Justice for Mhelody: An Interview With Migrante Australia’s Lina Cabaero
Mhelody Polan Bruno died at around 10 am on 22 September at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital. The death occurred after paramedics attended an apartment the morning before, where they stabilised her. The 25-year-old Filipina trans woman had been holidaying in...
Police Officer Reinstated After Failing Drug Test
In a decision that’s bound to have repercussions on workplace drug testing practices around the country, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (NSWIRC) has ruled that its initial decision to reinstate a NSW police officer dismissed over a positive drug test...
Silencing Journalists Threatens Democracy: An Interview with Award-Winning Journalist Peter Greste
Prior to the 9/11 terrorist attack, there was only one specific piece of anti-terrorism legislation in Australia – a local law in the Northern Territory. Now, there are a staggering 82, with five more currently being considered by parliaments. As...
Sydney Brothers Not Guilty of Manslaughter
Our client is a 40 year old man from Greystanes in greater Western Sydney. He lived with his older brother and elderly mother until her death in September 2017. On 23 August 2017, our client and his brother called an...
‘Any Extent’ of Injury Can Amount to Female Genital Mutilation, High Court finds
In a majority decision released today, the High Court of Australia found that a female’s genitals do not need to be ‘render[ed] imperfect or irreparably damaged in some fashion’ for the offence of female genital mutilation to be established. The...
Police Officer Who Endangered Domestic Violence Victim Avoids Prison
A police officer has received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to illegally accessing and using information from a police database. Senior Constable Neil Punchard was apparently joking around when he committed the crime of accessing the Queensland Police Service...
Punishment vs Rehabilitation in the Criminal Justice System
John has had a busy week fishing, looking after horses, and pruning his fresh crop of vegetables, so he’s quite pleased to retire to his room alone, and watch some television before bed. Without context you’d assume John was an...
Free Jock Palfreeman From Arbitrary Post-Release Detention
Jock Palfreeman has been unlawfully detained in Busmantsi Detention Centre in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia since 19 September. The Sydney man has served 11 years in prison for a murder that many believe was an act of self-defence, a...
Testifying to West Papuan Atrocities: An Interview With Academic Jason MacLeod
Widespread civil unrest broke out in Indonesian-occupied West Papua on 18 August. And it continues on to this day. In the region that’s been under the repressive rule of Jakarta since 1963, the mass protests were sparked by racist attacks...
The Law on Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm
A 22-year old Western Australian man accused of burning a toddler with a cigarette lighter and boiling water has told Perth Magistrates Court the little girl tripped over and poured a pot of boiling noodles on herself. Jaycob Yarran, a...
