Mother Imprisoned for Giving Her Kids Sleeping Tablets
An Adelaide mother who gave her children chocolate milk laced with sleeping tablets has been sentenced to a full term of three years in prison with a non-parole period of 15 months. The 47-year old mother of four, whose name...
Keeping Religion Out of Politics: An Interview With the National Secular Lobby’s Peter Monk
As the campaign for marriage equality grew stronger, the debate on religious freedoms rose to the fore, as the state agreeing to grant some in the community the same human rights as others, seemed to irk a number of people...
Continuing Detention Orders in New South Wales
An application has been made to extend the prison sentence of a convicted killer and child sex offender beyond the expiry of his full term of imprisonment. 69-year old former babysitter and gardener Michael Anthony Guider was sentenced to two...
“We Must Speak Out”: Lawyers Are Obliged to Speak Out About Human Rights
Lawyers stand in a unique position. Their training and practice gives them a keen awareness of how the law functions in our daily lives, as well as the likely impacts of any newly-enacted or amended laws. Often, at times when...
Do I Have to Give My Fingerprints if Directed by My Employer?
Who has the right to your biometric data? This is the question that was posed to the Fair Work Tribunal when a worker was fired for not giving his fingerprint to his employer. When his employer demanded his fingerprint as...
The Adani Mine: Morrison, Albanese and the Growing Rebellion
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was completely right last week when she remarked in regard to the Adani mine that “everyone’s had a gutful”. But, most Australians aren’t feeling it in the bend-over-backwards-to secure-the-mine-opens sort of way that she is. The...
Homeless Lives Matter: Governments Must Focus on Charity at Home
A homeless man has been charged with bashing 27-year-old homeless woman Courtney Herron to death in a Melbourne Park over the weekend. Ms Heron, who suffered a mental illness and problems with drugs, had been sleeping rough and couch surfing....
Drug Driving Charges and the Defence of Honest and Reasonable Mistake
A recent decision by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal has ruled that drug driving is an absolute liability offence, which means the defence of being honestly and reasonably mistaken about drugs being in the system does not apply to...
The Law and Penalties for Aggravated Sexual Assault in New South Wales
A man who was found guilty by a jury in Downing Centre District Court of multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping and armed robbery has been sentenced to a full term of 38 years in prison with a non-parole...
Torres Strait Takes Australia to UN Over Climate Inaction: An Interview With 350’s Glen Klatovsky
Eight Torres Strait Islander representatives from four different islands lodged an official complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee on 13 May against the Australian government over its complete inaction on climate change, which is threatening their island homes. The...
