Tougher Policing Leads to More Women Behind Bars
Between 2011 and 2017, the NSW adult female prisoner population has increased by 50 percent, according to a recent Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) report. And the sharpest increase has been since the beginning of 2015. Released on...
Murder Confession Inadmissible Due to Threats
In March 2014, Gary Clifford Blackman was living on his semi-rural property named Tomewin, near the NSW Northern Rivers town of Murwillumbah. Mr Blackman suffered cognitive impairment due to chronic alcoholism, and by most accounts, was a passive and agreeable...
The Rise of Redfern’s Black Power Movement: An Interview with Professor Gary Foley
On January 25 1972, then Australian prime minister Billy McMahon stated that his government refused to grant Aboriginal land rights. The conservative politician made the announcement in response to the growing lands rights movement of the time. The fact that McMahon...
The Fallacy of ‘You Have Nothing to Fear if You Have Nothing to Hide’
Privacy is something valued by all of us, at least to some degree. Arriving home at the end of the day, it’s important to know that what goes on behind closed doors is not being monitored by authorities or some...
Successful Drug Regulation: An Interview with Dr Julian Buchanan
The call for drug law reform is getting stronger, both globally and domestically. There is a growing acknowledgement amongst communities and former holders of positions of authority that the century-old drug prohibition model has failed. The 2011 Global Commission on Drug...
Government Bans Alleged Drug Suppliers from Inner City Public Housing
The Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) issued a letter to inner city public housing applicants on February 28, explaining that they’ll be banned from certain housing estates if they were convicted of, or even charged with, drug supply or...
NSW Lawyer Struck Off and Prosecuted For Fraud
When applying to be admitted into the Australian legal profession, law graduates are required to undergo a character test to determine whether they are a “fit and proper person” to engage in legal practise. However, there are lawyers who -...
Politicians Should be Allowed to Criticise Judges, Argues Former High Court Justice
Former High Court Justice Dyson Heydon has written a searing critique of a hearing last year in the Victorian Court of Appeal (VCA), which determined whether to prosecute three federal ministers for contempt of court after they criticised the Victorian...
New Police Watchdog Lacks the Funding to Investigate Complaints
The new NSW police watchdog has revealed that due to a lack of funding it’s had to forego monitoring a large number of already active critical incident investigations, as well as disregard more than fifty police integrity complaints. In a...
Dutton’s White Australia Policy
Home affairs minister Peter Dutton has once again sparked a furore over his refugee policies. On March 14, the minister revealed to the Daily Telegraph that he’s instructed his department to look into fast-tracking humanitarian visas for “persecuted” white South...
