Can NSW Police Demand Phone and Computer Passwords?
It has been reported that police in the United States compelled a suspect to unlock his iPhone X using its facial recognition technology, triggering debate about the legality of forcing people to unlock devices using their password or biometric capabilities....
More Music Festival Overdoses, But Still No Pill Testing
Another music festival, another death from a drug overdose – and the festival season is just beginning. 19-year Callum Brosnan from Baulkham Hills is dead and three other young adults are in critical conditions after suspected drug overdoses at the...
Tough New Laws Against Child Sexual Abuse
A range of tough new laws to combat child sexual abuse in NSW came into effect on 1 December, which complete one of the most comprehensive overhauls of the state’s criminal laws in history. The recently enacted laws follow a...
Police Officer Found Not Guilty of Assaulting Woman
A serving Victorian policeman has been found not guilty of four assault charges after he smashed his way into a woman’s home together with seven other officers 22 years ago, punched her up to seven times in the face and...
Priest Successfully Appeals Conviction for Covering-Up Child Sexual Abuse
Former Adelaide Archbishop Phillip Wilson has walked free after a judge upheld his appeal against conviction for concealing a serious indictable offence - being sexual assaults committed by fellow priest and convicted child sex offender, James Fletcher. The former Archbishop...
Alleged Child Sex Offender Faces Life Imprisonment if Convicted
A Sydney man is facing a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 10 years. 54-year old Kogarah resident Anthony Peter Sampieri is charged with 11 offences relating to the alleged...
Woman Commences Private Prosecution After Police Refuse to Charge her Alleged Attacker
A Queensland woman has decided to launch a private criminal prosecution against her former partner after police refused to charge him over an incident where he allegedly brought a can of petrol into their home, doused her with petrol and...
Parking Inspectors Given the Power to Issue Demerit Points
The NSW government has given parking inspectors the power to issue demerit points for certain parking offences, in addition to the fines that apply to those offences. The move has led to fierce debate about whether council rangers should be...
Should Students be Suspended for Striking?
In September this year, nine-year old Brisbane school girl Harper Nielsen refused to stand for the national anthem at Queensland’s Kenmore South State School on the basis that is fails to recognise Australia’s Indigenous history. The school demanded the year 4...
Warning! Providing Your DNA to Ancestry Sites Could Make You a Suspect
Australians are once again being warned that law enforcement agencies are increasingly accessing genealogy databases such as Ancestry.com and My Heritage DNA in an attempt to generate suspects. These genealogy companies use forensic material which is voluntarily provided by paying...
