The War on Journalism – How 9/11 Changed Everything
For more than two and a half decades, Peter Greste worked as a foreign correspondent in some of the world’s most volatile warzones. Born in Sydney, he left Australia in 1991 to pursue a career that saw him from report...
Censorship Laws Put Sex Workers in Danger
Last week, US President Donald Trump signed off on two new laws which threaten to profoundly change the way we think about internet freedom, and sex workers are feeling the brunt of it. SESTA/FOSTA, or the Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act and...
Government Places Religion Ahead of Child Protection
Leaders of victims’ and child protection groups have echoed accusations by Greens MP David Shoebridge that the Berejiklian government is being dictated “by the religious right,” after it neglected to adopt recommendations by the Child Abuse Royal Commission to remove...
Sydney Suburbs Where Reports of Sexual Assault Are on the Rise
Despite crime rates in New South Wales being at forty-year lows, a new report suggests that reports of sexual offences have risen by as much as forty percent in some parts of Sydney. In its latest quarterly update, the Bureau...
How Parking Fines Can Lead to Prison
One of our state’s leading law reform bodies is concerned that government-sanctioned fines are “disproportionately affecting” vulnerable people, and is calling for an end to the “vicious cycle” of debt and unfair disadvantage for the poor. A report by the...
NSW Police Refuse to Comply with Freedom of Information Request
A representative of the NSW Police Force appeared before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal last week, as part of an ongoing battle over a freedom of information request lodged 18 months ago. In October 2016, Greens MP David Shoebridge filed a...
Top Cop’s Bigoted Social Media Posts Uncovered
One of Victoria’s top police officers resigned this week, after it was discovered he was responsible for a series of bizarre racist and sexist rants posted to YouTube. Brett Guerin, the head of Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command and Assistant...
It’s Time for an Australian Bill of Rights: An Interview with Senator Nick McKim
Gillian Triggs issued a stern warning when she finished her term as Australia’s Rights Commissioner earlier this year. Reflecting on her five years at the helm of the Australian Human Rights Commission, she lamented that “we are regressing on almost...
Pine Gap: Enabling the US to Kill Civilians
If you ever find yourself in Alice Springs, try driving 18 kilometres south-west and you might spot Pine Gap, a small military base on the fringes of the city. Its purpose has been clouded in secrecy since it was established...
Film the Police: An Interview with the National Justice Project’s George Newhouse
Elijah Doughty was just 14 when he was run over and killed last year. His crime, according to the man that hit him, was hearsay evidence the teen may have stolen his motorbike – although there’s no proof this happened....
