It’s Time for an Australian Bill of Rights
After the second world war, a series of international treaties began being introduced via the United Nations in order to define and protect people’s “inalienable human rights.” Australia has ratified the seven core international human rights conventions. This means that at the international...
Sydney’s 24-7 Street Kitchen and Safe Space: An Interview with Lanz Priestley
In February this year, there were 948 homeless people in Sydney, according to City of Sydney statistics. Of these, 433 people were sleeping rough, 489 were occupying crisis and temporary accommodation, while 26 were hospitalised. At Central’s Belmore Park and Wentworth Park...
Civil Rights and More: Our Guide to the Sydney Writers Festival
At a loss about what to do this weekend? Generally, you can’t beat a good book. Sadly the “one type of book that practically no one likes to read is a book about the law. Books about the law are...
Australian Whistleblowers are Persecuted Rather than Praised
Chelsea Manning was released from US military prison last week, after serving seven years of a 35 year prison sentence for espionage convictions relating to the classified documents she disclosed to WikiLeaks. Former US president Barack Obama commuted her sentence on...
Queensland May Bring Back Drug Court
Queensland’s drug court was established in order to divert those who commit drug-related offences away from the criminal justice system and break the cycle of crime, by placing them on tailored rehabilitation programs and monitoring their progress. However, the court...
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...
Trial by Media in the Internet Age
The growth of the internet generally, and social media in particular, has led two senior legal minds to warn that many Australians might not be getting a fair trial. Verdict based on the evidence Juries are meant to return their...
Panther, Prisoner, Professor: A Profile of Angela Davis
Angela Davis has been at the forefront of subversive political thought since the mid-60s. Currently, emerita professor in the History of Consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Ms Davis has been constantly fighting oppression throughout her career. Davis grew...
Corruption and Nepotism Within the Queensland Police Force
As reported in a previous blog, two senior crime managers on the Gold Coast raised concerns in January about crime data being manipulated by members of the force in an effort to make it appear that crime and complaints are...
