Are Illegal Aussie Downloaders in Trouble?
The price of movies, games and music in Australia is very high compared to many other western countries. Perhaps this is part of the reason that we have one of the highest rates of illegal downloading in the world. The...
ICAC Investigates Senior Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen: Justifiable Investigation or Witchhunt?
Last Thursday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) announced that it would begin an investigation into the conduct of deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, following allegations that she attempted to “pervert the course of justice.” The allegations surfaced after...
NSW Police Officers Charged Over Shooting
Four NSW police officers have been charged with perjury and giving false evidence after they allegedly lied under oath during a Police Integrity Commission (PIC) inquiry into the shooting of a mentally ill man by police five years ago. 36-year-old...
Police frustrated by ‘tap and go’ credit cards
Contactless payment systems are available at an increasing number of retailers, and make shopping faster and easier. ‘Tap and go’ credit and debit card systems are becoming incredibly popular in Australia, accounting for almost half of all face-to-face card transactions....
Previous Convictions for Gay Sex to be Expunged in NSW
Thirty years after the decriminalisation of homosexuality, those convicted under out-dated laws are going to be able to apply to have their convictions expunged. Victoria recently announced that it was going to remove all historic convictions from those who were...
Six Police Charged following an ICAC Investigation
The latest in a long string of ICAC investigations has surfaced in South Australia. Today’s headlines announced that six South Australian police officers were charged with serious offences and faced court today. The investigation by ICAC and the state’s anti-corruption...
ICAC Requests New Anti-Corruption Laws
According to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), current laws are not enough to prosecute public figures who are accused of protecting their own financial interests. The head of the ICAC, Megan Latham, recently requested that the Crimes Act be...
Navy Officer Falsely Claims that ‘Men of Middle Eastern Appearance’ Assaulted and Threatened to Behead Him
A 41-year-old member of the Australian Navy claimed that he was attacked outside his home in Bella Vista, North-West Sydney, while wearing his navy uniform. He claimed his attackers were two men of middle-eastern appearance and that he suffered bruising...
Should ASIO be Trusted with even More Power?
The ASIO officer drew a ‘Y’ in the sand with a stick. He looked across at the 21-year-old university student and pointed to the intersection of the Y. He said: “We’ve got two choices. We can go down the difficult...
Fact or Fiction? Errors, Evidence and the Neill-Fraser Case
In Neill-Fraser v Tasmania [2012] TASCCA 2, the island state’s Court of Criminal Appeal expressed its certainty that, while Susan Neill-Fraser’s sentence might be altered, an appeal against conviction would certainly not succeed. The Court was at pains to remind us...
