“Free My Father”: An Interview with Jewher Ilham
On September 23 2014, peaceful Uyghur rights advocate Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Xinjiang People’s High Court in western China on separatism charges. The two-day trial was condemned as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists around the world....
Welfare Drug Testing Is an Invasive Punishment of the Poor
During his budget speech, Australian treasurer Scott Morrison announced that the federal government will “commence a modest drug testing trial for 5,000 new welfare recipients.” And those with a positive test result will be put onto cashless welfare cards. Australian social...
The NSW Government’s ‘Justice’ Reforms: Part Two
As outlined in an earlier post, the NSW government recently announced a suite of new “justice” reforms, as part of its ongoing “tough on crime” stance. Not only is the government investing heavily in more prisons, its also strengthening the laws...
NSW Government’s ‘Justice’ Reforms: Part One
The NSW government is continuing its tough on crime stance. Last week, the Coalition announced it will be introducing a series of “tougher and smarter justice reforms,” which include tougher sentencing options, stricter rules for parole and more intense monitoring of...
Attacks on Muslims on the Rise: An Interview with Mariam Veiszadeh
Four Muslim women were randomly punched in the face in an Islamophobic attack out the front of Sydney’s University of Technology (UTS) last Wednesday. A 39-year-old woman from Paraguay allegedly assaulted each woman – one after the other – in a...
The Australian Prison Boom and the Need for Decarceration
The imprisonment rate in Australia has been on the rise since the 1970s. At present, it’s at an all-time high. As of June last year, there were 38,845 adult prisoners in Australian correctional facilities, which was an 8 percent increase on the year...
‘High Alert’ Campaign Warns Drug Users of Police Operations
Under Operation Safenight, Victoria police are carrying out nightclub raids and searches targeting people who use drugs throughout Melbourne. The operation commenced on April 23, and searches have been undertaken in the city’s nightclub precincts on two out of the...
Rehab and Harm Reduction: An Interview with WHOS director Garth Popple
The subject of drug rehabilitation formed part of the national discussion recently, after Australian Story aired the Breaking Good documentary. It told the story of Peter Lyndon-James, a former ice user, who now runs the “nation’s strictest” rehab clinic. Shalom...
The Implicit Racism in the War on Drugs
Drug prohibition has been a global phenomenon for nearly a hundred years now. The 1925 Geneva Convention imposed international restrictions on the production and use of opium, coca and, as a late addition, cannabis. However, the war on drugs was declared...
Crime and Incarceration: An interview with BOCSAR director Dr Don Weatherburn
NSW crime rates are at their lowest in over forty years, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) figures revealed last month. Crime across most of NSW was found to have either declined or remained stable in most major...
