People in High Places are Calling for Drug Decriminalisation
The global system of drug prohibition began in the early 20th century. Since then, a series of international drug control conventions have been established, ostensibly on the basis of trying to reduce the harms that certain drugs cause in the...
When the Rivers Run Dry: An Interview With Bourke Water Activist Fleur Thompson
Scotdesco is a remote Aboriginal community on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia that ran out of water last week. And despite the community having called on the state government back in April for help regarding their...
Mass Climate Refugees on the Horizon: An Interview With Dr Ian M McGregor
An open letter declaring that “planet Earth is facing a climate emergency” - co-signed by 11,000 scientists - was published on Tuesday. It asserts that despite the science being in on climate for 40 years, greenhouse gas emissions continue to...
“Don’t Take Advantage of Our System”: Racist Traffic Cops Lay Bare NSW Police Culture
Recently released footage shows NSW police officers driving around metropolitan Sydney, pulling people over a young woman and confronting her in such a manner that one would think she’d committed a heinous crime, rather than some minor traffic offences that...
Top 20 Legal Aid Fee Earning Law Firms in NSW
Private law firms play an important role in assisting those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to access the family law and criminal justice systems, by undertaking work for free or at a reduced rate under programs such as the Law Society’s...
Morrison Intensifies Campaign to Silence Australians
“Apocalyptic in tone. It brooks no compromise. It’s all or nothing. Alternative views are not permitted.” One could be forgiven for thinking these statements were a description of Scott Morrison’s religious beliefs, if they weren’t actually his own words. As...
NSW Police Watchdog: No Teeth and Underfunded
The NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (or LECC) is already considered to be a largely ineffective police watchdog, without sufficient funds or human resources to investigate complaints. The body has no power to discipline officers, and can only recommend that...
Sparked by the Cronulla Riots: NSW Police Emergency Public Disorder Powers
Groups of young Anglo Australians began congregating along southern Sydney’s North Cronulla Beach at around 8 am on Sunday, 11 December 2005. Drinking heavily, cooking barbeques and draped in Union Jacks, the crowd had grown to around 5,000 strong by...
Another Catholic Priest Guilty of Sexually Abusing Children
Another priest is behind bars as a result of complaints received in the lead up to the 2014 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. James Joseph Cunneen has been found guilty in Parramatta District Court of 10...
“Systemic Unlawfulness”: An Interview With Dr Vicki Sentas on Police Powers
Unsurprisingly, the recently released Rethinking Strip Searches by NSW Police report drew the ire of the force. Commissioned by the Redfern Legal Centre, the UNSW report caused reigning state police commissioner Mick Fuller to criticise it very publicly. At a...
