Pioneer Sex Worker Rights Activist Awarded Order of Australia
The governor general, Sir Peter Cosgrove, announced 1007 awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list on Monday. And in an Australian first, a leading sex worker rights activist has been made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO). Julie Bates...
Australia – Where Backpackers are Exploited and Harassed
Australia has long been a country that young people aspire to travel - the golden beaches, surf culture, and the never-ending sunshine make it attractive to backpackers in particular. And the Australian Government has made it relatively easy for young...
Archbishop Guilty of Covering up Child Sexual Abuse
One of Australia’s most senior Catholics has been found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse and faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison. 67-year old Archbishop Philip Wilson was charged in March 2015 with one count of concealing...
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...
Pell to Stand Trial over Child Sexual Assault Allegations
The Melbourne Magistrates Court has committed Cardinal George Pell to stand trial over multiple historical child sexual assault allegations. Magistrate Belinda Wallington found there is enough evidence for Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric to stand trial. However, the court discharged...
‘Naked Bikie’ Granted Bail Over Allegations of Possessing Child Abuse Material
Police have charged one of Australia’s most notorious biker club members with possessing child abuse material, after detectives allegedly found explicit images on his hard drive. It has been reported that 41-year old Erkan Keskin’s computer was seized along with...
Cold Cases Still Warm: Sexual Assault at Sydney Uni and ‘Suicide’ at Koorawatha
At 7.15 am on October 29 1977, Annette Louise Morgan set off down inner city Sydney’s Glebe Point Road to meet a friend at the notorious St Paul’s College at Sydney University. Less than two hours later, her body was found dumped...
Life Imprisonment for Persistent Child Sexual Abuse
In 2015, a range of reforms were introduced by the NSW government in response to community concerns that child sex offenders were being treated far too leniently by the courts, and that the interests of complainants weren’t being protected. These...
Sydney Suburbs Where Reports of Sexual Assault Are on the Rise
Despite crime rates in New South Wales being at forty-year lows, a new report suggests that reports of sexual offences have risen by as much as forty percent in some parts of Sydney. In its latest quarterly update, the Bureau...
George Pell’s Committal Hearing: Some Sexual Assault Charges to be Dropped
Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson SC has foreshadowed that a number of criminal charges brought against Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic, will be formally withdrawn because the complainant they relate to is “medically unfit to give evidence”. It is expected...
