Turnbull’s War on Welfare Recipients
As you sit at home in your Point Piper mansion, and it’s getting close to end of year celebrations, what else would one think as prime minister of Australia, but, “Who am I gonna take a swipe at next? Ah,...
Sydney Lawyer Struck Off for Defrauding Elderly Client
Sydney lawyer Victor Berger has been removed from the roll of legal practitioners after over-charging an elderly client $137,543. The solicitor made regular phone calls to the frail woman in her nineties, checking on her health, her relationship with her...
Vigilante ‘Paedophile Hunter’ Faces Court
A self-proclaimed ‘paedophile hunter’ is facing criminal charges after performing citizens’ arrests on two men he claims responded to sting operations where he pretended to be a child online. The operations were reminiscent to those performed on the US television...
Top Ten (Clean) Lawyer Jokes to Kick Off 2018
In a profession as serious as law, it’s sometimes easy to forget to have a sense of humour. So we’ve collated ten lawyer jokes to kick off the working year. Disclaimer: The content in this article does not constitute legal...
Indentured Labour in the British Empire: Slavery Reworked
In 1807, British parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which banned the practice of transporting enslaved African peoples to the Americas to be sold there. This brought to an end to Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave...
Is Melbourne Really Under Threat from African Gangs?
According to the recent media beat-up, Melbourne is yet again suffering a wave of “African gang violence.” This is despite Victoria deputy police commissioner Andrew Crisp recently stating that there was “no evidence or intelligence to suggest” a string of recent...
Pill Testing Is Long Overdue: An Interview with Victorian MP Colleen Hartland
The current campaign to trial a pill testing service at an Australian music festival began in February 2016. The push was led by prominent harm reduction advocates Dr Alex Wodak, Dr David Caldicott, and Will Tregoning. The impetus behind the renewed...
Federal Government May Increase Alcohol Tax
Malcolm Turnbull was all ears when the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) recently proposed increasing taxes on alcohol, arguing this would reduce alcohol consumption and associated problems. The plan would likely result in higher prices for drinks at...
Protecting Detainees: An Interview With Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass
The Australian government ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture on December 15. Better known as the OPCAT treaty, the international agreement aims to prevent the abuse and mistreatment of people in detention. The treaty builds upon the 1984 United Nations...
The Federal Government’s Continuing Attack on Civil Liberties
The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) released its 2017 Legal Rights Audit report on December 27. The report, which is the conservative think tank’s fourth annual audit of Commonwealth laws, found that over the last year the Turnbull government continued to...
