Sydney Criminal Lawyers® Weekly Rundown – Articles from 13 to 19 April 2020
In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: COVID-19 Highlights the Need for an Australian Bill of Rights The fact our constitution protects very few rights combined with concerns about current social control...
Morrison Insists on Mobile Phone Tracing App Before Controls Can Be Eased
In his COVID-19 update on 16 April, prime minister Scott Morrison set out seven “precedent conditions” of a forward planning framework that if set in place could result in an easing of pandemic restrictions in four weeks’ time. The fifth...
Westpac Accused of Enabling Child Sexual Offences
In amongst all of the COVID-19 news and updates, it seems we’ve been distracted from a lot of other important social issues. Climate change and domestic violence, for example, as well as the fact that Westpac is being investigated over...
“Bloody Reprehensible”: Gerry Georgatos on Perth Rough Sleepers During COVID-19
Right now, there’s around 1,000 rough sleepers in the wider Perth, Fremantle and Peel region. And despite the fact that the rest of the population is in lockdown, the majority of these homeless people are still out on the streets...
Struggling International Students Left in Dire Straits
Over recent decades, Australia has invested heavily in its international education sector, which currently involves around 565,000 overseas students. And as the nation’s fourth largest industry, it employs around 240,000 people and it racked up $37.6 billion in the last...
Federal Government to Introduce Mobile Tracking Technology
How much of our personal privacy and freedom of movement are we prepared to sacrifice to fight the spread of COVID-19 and have our lives returned to normal? And how do we safeguard against the laws becoming permanent, and like...
These Punishments Aren’t Democratic: An Interview With the RLC’s Samantha Lee
The need to get people off the streets and keeping a safe distance from others during the COVID-19 crisis is well understood. However, what’s not quite so understood is why NSW police officers have been handed extensive powers to enforce...
Closures of Parliament Are Unwarranted: An Interview With NSWCCL President Nicholas Cowdery
Except for those brief moments when it has been chided during the COVID-19 crisis - think Bondi Beach - the Australian public has done extremely well in completely changing the way it goes about its everyday life, with the implementation...
COVID-19: Over-Enforcement Is Undermining Confidence in the Police Force
Amnesty International has added its voice to the growing calls across Australia for police to release the guidelines being used to enforce COVID-19 distancing regulations. Over the Easter weekend, after sending a strong message to all Australians to ‘stay home’...
COVID-19 Protest: Fines Issued Despite Drivers Remaining in Cars
The Refugee Action Collective (RAC) Victoria announced last week that it would be going ahead with a car cavalcade protesting the continued detention of immigration detainees at facilities and hotels nationwide, despite police warnings that demonstrators could be hit with...
