Suicide- Related Criminal Offences in Australia
It has been many years since laws which criminalised attempted suicide were repealed in states and territories across Australia. But over the past couple of decades, a sinister trend has emerged which can contribute to people making the tragic decision...
What is ‘Corrupt Conduct’ in New South Wales?
During last year’s ICAC hearings into the business affairs of former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire, the corruption watchdog quietly announced it would investigate another state politician- and no, not former premier Gladys Berejiklian, but the former NSW Minister for Sport...
Voice to Parliament May Threaten First Nations Sovereignty, Warns Thorpe
“How does your proposed constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice to parliament affect First Nations peoples’ sovereignty in this country?” Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe asked Senator Penny Wong in parliament on 1 August. This question asserts the chief concern that First Nations rights...
What is a Parliamentary Inquiry in New South Wales?
Former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro has appeared before a parliamentary committee into his lucrative yet controversial appointment as a trade commissioner to the United States. Despite evidence presented to the inquiry which suggests that his appointment may...
Public Demands Accountability for Police Officers
The mid-1990s Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service uncovered evidence of entrenched corruption, which included state law enforcement officers selling heroin out the back of police stations, involved in running then illegal sex work services and trading in child pornography....
A Misuse of the Law to Silence Me: Vegan Activist Tash Peterson on Liquor Premises Ban
The disruptive protests of animal rights activist Tash Peterson have caused such a stir in her home state of Western Australia over the last three years, that WA police recently banned her from all licensed premises, issuing a barring notice under...
UN Inspection Body Visit Should Spur Action on Detainee Abuse, Says Shoebridge
Then attorney general George Brandis ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, otherwise known as the OPCAT, on 15 December 2017, which means our nation agreed to establish a UN governed system of independent bodies to inspect Australia’s places of...
“Police Powers Are Bleeding Out”: Redfern Legal Centre’s Sam Lee on the Strip Search Class Action
The long-awaited strip search class action was filed in the Common Law Division of the NSW Supreme Court on 21 July. The proceedings will cover all music festival attendees, who’ve registered and been subjected to a suspect strip search at events...
The Laws Relating to Cyber Bullying and Online Abuse in Australia
The Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) was passed by the Australian Parliament on 23 June 2021 and came into effect on 23 January 2022. The second reading speeches to the Act makes clear that its objectives include: Protecting Australian adults...
Big Australian Retailers Sprung Collecting Customer’s Faceprints
In a move right out of former Liberal home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s playbook, a number of Australian retailers were recently found to be utilising biometric facial recognition technology to capture digital “faceprints” of customers that can be matched to...
