Are All Body Modifications Legal in Australia?
From horn implants to split tongues and scrotal injections - extreme forms of body art, sometimes called ‘body modifications’, are becoming increasingly popular and gaining greater social acceptance. But Australian law doesn’t seem to be keeping up with changing attitudes...
Child Sexual Abuse and Trafficking are Prevalent in Australia
When you hear about child trafficking and child exploitation, you tend to think of poorer nations, particularly those in Asia that have long been well-known for both. But a new Australian report suggests that it’s more prolific here than most...
“A Disaster of Water Privatisation”: An Interview With Water for Rivers’ Tracey Carpenter
South Eastern Australia is facing its worst water crisis in living memory. In NSW, rivers that no one remembers having run dry in the past, have ceased to flow. And there are dozens of regional towns staring down the barrel...
Politicians Look Out For Themselves, At The Expense of The People
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced on 23 January that it’s set the Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight. This means that the clock, which symbolises “the gravest perils facing humankind, is now closer to midnight than at any...
Catholic Church Continues to Silence Alleged Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
A Catholic priest from the Lismore diocese in Northern New South Wales is fighting the church over sexual abuse he allegedly suffered as a 12-year old altar boy. First case of a priest suing the Catholic Church The case is...
Which Crimes Are Most Frequently Detected in Australia?
The common populist phrase ‘if you do the crime, you should do the time’ suggests that those who commit criminal offences should be caught and prosecuted – regardless of how trivial or outdated the offence may be, or how futile...
One-Third of People in Prison Have Not Been Found Guilty
The most recent figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the nation’s prison population now officially stands at 43,028 inmates; a figure that is less than it was the previous year, albeit by just one percent. However,...
Cannabis Possession Will Soon Be Legal In Canberra: An Interview With Cannabis Club’s Mark Hutchison
Just quietly, from Friday week onwards, if you’re in the ACT and you want to smoke cannabis in the privacy of your own home it will be completely legal. You’ll also be able have up to 50 grams of weed...
Australia’s First Privacy Breach Class Action: An Interview With Lawyer George Newhouse
It’s said that data has replaced oil as the most profitable commodity in today’s digital era. And like all things lucrative, the potential for data to be used in deceptive or illegal ways for financial benefit is not only there,...
Law Enforcement Integrity Commission Lacks Independence
Well before the creation of the ‘Super Ministry’ – the Department of Home Affairs – headed up by Peter Dutton, the government created a key anti-corruption body. The problem is that not many have heard of it until recently. Despite...
