Government to Deport Alleged Apex Gang Members
According to Victoria police, a good way to deal with the state’s crime problem is to deport young adult gang members. A parliamentary body is also considering whether those under the age of 18 can also be turfed out of...
A Career of Firsts: An Interview with Former NSW Magistrate Pat O’Shane
Former NSW magistrate Pat O’Shane has had a pioneering career, marked by a series of firsts. The Kunjandji woman, who grew up in North Queensland, became the first female Aboriginal teacher in the state. After teaching at Cairns High School for...
NSW Court Rules that Identification Based Partly on a Media Report is Admissible
A riot broke out in the Fowler Compound of Villawood Detention Centre on April 20, 2011. What initially began as a rooftop protest against conditions in the centre by a handful of detainees, soon escalated into a chaotic disturbance involving about...
Legalising Psychedelic Drugs: An Interview with LSD Advocate Greg Kasarik
Greg Kasarik appeared in Melbourne’s Magistrates Court on January 10 this year, on a charge of being in possession of a drug of dependency. Kasarik was arrested on April 19 last year, when he was found in possession of LSD, while he was...
The Government’s Solution to Youth Unrest is to Send Them to Adult Prisons
Four more young people have been sent to an adult prison in Victoria, after allegedly being involved in the state’s continued rioting at juvenile detention centres. On Monday, a magistrate ruled the youths couldn’t be controlled in youth custody, and threatened...
Raids on Medical Marijuana Producers: Making Way for Big Business?
Over the last seven weeks, police have made two high-profile raids of medicinal cannabis producers in Australia. The Ubuntu Wellness Clinic was raided in Newcastle on December 1. NSW police seized 215 plants from a hydroponic operation run by a group called...
From Prisoner to Principal Lawyer: An Interview with Debbie Kilroy
Queensland attorney-general Yvette D’Ath announced the members of the reinstated Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council on November 10 last year. The council works to advise the state government and Court of Appeal on sentencing matters. Amongst the ten members of the council...
Stop Funding Anti-Sex Work Group: An Interview with Vixen Collective’s Jane Green
Victorian sex workers are speaking out against the state government’s announcement that it will provide funding to an anti-sex work organisation called Project Respect. Sex worker advocates say the group is increasing discrimination against their already marginalised community. Victorian minister...
High Court Rules that Police Interview is Inadmissible
Richard Filihia was armed with a bowie knife when he entered a brothel on the night of October 24 2012. He stabbed the establishment’s receptionist Brian Gaudry, before fleeing with the cash he’d taken from the man’s back pocket. The receptionist...
WA Labor Proposes “Radical” Drug Rehab Prisons
Western Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan announced on Sunday, his party’s “radical” new plan to tackle the state’s “meth crisis.” The plan includes the establishment of two dedicated drug and alcohol rehabilitation prisons. The announcement of the Methamphetamine Action Plan comes...
