Australia Should Follow Portugal’s Drug Decriminalisation Model
Portugal decriminalised the possession of all illicit drugs for personal use in 2001. If an individual is found with a permitted amount of cannabis, methamphetamine or heroin on them, they are not sent to court where they face the prospect...
Belle Gibson Guilty, But Not Deterred
The federal court delivered its judgment on disgraced wellness blogger Belle Gibson this week, finding she broke the law in “most but not all” of the allegations brought against her. In handing down the decision, Justice Mortimer found that Ms Gibson...
Less Cash for Centrelink Recipients: Government Hails Debit Card Trial a Success
The federal government has declared its twelve-month trial of ‘cashless’ welfare cards a huge success, after an evaluation found it has contributed to a reduction in alcohol consumption and gambling in rural communities. The government is so pleased with the...
The Prison Industrial Complex – Exerting Social Control and Producing Cheap Labour
Prison industrial complex (PIC) is a term used to describe systems where the government uses incarceration as a way to deal with people labelled as undesirable, while helping private industry to turn a profit. Such models are heavily focused on...
Terrorism by the United States Goes Unpunished
During his election campaign, much of Donald Trump’s rhetoric hearkened back to the United States’ isolationist policy of the early to mid-twentieth century. Today, it’s hard to believe that the world’s reigning superpower once tried to avoid getting involved in the globe’s...
Sniffer Dog Operations – Ineffective, Intrusive and Dangerous
Once again, figures obtained under the Government Information (Public Access) Act NSW 2009 suggest that the enormous amount of taxpayer funds and police resources invested into drug dog detection programs are not delivering dividends when it comes to addressing the illegal...
Uber-Driving Lawyer Challenges Bully Cop
A criminal defence lawyer who was moonlighting as an Uber driver has filmed police trying to intimidate him and falsely claiming he was not allowed to film their encounter. North Carolina lawyer Jesse Bright was pulled over by police on...
Police Want Lockout Laws Across the State
The NSW lockout laws were hailed a success at the end of last year, with data suggesting the clamp-down on bars and nightclubs has reduced violence in the city centre and Kings Cross precinct by as much as 40%. However,...
Lack of Post-Release Support Leads to Indigenous Deaths and Re-offending
When it comes to the prison population in Australia, the Indigenous are heavily over-represented. As of 30 June 2015, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprised 9,885 out of 35,845 people incarcerated in Australian correctional facilities. Australia’s First Peoples make up 3...
Eight Rounds in Eight Seconds: the Adler Is Coming to Australia
Date published: 7 March 2017 The Australian federal, state and territory governments have amended the National Firearms Agreement (NFA), but haven’t announced it to the public. Instead they recently posted the 2017 agreement on the attorney-general’s website. Neither George Brandis nor Australian justice...
