Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad to Shut Down as Police Target “Silent Crimes”
The NSW Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) was established in April 2006 in the wake of the December 2005 Cronulla Riots, which was the culmination of rising tensions between the Lebanese and Anglo-Australian communities. The predecessor of the MEOCS...
Government Again Uses Threat of Terrorism to Justify Greater Control
State and territory leaders agreed this week to disclose driver licence photos to the federal government so it can create a national face-recognition database. At the COAG security meeting, the premiers also agreed to a set of new federal laws,...
WA Police Criticised for Using Excessive Force Against Indigenous Australians
On September 27, a 35-year-old Aboriginal woman called WA police to report a family violence incident at her Joondalup house. On arriving at the residence, the attending officers ran a background check on the mother-of-five and arrested her for fine default....
Sydney Lawyer Accused of Insurance Fraud
Marcel Joukhador was admitted as a NSW lawyer on 14th July 2000. He was later employed for several years as a solicitor with Thomas Booler Lawyers. On 4th March 2010 while still employed at the firm, Mr Joukhdor was formally...
The Suspicious Death in Custody of Tane Chatfield
Tane Chatfield was found unconscious in his cell at Tamworth Correctional Centre just after 9am on September 20. Two days later, he died in hospital. The Corrective Services investigation unit announced that the death of the 22-year-old father-of-one was “not...
Drug Decriminalisation Is Logical: An Interview with SSDP Australia’s Penelope Hill
The tough on drugs approach has been shown to actually increase the harms associated with the use of illicit substances. However, successive Australian governments have ignored the evidence and continue to apply zero tolerance policies. Nowhere is this more apparent...
Indigenous Nations Are Set to Become Economically Independent
There are over 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations across the continent known as Australia, and its surrounding islands. Since the British have occupied the land mass, the disparity between First Nations people and the newcomers has grown exponentially....
Mobile Phone Use While Driving – Statistics, Research and the Law
Using our mobile phones use has become so integrated into our lives, we may not even know how often we’re using them. We use our phones to email, check bank balances, pay bills, listen to music, take notes, scroll social...
Surveillance Cameras in the Neighbourhood
Ben moved into a rental property in July. He didn’t realise until a few weeks later that his neighbours had installed security cameras which capture not only their own property, but also Ben’s backyard. The cameras are small and hard...
The Push for Mandatory Consideration of Aboriginality During Sentencing
In the 2013 case of Bugmy versus the Queen, the High Court of Australia found that social disadvantage should be taken into account during the sentencing process. The court ruled that Aboriginal man William Bugmy’s deprived background should have been...
