The Use of Force by NSW Police Against First Nations Peoples Is Stark and Disproportionate
While it’s certainly not the first time the NSW Police Force has been pulled up in regard to the way it uses force on the beat by legal and civil society groups, new statistics put on the table by the Redfern...
Misplaced and Inappropriate – Magistrate Roger Prowse Slammed by Supreme Court (again)
Magistrate Roger Prowse was severely criticised by the Supreme Court last week in the case of Elwood v Director of Public Prosecutions [2023] NSWSC 772. Reading the excerpts of the transcripts from the Local Court is wincingly painful. At one...
The Coming Biometric Digital ID Will Facilitate Nationwide Surveillance
“Identity is a combination of characteristics or attributes that allows a person to be uniquely distinguished from other people within a specific context,” the Albanese government’s 2023 National Strategy for Identity Resilience sets out in bold on its introductory page....
Should Uniform Affirmative Consent Laws Be Enacted Across Australia?
Victoria is the latest jurisdiction to introduce affirmative sexual consent laws, becoming the third Australian jurisdiction to enact laws which require those who participate in sexual activity to take positive steps to ensure the other party or parties are consenting....
United States Vows to Prosecute Julian Assange All the Way to Trial
Since the announcement of the details of the AUKUS alliance in March, a shift in authority over this nation is apparently underway, which began with the Albanese government agreeing to a $368 billion nuclear-powered submarine deal with the US, despite congressional...
Criminal Offences Relating to Female Genital Mutilation in NSW
On 16 October 2019, the highest court in Australia upheld the convictions of three people who had been found guilty of mutilating the genitals of two girls aged six and seven in New South Wales, in a barbaric practice that...
Community Correction Orders: Diverting Offenders Away from the Criminal Justice System
Tim Mathieson, who is perhaps best known as the “first bloke” for being the partner of Julia Gillard when she was prime minister, has pleaded guilty to a sexual offence in Victoria. The 66-year old appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court...
Fraud Enabled by MyGov ‘Security Gap’ Costs Australian Taxpayers $500 Million
The Federal Government’s PR department has gone into overdrive this week, boasting about how it is drafting National Digital Identification legislation which it claims will safely and securely use the personal data of millions of Australians to streamline access to...
I’m Going to Court for a Criminal Offence. Will I Go to Prison?
“I’ve been accused of a criminal offence, am I looking at a prison sentence?” This question, or a variant of it, is regularly asked by clients who are charged with criminal offences, particularly by those who have been accused for...
For the First Time, an Indigenous Woman Has Been Appointed as an Australian Supreme Court Judge
Louise Taylor has been appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court in the Australian Capital Territory, making her the first Indigenous woman to be appointed to a Supreme Court in Australia. Ms Taylor’s appointment is an historic moment for...
