Your Guide to New South Wales Heroin Laws
The use of heroin in Australia peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, however there are small but persistent group of users, often from marginalised backgrounds. According to the latest national statistics just over 1% of Australians have used...
Is Being of ‘Good Behaviour’ an Implied Condition of Bail in NSW?
Good behaviour bonds ordered by courts for those who plead guilty to, or are found guilty of, criminal offences in New South Wales will always require that the defendant be of “good behaviour”; in other words, not commit further crimes...
David Hicks-Style Plea Deal Could Be the Lifeline that Julian Assange Needs
US ambassador Caroline Kennedy told SMH on Monday that a plea deal could be on the cards in regard to Australian journalist Julian Assange, who’s been held in a UK maximum-security prison at the behest of the White House in prolonged isolation...
Brian Houston Found Not Guilty of Concealing Child Sexual Abuse
Hillsong Church Founder Brian Houston has been cleared of accusations he concealed child sexual offences committed by his father, Frank Houston, in the 1970s. Brian Houston, who is a long time friend of former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was...
Officer Pulls Firearm on Activist: Disrupt Burrup Hub’s Jesse Noakes on Escalating Police Response
That a WA police officer felt empowered to draw his gun and point it at a 21-year-old climate defender seated behind the wheel of his car, and not being in the act of committing a crime, shows that the campaign...
Your Guide to New South Wales Cocaine Laws
Cocaine use is on the rise in Australia with the latest national statistics finding 11% of Australians have used cocaine in their lifetime and 4% have used in the past 12 months. Here’s a summary of the laws, penalties and...
Third Parties Cannot Appeal Decisions Relating to Subpoenas in Criminal Cases
A recent judgement of the Supreme Court of New South Wales has made clear the Commissioner of Police has no standing when it comes to opposing the production of materials sought under subpoena to police, as the Commissioner is neither...
The Sinister Side of AI: Scams, Sabotage and Sexualisation
We’ve been hearing the ‘astounding’ benefits of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) over the past couple of years and how it has the potential to ‘revolutionise” the world in which we live. In the race to embrace the technology, little attention...
The Law, Penalties and Defences for Making Bestiality Pornography in NSW
A Queensland couple has been charged with engaging in a series of sexual acts involving dogs and capturing it on video. 37-year old Crystal May Hoare and 28-year old Jay Wade Veenstra, 28 are each charged with five counts of...
The Commonwealth Offence of Dishonestly Obtaining a Financial Advantage by Deception
A member of a motorcycle club in Sydney has been charged with a string of Commonwealth criminal offences in relation to a social media scam that has allegedly cost the Australian taxpayers $1.6 billion. According to investigators, the fraud came...
