Pill Testing Approved for Aussie Music Festival
Finally, after years of calls from health professionals and members of the public, Australia is about to see its first government-sanctioned pill testing trial at a music festival, with the aim, of course, of reducing the dangers associated with drug...
Defending the Nauru 19: An Interview with Sydney Lawyer Christian Hearn
Nineteen people from the island of Nauru are facing trial accused of public order offences following a protest against the Nauruan government on June 16 2015. Now known as the Nauru 19, the group were part of hundreds of locals who’d gathered...
Explaining the Rohingya Crisis: An Interview with the ARNO
The UN Refugee Agency reports at least 420,000 Rohingya people have fled across the border from Myanmar into neighbouring Bangladesh since violence erupted in their homelands in late August. The refugees are now living in makeshift camps in the Cox’s...
AOD Media Watch: Correcting Mainstream Media Misinformation About Drugs
On March 31 this year, an opinion piece appeared in the Age with the headline, The zombie apocalypse is here and none of us are safe. The author Wendy Squires relates a confrontation she had with a man, who’d allegedly...
Finland Is Eradicating Homelessness
Over the course of the year, politicians in Sydney and Melbourne have resorted to criminalising homelessness as a way of dealing with the increasing amount of rough sleepers turning up on city streets. Last month, the Berejiklian government passed a...
Your Rights When Approached by Police at Music Festivals
The hot weather is starting to kick in and with it, the festival season is upon us. Thousands of revellers are gearing up to take in their favourite live music acts, get down to some old skool beats, or spend...
Defendants With Disabilities Face Injustice At Every Level
The Australian inmate population is continuing its steep incline. In June this year, the number of adult inmates detained in the nation’s correctional facilities rose to 41,204, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures. This marks a 7 percent increase...
Stop Murdering Drug Users: An Interview with Harm Reduction Advocate Pascal Tanguay
At 8pm on Thursday night, Catholic leaders across the Philippines rang their church bells simultaneously for five minutes to honour those who have died during president Rodrigo Duterte’s “reign of terror.” The ritual will take place for the next 40 days and...
WA Considers Separating from the Rest of Australia
Western Australia has long debated whether to withdraw from federation, and the issue is once again on the agenda. At the WA Liberal party state conference on September 3, members voted in favour of a motion to investigate whether to...
Lack of Treatment Leads to Reoffending
The Victorian prisoner population has been on the rapid increase since the late 1990s. In July 1998, there were 2,876 adult prisoners in the state’s correctional facilities, whereas in July this year, there was 7,152 inmates, according to Corrections Victoria figures....
