AirBnb Hosts Can be Fined in NSW
The home sharing phenomenon has taken off worldwide in recent years, and AirBnb is a market-leading website platform facilitating the cost-effective arrangement. Many who are struggling to make mortgage repayments or pay the rent are finding the platform to be...
Misconduct Rife Amongst Victorian Police
By Sonia Hickey and Ugur Nedim A damning report on the Victorian Police Force has described several instances of serious misconduct including assaults, harassment, stalking and predatory sexual misconduct. Among other matters, the Police Registration and Services Board reported hearing...
Should Complainants Have Access to Paid Domestic Violence Leave?
An average of one woman per week is killed at the hands of their present or former partner in Australia. With reports of domestic violence at an all-time high, there are calls for paid domestic violence leave to become standard...
How Young is Too Young To Testify in Court?
A statement from a two-year old girl is being credited for leading to the child sexual assault conviction of her alleged abuser. The girl is believed to be the youngest person in the United Kingdom to give a statement to...
Child Sex Dolls – Promoting or Preventing Paedophilia?
Australians are one of the biggest purchasers of ‘child sex dolls’ in the world, according to manufacturers in China and Japan. The anatomically correct dolls are designed to resemble children as young as five-years old, and are easily purchased over...
Tough New Laws for Child Sex Offenders
The Federal government has announced tough new laws for sex-offenders - purported to be the harshest since the establishment of the Criminal Code Act in 1995. The proposed legislation, called Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection...
The Common Law Continues to Develop in Australia
The common law – or ‘judge made law’ – refers to the body of law developed by the decisions of judges. In a common law system, past decisions are known as ‘precedents’. Fundamental to the common law is the principle...
“Pure Greed”: Criminal Lawyer Imprisoned for Fraud
Queensland criminal defence lawyer Tim Meehan has been sentenced to five and a half years behind bars for fraud. Mr Meehan, formerly a partner at Bosscher Lawyers, pleaded guilty last year to one count of aggravated fraud and eight counts...
Judges Behaving Badly: Poor Judicial Temperament
‘Judicial temperament’ describes a judge or magistrate’s emotional responses within the courtroom and general attitude towards those within it, as well as to the law and legal process. A judicial officer with an good temperament is fair, patient, calm, unbiased, and...
Police Body Cameras Rarely Used
In November 2015, Queensland Police hosted a large-scale media launch for the first stage of a $6 million state-wide rollout of body cameras. At the time, the initiative was hailed as a “VERY. BIG. DEAL”, with hopes the devices would...
