Premier’s Changes to Online Bullying Laws: All Talk, No Action
The New South Wales State government looks set to amend the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (‘the Act’) to broaden the definitions of “stalking” and “intimidation” so they capture more people who abuse others via technology. The current...
Cannabis Legalisation Is Inevitable: An Interview With ADLaRI’s Ben Mostyn
Global drug prohibition had its beginnings over a century ago. And the intensification of its law enforcement aspect – known as the war on drugs – was launched by Nixon in 1971. In NSW, this prohibitive system is reflected in the...
New Senior Counsel Appointed in New South Wales
Nineteen barristers, comprising 15 men and four women, have been elevated to the prestigious rank of Senior Counsel (SC), or ‘silk’, this year. The NSW Bar Association has released its annual list of senior counsel appointments. Prestigious title The title...
The Cannabis Climate in Australia: An Interview With SA Cannabis Council’s Matthew Rowland
Attitudes to the cannabis plant are rapidly changing around the globe. Recreational cannabis is now legal in nine US states, while Canada is set to legalise it nationwide. And medicinal cannabis is now readily available in 31 jurisdictions throughout the US. The...
Despite Fatalities, NSW Police Increase the Use of Lethal Pursuits
A NSW police highway patrol car slammed into the vehicle of Gai Vieira at an intersection in Cronulla on 5 September. At the time of the collision, the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command officer was in pursuit of another driver who...
Julian Burnside Backs Greens’ Benedict Coyne in Bid to Oust Dutton
Renowned barrister Julian Burnside QC posted a tweet on 23 September pointing out that the “cruel detention” on Manus Island and Nauru has cost Australian taxpayers over $9.6 billion, and the cost of detaining each of the 1,650 remaining asylum seekers...
NSW Police Force Doubles Strip Searches
The NSW Police Force has nearly doubled the number of strip searches it carries out after positive indications from drug detection dogs. In 2016, police officers carried out around 590 strip searches after an initial search turned up nothing, while in...
Calls for Tougher Laws Against Industrial Manslaughter
There is a growing push for the introduction of industrial manslaughter to be introduced as a discrete offence across Australia, in order to prescribe harsh penalties for acts or omissions by employers that result in the deaths of their employees....
Tasmania to Enact Anti-Consorting Laws
The Tasmanian government is pushing through new legislation to criminalise the act of consorting with those who have ‘served their time’. Restricting associations The proposal would make it a crime for a convicted offender to associate with with another within...
Getting Tough on Hate Speech: Section 93Z of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
Five years on from its initial proposal, the New South Wales Government has finally strengthened the state’s laws against hate speech. On 21 June 2018, the NSW Parliament passed the Crimes Amendment (Publicly Threatening and Inciting Violence) Bill. The object...
