Drug Driving Charges Are On the Rise
Back in December 2015, the NSW government announced it was tripling the amount of roadside drug testing police were carrying out annually to 97,000 tests by 2017. And not surprisingly, the amount of people being charged with drug driving has more than tripled....
Inmates May Soon Be Sent Interstate
Currently, those who are refused bail or otherwise remanded in custody in one Australian state or territory are sent to a correctional facility within that jurisdiction. But the size of our country means that inmates will sometimes be sent vast...
Ongoing Drug Supply: Factors Relevant to Sentencing
Under section 25A of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW), a person can be found guilty of supplying a prohibited drug on an ongoing basis if they supply, on three or more separate occasions during any period of...
There is No Independent Oversight of Police in NSW
Police have been accused of using excessive force during a raid on a Sydney nightclub last weekend. According to some reports, partygoers at Club 77 were searched, thrown out and reportedly tasered during a raid on Saturday night. “One kid...
Client Sues Lawyers for Not Being “Forceful Enough”
A Canberra man has just had his dispute against a law firm resolved by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal in the ACT, after refusing to pay for legal services, and making a counterclaim for compensation. How it all began 56-year...
Federal Government Set to Criminalise Revenge Porn
The Federal Government has called for public submissions on developing tougher criminal and civil penalties for people who share or post sexually explicit photos of others without consent. The proposal brings federal “revenge porn” legislation a step closer. Public submissions are open...
‘No Body, No Parole’ Laws: Closure for Victims or Injustice for Wrongly Convicted?
As recently reported, the NSW government’s ‘justice reforms’ will include a proposal for new laws to prevent people who are convicted of murder and manslaughter from being released on parole unless they reveal the location of the deceased’s body. Victims’...
Australian Government Refuses to Defend Julian Assange
In 1987, a plucky, young lawyer from Sydney fronted the British press and rallied against the government’s censorship of free speech. The young lawyer’s argument? That former MI5 agent Peter Wright’s novel, ‘Spycatcher’, should be published because people had a...
It’s Time for an Australian Bill of Rights
After the second world war, a series of international treaties began being introduced via the United Nations in order to define and protect people’s “inalienable human rights.” Australia has ratified the seven core international human rights conventions. This means that at the international...
Australian Whistleblowers are Persecuted Rather than Praised
Chelsea Manning was released from US military prison last week, after serving seven years of a 35 year prison sentence for espionage convictions relating to the classified documents she disclosed to WikiLeaks. Former US president Barack Obama commuted her sentence on...
