Queensland Gets Tough on Smokers
If you’re a smoker thinking about visiting the Sunshine State anytime soon, be aware that tough new smoking bans have come into effect this month. Smoking is now prohibited in bus stops and taxi ranks, as well as near child-care...
Life Sentences in NSW: “Life Meaning Life”
At the conclusion of their highly publicised Supreme Court trial, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara were found guilty and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for murdering Sydney student Jamie Gao. Gao was shot dead in 2014 after Rogerson...
Baby Nearly Dies after Eating Mother’s Ice Stash
A 27-year old mother from Koonawarra on the NSW South Coast has been charged with ‘abandoning or exposing a child under seven’ and six counts of drug possession after allegedly leaving her 21-month old son unattended in her bedroom within...
Racial Imbalance in the NSW Judiciary
On April 26 this year, Victorian attorney-general Martin Pakula announced the appointment of Urfa Masood to the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria. Ms Masood, who is of Sri Lankan background, began practising as a solicitor with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service...
Journalist Faces Contempt of Court Charge
A young Sydney journalist who ignored publishing protocols and caused a murder trial to be aborted has had her case referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Yahoo 7 reporter Krystal Johnson may face contempt of court charges after...
Greyhound Adoption Program and Friends of the Hound: For the love of dogs
With the Greyhound racing industry reeling from the NSW government’s decision to ban dog racing from July 2017, there is widespread concern about what’s to become of the tens of thousands of dogs that will no longer be needed, or...
Bogus Books Delivered to Sydney Mosques Defame Uyghur Leader
Two weeks ago, boxes containing hundreds of copies of a book defaming the character of exiled Uyghur leader Rebiya Kadeer were mysteriously dropped off out the front of several Sydney mosques. The incident seems to be an attempt to discredit...
Drug Consumption Rooms: Minimising Harm to Users and the Community
Over the last decade, patterns of illicit drug use have changed around Australia. In 2001, when the Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) was established in Kings Cross, there was an epidemic of heroin overdoses in the local area. But...
Will I Get Parole? Parole Authority Decision-Making in NSW
Parole is the release of an inmate(the parolee) into the community after the expiry of their ‘non-parole period’ (the minimum term they must spend in prison) and before the expiry of their full term of imprisonment. So, for example, an...
Law Graduate Guilty of Pretending to be a Lawyer
A Queensland law graduate has been found guilty of engaging in legal practice without being entitled to do so after a Brisbane court heard he advised clients during police interviews, failed to correct police officers who referred to him as...
