Proceeds of Crime Laws Are Now Being Used to Target Climate Activists
The November crackdown on Blockade Australia climate activists in Newcastle gained widespread attention after one protester, Sergeio Herbert, was actually sentenced to hard time for his part in nonviolent direct actions that were targeting the world’s largest coal port. Herbert was sent...
Catholic Church Liable for Child Sexual Abuse by Priest
In what has been described as an Australian ‘legal first’, the Catholic Church has been found ‘vicariously liable’ for the child sexual offences committed by notorious Ballarat offender, priest Bryan Coffey, more than 50 years ago. Father Coffey was convicted...
When Can Police Use Pepper Spray in New South Wales?
An internal police investigation is now underway, following the death of a man pepper sprayed by New South Wales Police Officers. Police have only issued a few details about the incident. Police attended an address in Wellington in the central...
NSW Police See In the New Year Having a Field Day Enforcing Antiquated Drug Laws
As COVID-19 cases soar to unprecedented levels statewide and testing measures are withdrawn to almost nonexistence, NSW police has decided it’s an opportune moment to, once again, start cracking down on locals just trying to have a good time. The NSW...
The Light at the End of the Failed Drug War Is Growing Brighter
The 17th of June this year marked the 50th anniversary of the war on drugs. Launched by then US president Richard Nixon in 1971, the drug war led to the enhancement of law enforcement approaches to prohibition, and a heightened...
NSW Set to Criminalise Coercive Control
The New South Wales Government will soon begin drafting legislation aimed at criminalising coercive control. The new laws will create a standalone criminal offence for coercive control, in an attempt to deter such conduct and make it clear that such...
Rights Infringements Are Likely to Worsen in an Era of Mounting Crises
As the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically revealed, government responses to crises result in the winding back of citizens’ rights. And this unleashing of emergency powers, coupled with the withdrawal of freedoms, exposes the bare bones of the body politic. The...
Morrison Legislates to Enhance the Mass Deportation of Residents
Fortress Australia champion and prime minister of the nation Scott Morrison oversaw the passing of a raft of amendments to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) in November 2014. These served to strengthen the character test set out in section 501...
How the Overturning of the US Right to Abortion Could Bode for Australia
The 1973 US Supreme Court case Roe v Wade determined that a Texas law preventing abortion unless a women’s life was in danger was unconstitutional. And this finding established a national right to abortion, which prohibits states from banning it prior to foetal...
COVID-19 Restrictions Cause Unprecedented Court Delays
Court delays and lack of funding for the criminal justice system are significant problems across Australia for years. But a recent case of a man whose trial was delayed through COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in a four-year gap between his arrest...
