Australia’s First Sanctioned Pill Testing Trial Is Just the Beginning
First published on 3 May 2018 The resounding success of Australia’s first government-sanctioned pill testing trial at the Groovin the Moo festival in Canberra last Sunday drew a line in the sand of this nation’s harm reduction landscape. Before it...
Ford Fined a Fiesta
The Federal Court has ordered car manufacturer Ford to pay a $10 million fine after finding the way it responded to consumer complaints about PowerShift transmission systems (PST) was “unconscionable”. It has been reported that around 10,000 complaints were made...
Pell to Stand Trial over Child Sexual Assault Allegations
The Melbourne Magistrates Court has committed Cardinal George Pell to stand trial over multiple historical child sexual assault allegations. Magistrate Belinda Wallington found there is enough evidence for Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric to stand trial. However, the court discharged...
Tough New Laws Proposed for Corporate Crime
With revelations of systemic corporate misconduct surfacing during the current Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (‘the Banking Royal Commission’), the federal government is proposing to increase penalties for criminal offences under the Corporations...
AMP May Face Criminal Charges
Senior Council Rowena Orr QC says financial services provider AMP could face criminal charges for making misleading statements to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Misconduct findings The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry...
Australian Pensioners Living in Poverty
A Darwin rental property manager won social media hearts recently when she successfully crowdfunded her client’s rental arrears after his pension was cut off. Centrelink debacle Derek Holbrook lives alone in Darwin. His pension recently came up for review under...
No More ‘Section 10 Bonds’ in NSW
On 24 October 2017, the NSW Parliament assented to the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment (Sentencing Options) Act 2017 (the Act) which, as the name suggests, amends the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (the Sentencing Act) in respect of the sentencing options...
Just Legalise It: An Interview with Australian Greens Leader Richard Di Natale
A large number of Australians breathed a collective sigh of relief on April 16, as Greens leader Richard Di Natale announced that his party is proposing that recreational cannabis use be legalised nationally. Drug law reformists and harm reduction experts have...
‘Naked Bikie’ Granted Bail Over Allegations of Possessing Child Abuse Material
Police have charged one of Australia’s most notorious biker club members with possessing child abuse material, after detectives allegedly found explicit images on his hard drive. It has been reported that 41-year old Erkan Keskin’s computer was seized along with...
NSW Police Are Targeting Aboriginal Youth Under a Secret Watchlist
Recently released NSW police data reveals that Aboriginal children are 18 times more likely than non-Aboriginal children to be targeted by police on a secret watchlist, which sanctions officers to subject listed children to a form of intensified policing. Currently,...
