Police Under Investigation Over Another Alleged Assault at Care Facility
Two South Australian Police Officers have been removed from active duty and are under investigation for potential assault charges after tasering and pepper spraying a man in his 60s at a care facility on 26 October 2023, leaving him with...
Victoria Set to Introduce Discrete Criminal Offence of Non-Fatal Strangulation
Victoria is set to strengthen criminal laws against domestic violence by making non-fatal strangulation a discrete offence. The new laws will bring Victoria into line with other states, including New South Wales, the Act and Queensland. The impetus for the...
Can School Bullying Amount to a Criminal Offence?
Bullying involves a person who is usually of greater physical strength and/or social power acting aggressively towards or otherwise belittling their target. School bullying occurs when students bully each other, often for social status within the cutthroat world of student...
NSW Police Watchdog Recommends Assault Charges for Brutality Against Teen
Hospital staff witnessed a 17-year-old First Nations boy waiting for treatment, whilst in the custody of two NSW police officers in late 2020, make a run for it, and the aggressive response of one officer so disgusted them that they...
William Tyrell’s Foster Parents in Court Over Alleged Child Abuse
The foster parents of the young boy whose disappearance in 2014 has captivated the nation, exposed the shady operations of senior police officers, ruined the lives of innocent people through false accusations and cost the public millions in compensation and...
Assault Offences that Relate to Specific Occupations in NSW
Whilst there are a number of general assault offences outlines under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), including common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, there are also a number of highly specific ones which relate to specific occupations –...
Leg Sweep, Anyone? NSW Police Continues Reign of Excessive Force, Despite Rising Calls for Reform
A NSW police officer arrested an 18-year-old First Nations man with a disability on suspicion of two attempted break and enters last week. And as the officer walked his captor away, the teen dropped to the ground having a violent seizure,...
What Happens If a Domestic Violence Complainant Fails to Attend Court?
Criminal defence lawyers are often asked what will happen if the complainant - also known as the alleged victim - in a case involving accusations of domestic violence fails to attend the Local Court on the ‘hearing date’, which is...
You Touched Me – That’s Assault! Does All Unauthorised Touching Amount to an Assault?
There’s a fine line between unauthorised touching which can amount to an assault and the realities of day-to-day life, where there may be no way to avoid physical contact with other people in our crowded streets and footpaths, in long...
Criminal Offences Relating to Female Genital Mutilation in NSW
On 16 October 2019, the highest court in Australia upheld the convictions of three people who had been found guilty of mutilating the genitals of two girls aged six and seven in New South Wales, in a barbaric practice that...
