The Commonwealth Offence of Possessing, Controlling Producing or Supplying Child Abuse Material
The New South Wales Police Force recently reported that on 22 May 2022, a 55-detective senior constable attached to a specialist command was arrested and charged with sexual assault, following an investigation by officers attached to the Professional Standards Command....
Minimising the Risk of Unfair Prejudice in Jury Trials
In the eyes of many, the relentless adverse publicity against the man accused of sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, Canberra on 22/23 March 2019 has made it impossible for him to ever receive a fair trial. Mr Lehrmann...
When Will the Prosecution Pursue a Retrial in New South Wales?
A Queensland jury has failed to read a verdict in the trial of a homosexual man accused of sexually assaulting a female friend. The jury spent 10 hours deliberating but was discharged after being unable to reach a verdict. The...
Bill Cosby Faces Multiple Civil Lawsuits Over Sexual Assault Claims
Former Hollywood actor and comedian Bill Cosby is back inside the courtroom, this time over claims he sexually assaulted a person considered to be a minor in California. The former celebrity was released from a federal prison last year...
Court Dismisses Application to Halt Brittany Higgins Sexual Assault Trial
The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has dismissed an application by Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal defence team for a permanent stay of proceedings on the basis that the intense and prolonged publicity would make it impossible to find...
Is it Fair for a Defendant to Face a Third Criminal Trial?
Jarryd Hayne will face a third trial after a successful application to the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal. The former NRL star was released on bail from Cooma Correctional Centre last month after having his previous convictions for...
Sexual Consent Education to be Introduced into Australian Schools
Around this time last year, Chantel Contos began a discussion on social media about sexual assaults within schools, and the lack of consent education for teenagers. As the conversation went viral, teens and young women came forward with accounts of...
Jarryd Hayne Wins Appeal
Jarryd Hayne has had his sexual assault conviction quashed on appeal and a retrial has been ordered. The former football star was convicted last year of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, which is also known as sexual assault. ...
Sexual Violence Supports Need Strengthening, Say’s Full Stop Australia’s Hayley Foster
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released data last week outlining that police agencies had recorded 53,570 sexual assault offenders over the ten years ending in June 2020, which included a 13 percent increase in the number of male offenders. This was...
PM Apologises Over Parliamentary Sexual Abuse Scandal
In parliament recently, embattled Prime Minister Scott Morrison said sorry to Brittany Higgins. “I am sorry. We are sorry. I am sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here. And the place that should have been...
