The Australian Prison Boom: Taking Care of Big Business
The number of people being detained in Australian correctional facilities is at an all-time high. As of March this year, there were 40,577 full-time adult inmates in this country, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released this month. The Australian prisoner...
Disabled Pensioners: the Government’s New Drug War Targets
The Turnbull government has hit a new low in its war against drugs. Legislation has just been tabled that proposes to deny the pension to hundreds of people who are currently deemed disabled due to their level of drug or...
Terminally Ill Given Faster Access to Medical Cannabis
A Greens motion passed through the federal Senate on Tuesday that allows terminally ill patients faster access to medicinal cannabis. Under the new provisions, patients that have a prescription are able to import up to three months of the medicine from regulated...
Australia’s Denial of Indigenous Rights: An Interview with Koorie Institute’s Terry Mason
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIP) is an international human rights agreement outlining the inalienable rights of the First Peoples of all continents and islands of the globe. Although it’s not legally binding, it sets up guiding...
Turnbull Continues Assault on Civil Liberties
On Tuesday, Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull delivered his National Security Statement before parliament. During his speech, the PM focused on the threat of terrorism, declaring that his government was committed to “balancing the priority of community safety with individual liberties.”...
Sydney’s Street Kitchen and Safe Space Going Strong, Despite Council Threats
Sydney’s 24-7 Street Kitchen and Safe Space has been providing the city’s homeless with meals and a sheltered area to sleep in since mid-December last year. Currently, the kitchen is dealing with an influx of people to feed, as the only...
Housing First: An Interview with Homelessness NSW’s Digby Hughes
Currently, there’s a video clip doing the rounds of Facebook that informs the viewer about Medicine Hat: a Canadian city that’s actually eradicated homelessness. To do this, the city has implemented a somewhat revolutionary, as well as rather obvious initiative. The traditional...
Prison for “Radicalised Inmates”: Protecting the Community or Increasing the Threat?
The NSW government announced last Sunday that it will be investing a further $47 million into the state’s correctional facilities in order to “future-proof” the prison system to prepare for a “new era of terrorist inmates.” The plan includes the construction...
Empowering Sex Workers: An Interview with Urban Realist’s Julie Bates
Amnesty International has formally adopted a policy to protect and fulfil the human rights of sex workers. This position includes calling for the decriminalisation of sex work, which they define as “consensual exchanges between adults.” The starting point of their policy is to prevent and redress the...
Treaty First: An Interview with Uluru Summit Delegate Fred Hooper
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was the culmination of a six month process that saw the Referendum Council traveling the country carrying out a series of dialogues with First Nations representatives to ascertain how Indigenous people should be recognised in the...
