The Campaign Against Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients
As part of the May budget, the Turnbull government announced its controversial plan to drug test people who are in receipt of social security. Australian treasurer Scott Morrison described it as a “modest drug testing trial” for 5,000 new Youth Allowance and...
Man Charged Under Carly’s Law
The federal parliament passed Carly’s Law in June of this year, and police have just used it for the first time. Police in South Australia have brought charges against a convicted child-sex offender who is facing a string of fresh...
Turnbull Drags His Heels on Same-Sex Marriage
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Monday that his government was reintroducing legislation to enable a national plebiscite on same-sex marriage. The bill – which is to be debated this week -is expected to be rejected by the Senate once more, as...
Martin Place Rough Sleepers Agree to Move, But There’s Nowhere to Go
It seems the City of Sydney has had a change of heart in regards to the Martin Place homeless camp. Rather than trying to move them on, Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore announced on Monday evening that she’d negotiated a solution...
Former Labor MPs Face Fresh Corruption Charges
Former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid, Joe Tripodi and Tony Kelly have been hit with fresh corruption allegations and may face criminal charges. A report arising from an ICAC corruption investigation has recommended that findings be referred to the Office...
Appeal Court Finds GBH Sentence Inadequate, But Does Not Resentence
At 6.43 pm on 6 February 2015, Craig Lulham sent a text message to Bill, the husband of his friend Allison’s mother. It stated, “Bring the cops. I don’t care. It won’t stop me from smashing you are [sic] face...
Police Body Cameras Rarely Used
In November 2015, Queensland Police hosted a large-scale media launch for the first stage of a $6 million state-wide rollout of body cameras. At the time, the initiative was hailed as a “VERY. BIG. DEAL”, with hopes the devices would...
The Massacres That Led to Tighter Gun Control in Australia
The National Firearms Agreement (NFA) established tighter firearm control laws back in 1996. This led Australian gun laws to become the envy many other countries. But over the following twenty years, these laws have slowly been eroded. And this has much...
Government’s Ban on ‘Stop Smoking Aid’ Makes No Sense
Over three million Australians continue to partake in one of the most deadly habits around. Although smoking rates have fallen dramatically in recent decades, the last national survey found that 15.6 percent of the adult population are still lighting up. Two...
Changing Attitudes: An Interview with Domestic Violence NSW CEO Moo Baulch
Last Saturday, NSW Labor committed to introducing 10 days’ paid domestic and family violence leave. The move follows a campaign launched in July by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to have the leave enshrined in the national employment standards...
