Voices for Change: Shifting Attitudes Via the Media to End Gender-Based Violence
In November last year, Alia and her 2-year-old daughter Emily showed up at a Newcastle support service after having fled a domestic violence situation. A Bangladeshi national on a student visa with no money, Alia was left with little options...
Facing Prison Time Over Son’s Cannabis Medicine: An Interview With Jamie Blake
Next Monday, Jamie Blake and his partner Stephanie McKay are to stand trial in the Rockhampton Supreme Court over drug charges that could see them behind bars. The reason they’re facing prison is they were trying to help their autistic child....
Not Guilty on All Charges: An Interview With Medicinal Cannabis Crusader Dr Andrew Katelaris
At around noon on Thursday, a jury found renowned medicinal cannabis practitioner Dr Andrew Katelaris not guilty on a number of very serious charges relating to the supply and manufacture of cannabis medicines. Representing himself in court, Dr Katelaris argued...
Decriminalise Drug Possession: An Interview With Former AFP Commissioner Mick Palmer
Calls for reforms to the approach Australian governments take to illicit drugs are growing stronger. The idea that personal drug use and possession should be treated primarily as a health and social issue, and not a criminal offence, is starting...
Countering Street Harassment: An Interview with Sexism in the City Guest Dr Bianca Fileborn
Crime rates in NSW are at a forty year low. According to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures, over the 24 month period ending in March this year, only two of the seventeen major crime categories were on the rise....
Removing Criminal Sanctions for Drug Use: An Interview With Australia21’s Dr Alex Wodak
“We call on Australia’s federal, state and territory governments to treat drug use primarily as a health and social issue and to remove criminal sanctions for personal use and possession,” begins think tank Australia21’s recently released fourth report on illicit...
Fighting Police Corruption: An Interview With Former Queensland Sergeant Rick Flori
In January 2012, a pair of Queensland police officers arrested Noa Begic on the street in the Gold Coast. Charged with public nuisance, the 21-year-old chef was handcuffed and then taken to the basement of the Surfers Paradise police station. With...
Challenging the NSW Police Shutdown: An Interview With Bohemian Beatfreaks’ Erik Lamir-Pike
The NSW Police Force (NSWPF) is continuing what can only be described as its assault on festivals. Last Friday, it publicly announced that it was withdrawing its support for and blocking the Bohemian Beatfreaks festival that’s due to be held...
Test Pills & Save Lives: An Interview With Australian Greens Leader Richard Di Natale
This year’s music festival season began with an avoidable tragedy, as two young Australians died after taking drugs at Sydney’s Defqon.1 festival in September. The saturation policing and drug detection dogs at the event failed to save their lives. A pill...
Prohibition Causes the Harm: An Interview With Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform
There’s a rising awareness that the century-old system of drug prohibition is failing. It’s evident in the global moves to legalise cannabis, the internationally-lauded Portuguese drug decriminalisation model and the widespread calls to start treating drug use as a health issue, not...
