A Healer, Not a Dealer: Jenny Hallam Pleads Guilty to Drug Charges
When the Turnbull government passed an amendment bill in February 2016 that legalised “the cultivation and production of cannabis and cannabis resin for medicinal and scientific purposes”, it was an admission that medicinal cannabis is a valid treatment that patients use....
Don’t Kill Live Music: An Interview With Festival Promoter Ben Tillman
This Thursday night 21 February at 6 pm, thousands of people from across the state are set to gather in Sydney’s Hyde Park for the Don’t Kill Live Music rally to protest the Berejiklian government’s assault on live music. Initially, the...
Cannabis Legalisation is Coming to Canberra
A piece of legislation that would legalise the personal possession of cannabis for recreational use is to be debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly this week. And with the support of both Labor and the Greens, it’s set to be...
Are Male Victims of Domestic Violence Overlooked?
Twenty-two year old Alex Skeel was found bruised, bloodied and close to death when discovered by police in the flat he shared with his partner Jordan Worth, the mother of his children. Ms Worth told officers her boyfriend suffered from...
Twilight of the Coalition: Morrison’s De Facto Vote of No Confidence
Things are just going from bad to worse for the Morrison government. Last week marked the first time an Australian government has lost a substantive vote since 1941. And despite the PM’s protestations that it wasn’t a de facto vote of...
NSW Police Officer Blackmailed Women into Having Sex
Even before he became a New South Wales police officer in 2011, Vaughan Mark Hildebrand had developed a scheme to blackmail women into having sexual intercourse with him. His employment as an officer of the law merely gave him the...
The Offence of Fraud in New South Wales
A 43-year old tour operator from Illawarra has been sentenced in Downing Centre Local Court after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud under section 192E of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). Tony Petrovski admitted making 82 unauthorised transactions totalling...
Police & FOI Work Together to Block Citizens’ Access to Their Own Data
It has been reported that the Queensland Freedom of Information Office (QFOI) and the State’s Police Force (QPS) are working together to prevent citizens from accessing their own personal data. Restricting access to information The Queensland Police Records and Information...
#Nuns Too Speak Out About Their Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Catholic Priests
Senior Catholic Church officials from around the world are due to meet in Rome later this month to discuss their response to the sexual abuse crisis that has engulfed the institution. Although until recently, the primary focus has been the...
What is Grievous Bodily Harm in Criminal Law?
17-year old Brae Lewis and his 15-year old girlfriend, Kyesha Finemore, had a tumultuous relationship involving frequent arguments and even physical violence. But on a fateful day in May 2016, the level of violence went to a whole other level....