Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Inmates with Mental Health Conditions
Recent decades have seen a growing recognition of the need to provide support services to those suffering from mental health conditions. Sadly, prison inmates are often left out of the discussion, despite rates of mental illness amongst those behind bars...
“This Is Institutional Child Abuse”: Mistreatment of Child Detainees in NSW
A leaked document has revealed that senior members of Juvenile Justice approved young male detainees being locked up for 23 hours a day, handcuffed during their only hour of “recreation”, denied schooling and prohibited from mixing with other children. “This...
Public vs Private Prisons: The Mt Eden Fiasco
A recent investigation has confirmed that staff at the New Zealand Department of Corrections engaged in a cover-up of a fight club at Mt Eden prison for over a year before footage was posted on YouTube in 2015. After private...
Should Anti-Vaccination Nurses be Prosecuted?
A small number of nurses and midwives who have been disseminating anti-vaccination advice on social media could be prosecuted for sharing “false or misleading” information. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) has urged patients and members to report...
Daughter Sues Parents for Posting Baby Photos on Facebook
A young woman in Austria has taken the unprecedented step of suing her parents over childhood pictures they posted of her on Facebook. The 18-year-old woman, who cannot be named under Austrian laws, claims the photos caused her significant embarrassment,...
The Pressures of Being a Prison Officer
The difficulties faced by prison officers in the context of a growing prison population is an area which is often ignored by the mainstream media. I recently visited the Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre (SWCC), where it was evident that officers...
Victorian MPs May Support Euthanasia Laws
Victoria is getting closer to becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise euthanasia. It has been reported that half of the Victorian cabinet is now publicly in favour of legalising euthanasia, with at least another quarter yet to declare their...
NSW Drug Driving Laws: Arbitrary, Unfair and Without Evidentiary Basis
NSW Police are well into their unprecedented ‘crackdown’ on drug driving, with an explosion in the number of roadside tests for the presence of illegal drugs over the past 18-months. Last year saw a 109% increase in drug driving charges...
Interview Ruled Inadmissible After Illegal Arrest
As the name suggests, the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (the LEPRA) sets out many of the rules which apply to police when exercising their powers. Section 99 of the Act lists the circumstances in which police are...
No More Private Prisons in America
The US Department of Justice recently announced plans to phase out private prisons, an initiative now signed-off on by outgoing President Barack Obama. The move means that current private federal prison contracts will not be renewed after they expire, and...
