The youth mental health crisis in Australia
Recent figures suggest a dramatic increase in the number of young people and children presenting at hospital Emergency Departments for self-harm, stress and anxiety, mood, behavioural and emotional disorders. In New South Wales, Emergency Departments saw a 27 per cent...
Dutton Considers Increasing Government’s Surveillance Powers
A proposal was recently floated by two government department officials to enhance the powers of Australia’s cyber spying agency, to enable it to digitally surveil Australian citizens from right here without a warrant. The proposal, if adopted, would add to the...
Church of Ubuntu Secretary Challenges Suppression Charges
This Saturday marks a year since a boy who suffers from spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy was taken from the care of his parents. On May 19 last year, NSW police and Family and Community Services (FACS) removed the boy from...
The Rights of People Who Use Drugs: An Interview With INPUD’s Judy Chang
The war on drugs has failed. This is a reality that’s increasingly being acknowledged around the globe, as communities start to realise that the outcomes produced by this intensification of drug law enforcement have been overwhelmingly destructive. The close to...
How Much Do Jurors Get Paid in NSW?
Jury service is an important civic duty for all people on the electoral role, but it can cause a great deal of stress and financial loss, especially for those who are employed or running a business. The rules which regulate...
What Happens if I Don’t Attend Jury Service in NSW?
Jury service is an important civil duty which is regulated in New South Wales by the Jury Act 1977 (NSW) (the Act). Section 63 of the Act prescribed a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units, which is currently equivalent to...
Obtain Explicit Consent to Sex, or You Are a Rapist
The New South Wales Attorney General has asked for an urgent review of NSW sexual consent laws after the story of Saxon Mullins made media headlines this week. Ms Mullins’ case involved a five-year long legal battle involving two high...
Police Officer Stood Down for Mowing Down Pedestrian
A senior police officer has been stood down after running down an 18-year old with a police car on a suburban street. The incident occurred in Thornleigh in Western Australia and there is currently an internal investigation underway into the...
What Disqualifies or Exempts a Person from Serving as a Juror in NSW?
The rules relating to jury service in New South Wales are primarily regulated by the Jury Act 1977. Section 5 provides that every person who is enrolled as an elector for the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales is qualified...
Victorian Liberals Push for Harmful Anti-Sex Work Laws
The Victorian Liberal Party recently passed a motion to support the Nordic model of sex work regulation. This is a sex work policy that criminalises clients and support structures of sex workers, rather than the workers themselves. Passed at the April...
