Serial Sex Offender’s Sentence Reduced Due to Judge’s Error
A DNA profile taken from Michael Dimian in September 2013 matched the sperm fraction of two swab samples taken from the victim of a 1993 rape case. Mr Dimian had already been convicted of several other sexual assaults and was serving...
Corruption and Nepotism Within the Queensland Police Force
As reported in a previous blog, two senior crime managers on the Gold Coast raised concerns in January about crime data being manipulated by members of the force in an effort to make it appear that crime and complaints are...
Pay Your Rates, or the Council May Sell Your Home
Many are predicting that home loan interest rates will soon start rising again. The likely impact on many Australian families will be ‘mortgage stress’ - a financial burden that is set to become a big problem all around Australia, as...
Cardinal George Pell May Never Face Trial in Australia
Earlier this week, Victorian police confirmed they had received advice from the State’s Director of Public Prosecutions regarding historic allegations of child sexual assault against former-Sydney Archbishop George Pell. While police are yet to announce whether formal charges will be...
First Test for NSW Anti-Protest Laws
Three people from a small community in New South Wales are facing up to seven years in prison after protesting against expansion plans for a coal mine located near the tiny town of Wollar where they live. Bev Smiles, Bruce...
Welfare Drug Testing Is an Invasive Punishment of the Poor
During his budget speech, Australian treasurer Scott Morrison announced that the federal government will “commence a modest drug testing trial for 5,000 new welfare recipients.” And those with a positive test result will be put onto cashless welfare cards. Australian social...
The NSW Government’s ‘Justice’ Reforms: Part Two
As outlined in an earlier post, the NSW government recently announced a suite of new “justice” reforms, as part of its ongoing “tough on crime” stance. Not only is the government investing heavily in more prisons, its also strengthening the laws...
NSW Government’s ‘Justice’ Reforms: Part One
The NSW government is continuing its tough on crime stance. Last week, the Coalition announced it will be introducing a series of “tougher and smarter justice reforms,” which include tougher sentencing options, stricter rules for parole and more intense monitoring of...
Attacks on Muslims on the Rise: An Interview with Mariam Veiszadeh
Four Muslim women were randomly punched in the face in an Islamophobic attack out the front of Sydney’s University of Technology (UTS) last Wednesday. A 39-year-old woman from Paraguay allegedly assaulted each woman – one after the other – in a...
The Australian Prison Boom and the Need for Decarceration
The imprisonment rate in Australia has been on the rise since the 1970s. At present, it’s at an all-time high. As of June last year, there were 38,845 adult prisoners in Australian correctional facilities, which was an 8 percent increase on the year...
