What are the Penalties in the Children’s Court?
The age of criminal responsibility in New South Wales is currently 10 years, which means children who are 10 years and older can be charged with a criminal offence and sent to court. Those under the age of 18 are...
What is White Collar Crime?
White-collar crime is not a new term. Edwin Sutherland, a North American criminologist, coined the term in 1949 to describe crimes committed by an individual, or groups of individuals, against a company or business. There have been calls for heavier...
Defamation Laws Restrict Public Accusations of Sexual Misconduct
A recent report by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) suggested that workplace sexual harassment is on the rise across the nation. But while the global #metoo movement has encouraged complainants to come forward and report sexual misconduct, journalist Ronan...
What is the Law on Defamation in NSW?
Defamation is normally thought of as an act which can attract civil liability. Indeed, a whole piece of legislation is dedicated to the rules relating to the tort of defamation in New South Wales, and there is a wealth of...
Calls for Tougher Laws Against Industrial Manslaughter
There is a growing push for the introduction of industrial manslaughter to be introduced as a discrete offence across Australia, in order to prescribe harsh penalties for acts or omissions by employers that result in the deaths of their employees....
Tasmania to Enact Anti-Consorting Laws
The Tasmanian government is pushing through new legislation to criminalise the act of consorting with those who have ‘served their time’. Restricting associations The proposal would make it a crime for a convicted offender to associate with with another within...
Getting Tough on Hate Speech: Section 93Z of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
Five years on from its initial proposal, the New South Wales Government has finally strengthened the state’s laws against hate speech. On 21 June 2018, the NSW Parliament passed the Crimes Amendment (Publicly Threatening and Inciting Violence) Bill. The object...
Politician Charged with Forgery, Fraud and Lying Under Oath
Former Western Australian MP Barry Urban has been charged with a dozen dishonesty offences including forgery, giving false evidence and fraud offences following his resignation from parliament. The story so far Former Labor MP, Barry Urban, quit Western Australian Parliament...
Driver Laughs as he Mows Down Mob of Emus
The driver suspected of running down at least a dozen terrified emus has be identified as a 20-year old man from Pinnaroo, a small town in South Australia. It has been reported that the suspect is the son of a...
Sexual Harassment Rife in Australian Workplaces
New research by the Human Rights Commission suggests that sexual harassment is on the rise in Australian workplaces. The study, the fourth of its kind since 2012, found that one in three people reported being sexually harassed in the workplace,...
