The Evolution of Punishment: From the Corporeal to Incarceration
Renowned French philosopher Michel Foucault opens his 1975 work Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Modern Prison with an account of the death of Robert-Francois Damiens – the last French citizen to be drawn and quartered, on 1 March, 1757. A...
Reducing Indigenous Crime: Mass Incarceration is Not the Answer
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most incarcerated on earth by percentage of their population. Currently, the Indigenous incarceration rate in Australia is 2,430 inmates per 100,000 adults. In March this year, there were 11,288 Indigenous adults detained in the...
NSW Court Confirms Gittany Murder Conviction
At 10am on 30 July 2011, ABC journalist Joshua Rathmell was on his usual route to work. He was walking through the southern end of Hyde Park in Sydney’s CBD, when he heard “deranged screaming” from a male voice. The journalist...
The Homelessness Crisis: An Interview with RMIT Professor Guy Johnson
Homelessness is an ever-increasing issue in Australia. Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world with one of the most equal distributions of wealth, an estimated one in every two hundred people in Australia are homeless. In mid-2015,...
Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley: A Criminal with a Badge
Former Queensland police officer Chris Hurley was in court again this week. He was found guilty on two counts of dangerous driving during a high-speed police pursuit in the suburb of Pacific Pines on the Gold Coast in May 2015. The 49-year-old...
Fresh Allegations of Match Fixing in the NRL
Like many other sports, the NRL has long been plagued by match-fixing scandals. In one of the most infamous examples, former Canterbury Bulldogs player Ryan Tandy received a criminal conviction and was banned for life from the NRL in 2012...
It’s Time to End Violence Against People with Disability
Violence against people with disability is endemic in Australia. It’s an epidemic that until recently has remained hidden. The abuse and neglect of the disabled takes many forms from violence to sexual abuse to the denial of their basic rights....
The Impact of Islamophobia: An Interview with MUIS President Abdulah Hamimi
On Monday, the Islamophobia in Australia report was released by Charles Sturt University. A first-of-its-kind in the world, the study focused on 243 verified incidents reported to the Islamophobia Register of Australia between September 2014 and December 2015. President of the register Mariam Veiszadeh...
Law Degree Majoring in Legal Technology Aims to Future-Proof Students
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has introduced a new undergraduate major in legal futures and technology. The course begins in March 2018, and is being offered for both the university’s standalone and combined law degrees. It is the first...
Sydney is No Longer the Violent Crime Capital of Australia
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggest Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as the violent crime capital of Australia. The 2016 ABS ‘Victims of Crime’ survey suggests Victoria has the highest incidence of crimes against the person, including...
