Should NSW Have An Indigenous Court?
The NSW Bar Association of and Police Association are jointly calling upon the state government to provide funding for an Indigenous Court, with a view to reducing reoffending rates and the disproportionate number of First Peoples imprisoned in our state....
Canada Set to Legalise Recreational Cannabis
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that recreational cannabis will become legal throughout the country on October 17. Both houses of parliament have voted to repeal drug charges for small possession and limited cultivation, making Canada the first G7...
Woman Who Hatched Helicopter Prison Escape Appeals
John Reginald Killick was being held on remand at Silverwater gaol in March 1999. He was awaiting sentencing after having pled guilty to two counts of armed robbery, as well as one charge of shooting at an off-duty police officer. On...
Prison Guards Caught Assaulting Inmates in WA Prisons
The Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) has released graphic footage of inmates being beaten and pepper sprayed by guards in the state’s prisons. The footage, taken in 2016 and 2017, has been released as part of investigations into...
DPP Presses Charges Against Government Whistleblowers
Australia’s reputation as a ‘fair’ country has taken another battering, with revelations that the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) has filed criminal charges against two Australians who allegedly released information that the Howard government had been illegally spying on...
Government Puts Church before Children
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence relating to 4,444 alleged incidents of child sexual abuse involving 93 Catholic Church authorities over the period 1980 to 2015. During the six decades since 1950, 7 percent of...
Silencing Dissent: NSW Government Gives Itself New Powers to Ban Gatherings
A new Act governing the management of Crown lands, along with a fresh set of regulations, comes into effect on 1 July 2018. And the NSW government has taken this opportunity to continue restrictions on protests and demonstrations in these...
The Impact of Social Media on a Fair Trial
Social media can be a source of information and leisure, a way to connect with other people and a means to express views about a range of subjects - including those which invoke emotions such as anger and disgust. But...
Crimes Against Humanity: An Interview with Human Rights Lawyer Julian Burnside
The Norwegian freighter MV Tampa entered Australian waters on 29 August 2001, carrying 433 asylum seekers who’d been stranded on a fishing boat in the Indian Ocean. The vessel crossed the maritime boundary close to Christmas Island, despite having been refused...
Government Bans Anti-Abortion Activism Near Reproductive Health Clinics
The NSW government has passed laws to impose 150-metre ‘safe access zones’ around abortion clinics. The new laws were passed through the legislative assembly by a majority of 61 votes to 18, and will see anti-abortion activists face prison time...
