Battered Woman Syndrome: A Help or Hindrance?
Acting in self-defence is a well-known way to beat a murder charge. It is a complete defence, which means that a person charged with murder will be found not guilty of both murder and manslaughter if self defence is successfully...
Should We Be Following the USA? The Americanisation of the Australian Criminal Justice System
With 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prison population, America has firmly cemented its position as the leading advocate for mass incarceration. But with Australia increasingly adopting Americanised law and order approaches, there are serious concerns...
Thank You for (Not) Smoking: Is Plain Packaging Effective?
Smoking is one of the leading causes of disease and death in Australia, killing around 15,000 people each year and costing the country around $31.5 billion. In a bid to tackle these issues, Australia led a world-first initiative which saw...
Nothing to Hide but Everything to Fear – Part 2 of our Special Series on the New Metadata Laws
Yesterday, we published part 1 of our two-part blog series about the Federal Government’s proposed meta-data retention laws which are now very close to being passed. The laws have been championed by Federal Attorney-General George Brandis as a key tool...
WA Police ‘Putting Numbers Before Results on Breath Tests’
Police forces across the country are often accused of revenue raising by trying to nab as many motorists as possible for driving offences, and a new survey from the WA Police Union shows that even police officers would agree. The...
Nothing to Hide but Everything to Fear – Part 1 of our Special Series on the New Metadata Laws
There has been a great deal of political rhetoric lately about the federal government’s proposed meta-data retention laws, which would require internet and phone service providers (ISPs) to store your personal data for 2 years and make it available to...
Showing Cause under the New Bail Act
The Bail Act 2013 commenced in May 2014, replacing the old Bail Act 1978 which had been amended over 80 times and was widely criticised as unfair and unworkable. If you’ve been following our blogs, you’ll be aware of the...
Should the Child Sex Offender Register be Made Public?
For some people, no level of restrictions on those who have committed child sex offences can be too much. Many call for convicted child sex offenders to be shamed and persecuted for life, or worse. But while public safety is...
Should Prisoners be Treated as Citizens? Cruelty & Corruption in Prison
Prisons are generally considered to be secure facilities which protect the wider community from those who are convicted of serious crimes. At the same time, they aim to ensure that inmates are adequately supervised and are supposed to promote rehabilitation...
Are “Anti-Bikie” Laws Effective?
Laws surrounding controls imposed on alleged organised crime groups have attracted controversy since they were introduced in 2013, when motorcycle clubs were officially declared criminal organisations in NSW. Once declared a criminal organisation, groups face certain restrictions and limitations, which...
