When Can a Defendant be Granted a Judge-Alone Trial in NSW?
The high profile criminal prosecution of Cardinal George Pell has raised concerns about whether Australia’s most senior Catholic will have the benefit of an impartial jury during his pending trial in Melbourne. This, in turn, has triggered debate about whether...
Archbishop Guilty of Covering up Child Sexual Abuse
One of Australia’s most senior Catholics has been found guilty of concealing child sexual abuse and faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison. 67-year old Archbishop Philip Wilson was charged in March 2015 with one count of concealing...
Lest We Forget the Frontier Wars
As Australians gather on April 25 to commemorate those who fell in conflicts on foreign soils, the nation still refuses to officially acknowledge the bloody conflicts that raged across this continent for close to a century and a half, known...
The Rise of Australian Neo-Nazis: An Interview with Online Activist Slackbastard
Over recent years, a number of loosely affiliated white nationalist groups have been organising online and rallying on the streets in this country. And these far-right groupings are united in their hostility towards asylum seekers, immigration, as well as the...
The Rise of Redfern’s Black Power Movement: An Interview with Professor Gary Foley
On January 25 1972, then Australian prime minister Billy McMahon stated that his government refused to grant Aboriginal land rights. The conservative politician made the announcement in response to the growing lands rights movement of the time. The fact that McMahon...
What Is Considered ‘Offensive’ Under NSW Criminal Law?
Offensive conduct is a frequently prosecuted crime in NSW. Section 4 of the Summary Offences Act 1988 provides that “a person must not conduct himself or herself in an offensive manner in or near, or within view or hearing from,...
In less than 10 minutes resulting in a section 10
I was represented by Saba Rezae for a Possess Prohibited Drug (cocaine) charge. From start to finish Saba was great. He had a strategy of how to present my case which, he memorised and presented in a compelling fashion. The...
Catholic Church: $30 Billion But Won’t Pay Child Sexual Assault Victims
Wealthy, ruthless and immoral: these are some of the words used to describe the Catholic Church during the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Despite its wealth being comparable to some of Australia’s largest corporations, the...
Making GPs Medical Cannabis-Wise: An Interview with Dr David Caldicott
In the mid-90s, Israeli medicinal chemistry professor Raphael Mechoulam discovered the endocannabinoid system. The professor’s earlier research had already led to the 1964 discovery of THC: the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a set of cell receptors, chemical...
Informed Public Prefers Rehabilitation Over Punishment
Politicians often invoke ‘tough on crime policies’ to win votes, and mainstream media outlets frequently publish sensationalised and highly misleading crime reports to muster an audience. The popularist rhetoric invoked by these power structures is often designed to create hysteria,...
