Corruption and Misconduct Still Pervade the NSW Police Force
Former NSW police sergeant Nigel Alfred Davey was found guilty of common assault and perjury in Queanbeyan Local Court on December 12. Magistrate Michael Antrum ruled that Davey lied in court in October 2014, when he said a Nowra man was...
Australia’s Indigenous Suicide Crisis: An Interview with Professor Patricia Dudgeon
Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander communities are amongst the highest in the world. This is a crisis born of violent dispossession, intergenerational trauma, and ongoing cultural atrocities. In 2016, intentional self-harm was the fifth leading cause of...
Cocaine Testing May Lead to Fairer Drug Driving Laws
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on January 15 that the state government will be toughening drug driving penalties and increasing the number of mobile drug tests (MDTs), which is concerning to many given that the current regime is fundamentally flawed. NSW police...
Dutton Continues to Undermine the Rule of Law
. As federal Coalition ministers lined up to take a New Year’s swipe at the Victorian Labor government’s handling of youth crime, home affairs minister Peter Dutton took the opportunity to make yet another attack upon the legal profession. This time,...
Turnbull’s New Secrecy Laws: Prison for Whistleblowers and Journalists
Soon after the marriage equality bill passed through the lower house on December 7, prime minister Malcolm Turnbull introduced a piece of legislation ostensibly aimed at countering espionage, treason and foreign interference. But in reality, the laws have frightening implications for...
Australia Day: Patriots, Politicians and Changing the Date
The push to change Australia’s national day is gaining momentum, and many feel today will be the last time January 26 will be referred to as Australia day. However, it seems there are some Anglo Australians that still need the...
Government Set to Renew Laws which Remove Civil Liberties
Currently, some of the most extreme Commonwealth counterterrorism laws are under the review of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS). And if recent reports from an executive oversight body are anything to go by, these laws will be...
Facing Prison for Providing Free Cannabis Medicine: An Interview with Jenny Hallam
The benefits of medicinal cannabis have been rediscovered over recent years. Clinical trials and research papers have documented evidence that shows cannabis medicines can treat conditions, such as chronic pain, seizures in children with Dravet syndrome and multiple sclerosis. In...
Don’t Throw Anything Incriminating Into Your Rubbish Bin
Back in 2002, residents of Portland in the US state of Oregon were questioning whether local police had the power to go rummaging through citizens’ bins looking for evidence of criminal activity, after trash had been left on the side...
It’s Time to Repeal Australia’s Discriminatory Transgender Laws
The majority of Australia’s same-sex marriage laws came into effect on December 9 last year, which meant LGBTIQ members of the community were finally able to get their partnerships legally solemnised as of January 9, due to the 30 day waiting period...
