Aussie Teens Turning Away from Drugs
There’s some positive news in the latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) – most notably the fact that drug, alcohol and tobacco use appears to be declining amongst our nation’s teenagers. The NDSHS survey of 24,000 people, which was...
New Rules for Disqualified Driving
On 14 August, NSW attorney general Mark Speakman announced a suite of new reforms to driver licence disqualification laws. The changes, that will begin operation in late October, include pathways for driving whilst disqualified drivers to apply for their licence to be reinstated at...
Institutional Abuse of Girls in Australian Detention Centres
A report into Western Australia’s Banksia Hill youth detention centre released last month revealed that a number of girls being detained at the facility were “abruptly moved” from the female accommodation precinct and placed in the male-only Harding unit. This...
The Unreliability of Confessions: Implanted Memories
For many, a confession is indisputable evidence of a person’s guilt. However, a significant body of scientific research has found that people can easily be persuaded to confess to serious crimes that they did not commit. Wrongful convictions In 2014,...
Indigenous Nations Secure Their Economic Future
While the Australian government continues to be the only Commonwealth nation not to have established a treaty with First Nations people, some Indigenous nations in northern Queensland have entered into a first of its kind international treaty with a Chinese...
Former Police For Cannabis Legalisation: An Interview with Weeded Warrior’s Damon Adams
Growing concerns over the opium trade were central to the League of Nations establishing the 1925 Geneva Convention, which imposed global restrictions on the production and use of opium and coca. Cannabis was added to the agenda at the last...
The Hurtful Side of the Marriage Equality Vote
Critics of the federal government’s twice blocked marriage equality plebiscite – which has now morphed into a non-compulsory postal vote – have long warned that such a move would unnecessarily subject the LGBTIQ community to a hateful and discriminatory ‘no’...
Ending Execution: An Interview with Reprieve Australia’s Julian McMahon
In the early hours of the morning on April 29 2015, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were executed by firing squad by Indonesian authorities. The two men were part of the Bali Nine: a group of Australians convicted of drug...
Priests Should be Prosecuted for Failing to Report Child Sexual Assault
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has recommended that clergy who fail to report child sexual assaults disclosed during religious confessions should face criminal charges. The Commissioners heard evidence that confessions of child sexual abuse were...
Woman Convicted for Attempting an Abortion in NSW
A Sydney woman has been convicted of self-administering a drug in an attempt to terminate her 28 week pregnancy. Cue outrage – and let the chant of ‘her body, her choice’ ring loud and clear. But the important thing to...
