Australian Government Refuses to Defend Julian Assange
In 1987, a plucky, young lawyer from Sydney fronted the British press and rallied against the government’s censorship of free speech. The young lawyer’s argument? That former MI5 agent Peter Wright’s novel, ‘Spycatcher’, should be published because people had a...
Serial Sex Offender’s Sentence Reduced Due to Judge’s Error
A DNA profile taken from Michael Dimian in September 2013 matched the sperm fraction of two swab samples taken from the victim of a 1993 rape case. Mr Dimian had already been convicted of several other sexual assaults and was serving...
Luke Lazarus Acquittal Demonstrates Need for Education on ‘Consent’
Luke Lazarus was recently acquitted of ‘sexual intercourse without consent’ after a retrial over an incident which took place in 2013 near a nightclub owned by his father. On the night in question, Mr Lazarus met the complainant inside the...
Cardinal George Pell May Never Face Trial in Australia
Earlier this week, Victorian police confirmed they had received advice from the State’s Director of Public Prosecutions regarding historic allegations of child sexual assault against former-Sydney Archbishop George Pell. While police are yet to announce whether formal charges will be...
Wannabe Bieber Law Lecturer Charged with Child Sex Offences
A Queensland law lecturer who allegedly posed online as Justin Bieber has been charged with more than 900 child sex offences. Gordon Douglas Chalmers, a lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, is accused of using multiple social media platforms...
Archbishops Slam Catholic Church for Covering-Up Widespread Child Sexual Abuse
Five of Australia’s most senior Catholic figures fronted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse, all of whom condemned the Church’s failure to protect vulnerable children. The archbishops of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth were questioned about how...
Preventative Programs are Primarily Responsible for Decline in NSW Crime
A Sydney criminologist believes that the implementation of preventative and diversionary strategies is the primary reason for most categories of crime declining across the state in recent years. Dr Garner Clancey, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, points...
Rolf Harris Cleared of Indecent and Sexual Assault Charges
A jury in London found Australian entertainer Rolf Harris not guilty of ‘groping’ a blind and disabled woman, and a 13-year old girl who asked for an autograph at a radio station. He was also cleared of sexually assaulting a...
‘They give God a bad name,’ says victim
More than 1,800 Catholic Church figures and 4,444 allegations of abuse. Horrific numbers, which a senior Catholic Church figure has described as ‘shocking’ and ‘indefensible’ at the 50th public hearing of the Royal Commission - the 16th hearing dealing with...
Bail Granted Despite Sexual Assault Convictions
A judge in Downing Centre District Court has granted bail to a Sydney masseur after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a female client. Anthony Theodosiou pleaded not guilty to five counts of indecent assault and three of...
