Young  People  reference,  the  Courier- Mail³¹  headline  read:  “14  year  olds’  abortions  to  remain  private”.    The  Discussion Paper in question had proposed a scheme to deal with consent to health care generally and had included a preliminary recommendation that health care providers respect a young  person’s  wishes  relating  to  confidentiality;  the  QLRC  had  not  made  any preliminary recommendations specific to abortion. Nevertheless,  successful  use  of  the  media  does  occur.    The  QLRC  produces  press releases to inform the media who, at their discretion, may publish it as a news story.   Recently, an article about the QLRC’s progress on the Self-Incrimination reference,³² written by one of the Commission’s members, Peter Applegarth SC, was published in the Courier-Mail. 3.4 The Use of Websites                                                 30   Kirby,  Michael  “Reform:  Australian  Style”  Reform  the  Law:  Essays  on  the  Renewal  of  the Australian Legal System Melbourne, Oxford University Press: 1983, 51 – 70 at 61. 31   Queensland’s only daily news broadsheet. 32   Abrogation of the Privilege against Self-Incrimination