Onshore Immigration Detention Centres are Rife With Abuses, Ombudsman Finds
During disturbances at Christmas Island’s North West Point Immigration Detention Centre early last year, staff were found to have engaged in using fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment upon detainees. This use was unauthorised but appeared to be planned and...
Prison Guards Contravened Remandee’s Human Rights, Coroner Finds
Victorian Coroner Simon McGregor has ruled found Veronica Nelson’s human rights were repeatedly breached from the time of her arrest on 30 December 2019, to her death a few days later, on 2 January 2020, at women’s prison Dame Phyllis...
What is the Difference Between First, Second and Third Degree Murder?
Unlawful killings in Australia are divided into two broad categories: Murder, which is a person kills another with the intention to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm, or with reckless indifference to human life, or during or immediately after the...
The Laws Relating to Public Nudity in New South Wales
Free the Nipple is a feminist campaign with goals to make it legal and socially acceptable for women to be topless in public and to post topless images on social media websites such as Instagram and Facebook. But what’s this...
Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme: The Right to Know or an Unjustified Intrusion on Privacy?
New South Wales residents may soon be able to call a hotline or access an online portal to check whether the person they claim to be their partner has a history of domestic violence. The proposal builds on a pilot...
The US-Australia Military Alliance Serves Washington’s Interests, Not Ours
This nation’s alliance with the US is often considered to guarantee Australian security. But the foundation of this strategic relationship, the 1951 ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States) Treaty, provides no such assurance that Washington would step in to support us...
“Vote No to Referendum”, Say Grassroots First Nations, “We Deserve More than a Voice”
This 26 January marked 235 years since the British ships first docked at Kamay-Botany Bay with the intent of invading the continent today referred to as Australia, under the pretext of the doctrine of terra nullius, when clearly there were...
Enshrine Protest in Law as Our Future Depends on It: Shoebridge on Protecting the Right
Human Rights Watch began the year with the release of its World Report 2023, in which it critiqued the disproportionate punishment the NSW anti-protest regime, which was established last April, results in for those who partake in demonstrating “without permission”. Indeed, 2022...
Labor to Reintroduce Alcohol Bans in Remote Indigenous Communities
It seems that in recent times, our prime minister has taken a leaf out of his predecessor’s book in terms of social justice issues, sadly adopting similar positions in terms of human rights abuses as well as populist, knee-jerk reactions...
The Offence of Taking or Being Carried in a Conveyance Without the Owner’s Consent
Four men suspected of being part of a criminal group have been charged with a string of offences over an alleged police on the Northern Beaches of Sydney involving a utility taken without the owner’s consent. Police say they were...
