The Law, Defences and Penalties for Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion in Australia
The terms tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance or minimisation are often used interchangeably, but it is important to be aware there are important differences which can impact on the way enforcement agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office...
NSW Premier Says No to Drug Decriminalisation, as the ACT Embarks on Bold Health Approach
Finally, this week, drug decriminalisation came to Australian shores. Laws passed by a Labor Greens government in the ACT came into effect on Monday. This will mean less drug-related deaths, less normally law-abiding citizens arrested, and more time for police...
Queensland Government Referred to UN Committee Against Torture
The Queensland Government has been reported to the United Nations Committee Against Torture over its decision to ‘suspend’ its Human Rights Act so that it can detain children in adult watch houses. Last week the Queensland Government suspended its Human...
Qantas Slammed Over Shady Business Practices
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has filed legal action in the Federal Court, accusing Qantas of ‘false misleading or deceptive conduct’. The consumer watchdog alleges Qantas engaged in such conduct when it advertised tickets for flights it had actually...
Why a Criminal Case Review Commission Is No Panacea
The recent pardon of Kathleen Folbigg has reignited discussions regarding the appropriate mechanisms to review and remedy wrongful convictions in Australia. One reform put forward by lawyers, academics and former High Court Justice Michael Kirby is an Australian Criminal Case...
“We Won the Battle But the War Continues”: Opera House Cannabis Activists Zammitt and Stolk on Their Day in Court
For almost a decade now, cannabis activists Alec Zammitt and Will Stolk have been brightening the Sydney scene with their elaborate protest actions that employ guerilla theatre tactics to agitate for the legalisation and regulation of cannabis in this country....
The Finance Department’s Digital ID Explanation Still Seems to Suggest Mass Surveillance
Sydney Criminal Lawyers posted the article The Coming Biometric Digital ID Will Facilitate Nationwide Surveillance on 3 August 2023. It outlined the bipartisan proposal to establish a national digital ID system with the Albanese government set to release draft exposure legislation this...
Wage Peace Receives Global Antiwar Award for Persistent Protesting of Weapons Industry
World Beyond War is a global peace organisation that advocates for the eradication of war. And not just the conflict of the day, but “the institution itself”. And while there are those who shake their heads at such a notion,...
An ‘Absolute Dog Act’: Queensland Government Suspends State’s Human Rights Act
In a move described by the manager of opposition business, Andrew Powell, as a “disgraceful abuse of parliamentary process” and the “biggest affront to democracy in Queensland’s history”, the Queensland government has rushed through legislation to ‘suspend’ its Human Rights...
Federal Human Rights Protections Could Halt Our Descent Towards Totalitarianism
“A Human Rights Act is Australia’s absent foundational pillar, our missing link,” Civil Liberties Australia CEO Bill Rowlings makes clear. “And its absence affects every citizen, because we don’t know precisely where we stand in relation to our government.” Indeed, CLA...
