Empowering Women Inmates: An Interview with WIPAN President Kat Armstrong
More women in Australia are being incarcerated than ever before. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures suggest that since 2005, the incarceration rate for women has risen by close to 40 percent, compared with 18 percent for men. Women account for around...
MDMA Can Cure PTSD: An Interview with Dr Stephen Bright
Most Australians think of MDMA as the illicit party drug ecstasy. Often it’s the main ingredient. However, an ecstasy pill will usually contain a range of substances, such as PMA, which mimics the effect of MDMA, but can be much...
Terminally Ill Victorians May Soon Have the Right to Die
Dying with dignity might become a reality for the terminally ill in Victoria, as end-of-life legislation is set to be introduced into state parliament in the second half of next year. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews announced on Thursday that all...
Police Raid Newcastle Medical Marijuana Dispensary
As the use of medical marijuana is fast becoming accepted across Australia, NSW police raided a medicinal cannabis growing dispensary in Newcastle. Last Thursday, 215 plants were seized from a hydroponic operation run by a local group called the Church...
Is Extra Police the Answer to Crime?
In a continuation of the Victorian government’s increasingly tough on crime stance, state premier Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday that his party would be boosting police numbers by 20 percent over the next four years. The $2 billion plan will...
Queensland May Finally Abolish Gay Panic Defence
After years of petitioning, the Queensland government has finally introduced a bill to abolish the antiquated gay panic defence. The state’s attorney-general Yvette D’Ath presented the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2016 to parliament on Wednesday. Officially known as the homosexual advancement...
Sydney Lawyer ‘Struck Off’ for Stealing Client’s Money
Another NSW lawyer has been struck off for engaging in professional misconduct. This time it was Mr Thai Le Huu Nguyen. The Civil and Administrative Tribunal found him guilty on November 18 this year, for conduct it deemed to be...
Returning to Work after Cancer: An Interview with Professor Bogda Koczwara
In the past, the C word was something people didn’t like to discuss in polite company. However, with increasingly better treatments becoming available, cancer no longer necessarily marks the end of a person’s life. This year, the number of Australians...
South Australia Set to Overturn Discriminatory Laws
South Australia was the first state in the country to decriminalise homosexuality under Labor premier Don Dunstan on September 17, 1975. However, the state has lagged behind the rest of the nation in recent years when it comes to laws...
Euthanasia Laws: Conservative Politicians Defeat the Will of the People
Suicide is no longer a crime in Australia. If a person attempts to take their own life and fails, they will not face criminal charges for doing so, as they did in the past. Society now understands that survivors of...
