A Violation of Civil Liberties: NSWCCL’s Elizabeth Htwe on Criminalising Drug Use
Since the drug-related deaths of two young Australians at the Sydney Defqon.1 festival in September 2018, the NSW Liberal Nationals government has understood that this state’s current approach to illicit substances isn’t working. Indeed, by the end of that music...
No Longer a Taboo: Psychologist Carly Schrever on Judicial Stress and Wellbeing
In a 1995 speech delivered in Hawaii, former High Court of Australia Justice Michael Kirby set out that “the general deference formerly paid to judges has been eroded” and “attacks on judges have now become commonplace”. He added that much...
War Powers Should Rest With Parliament: An Interview With Senator Jordon Steele-John
Then PM Tony Abbott withdrew Australia’s last combat troops from Afghanistan in late 2013. It marked the end of our nation’s longest engagement in a specific conflict. However, Australian troops were still deployed to the country in a training capacity...
Gamil Means No: An Interview With Gamilaraay Next Generation’s Ian Brown
Gamil means “no” in Gamilaraay: the language spoken by the Gomeroi people. Situated on what is today described as north western NSW, the Gomeroi Nation is currently saying gamil to the proposed Narrabri Gas project. In a statement released on...
Controlling the Discussion: Peace Campaigner Jacob Grech on the Brereton Report
The recently released Brereton report details 39 alleged murders conducted by Australian SAS troops in Afghanistan. The document also goes to great lengths to ensure the reader is well aware that no one knew about these war crimes above the...
High Court Rules that Refugees Can Hold Dutton to Account: An Interview with Lawyer George Newhouse
Home affairs minister Peter Dutton looks likely to be hit by a tsunami of breach of duty of care cases brought by asylum-seeking litigants temporarily in this country to receive medical treatment, after having suffered deplorably in offshore immigration facilities...
Managing Problematic Behaviours: An Interview With Smart Recovery’s Josette Freeman
As it’s often said, the first step to recovery is admitting to yourself that you have a problem, while the second step is reaching out. And for many people, what springs to mind initially is 12 step recovery programs, such...
Computers in NSW Prison Cells: An Interview With Former Family Court Chief Justice Elizabeth Evatt
As the old adage goes, prison is for punishment, not for further punishment. Indeed, it’s the deprivation of an individual’s liberty that a judge sentences them to prison for, not so they can be subjected to further retribution while behind...
NSW Government Wants “Retrograde” HIV Testing Laws: An Interview With ACON’s Brent Mackie
The Berejiklian government recently introduced a bill that requires people to undergo mandatory blood testing to see if they have a blood-borne disease - specifically HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C - if they deliberately expose a health, emergency or...
Lawyer Mark Davis on the Brereton Report, McBride and Assange
Released publicly on 19 November 2020, the Brereton report exposes the “warrior culture” prevalent amongst SAS troops deployed in Afghanistan between the years 2005 and 2016, which fostered the committing of war crimes and “a code of silence” to conceal...
