Victorian Government Wants COVID-19 Powers to be Permanently Expanded
Under its original strategy to enforce public health laws which were created at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Victorian Government expanded the powers of ‘protective services officers’ (PSOs) on an emergency basis. Now, they want those powers not...
Sports Rorts Scandal: Emails Suggest Morrison Lied About Involvement
Further investigations by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) into the ‘sports rorts’ scandal have uncovered emails that show the PM’s office took more than a ‘passing interest’ in the grants scheme and that Senator Bridget McKenzie – who was...
Half of Child Detainees Are First Nations: An Interview With Change the Record’s Sophie Trevitt
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released its Youth Justice in Australia 2018-19 report last week. The document outlines that over the last four financial years, the number of First Nations children being incarcerated or under supervision orders has...
Aussie Cannabis Patients Left in the Cold, As Coalition Attempts to Rush Exports
“Patients in Australia needing access to medical cannabis have been slapped in the face yet again” by the “corporate-friendly” Morrison government, “who cares nothing about the suffering of our people,” said the Medicinal Cannabis Users Association of Australia (MCUA). The...
Keep the Rate Raised: An Interview With ACOSS’ Charmaine Crowe
One good thing that came out of the COVID-19 crisis was that the over 700,000 Australians receiving the below-poverty-line Newstart allowance were suddenly lifted out of their hardship overnight. As it became clear the lockdown was inevitable, the Morrison government...
Police Watchdog Finds that Illegal Strip Searches Did Not Amount to ‘Serious Misconduct’
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) released its report into Operation Karuka on 8 May. It was one of a number of reports into questionable strip searches carried out by NSW police officers over recent years, at a time when...
Government Proposes to Ban Mobiles Phones from Detention Centres
The Federal Government has proposed new laws which would give the Immigration Minister the power to ban mobile phones, computers and other items it sees fit from detention centres and other places of immigration detainment. The laws - a similar...
Welcome to Country: Lidia Thorpe on the Mantra Refugees
Right now, governments around the country are in the midst of a staged lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions that have been set in place for the last couple of months. And while many out there in the community are breathing...
Robodebt Class Action is Coming
Centrelink will be contacting hundreds of thousands of Australians in the coming weeks to notify them that they could be part of a Robodebt class action lawsuit against the federal government. About 13,000 people have already signed up to the...
Police Commissioner Gets 15% Pay Rise Despite COVID and the Erosion of Public Confidence in the Force
As recently reported, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has received a controversial $87,000, or 15%, pay rise backed by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Police and Emergency Services Minister David Elliott. Many other MPs have opposed the raise, with...
