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The Minister for Corrective Services announced this week that Southern Queensland Correctional Centre, located in the Lockyer Valley, will be turned into a women’s prison. The facility, which is currently a men’s prison, houses 300 prisoners and is operated by the private company Serco. Serco operates a number of other prisons around Australia, including Acacia…

On 1st July 2018, new laws regulating the use of Crown land in New South Wales took effect.  The amendments to the Crown Land Management Act and Crown Land Management Regulations give broad powers to police and other public officials to disperse or ban public gatherings including protests, rallies and meetings. The legislation relates to…

The National Security Legislation Amendment – Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill 2018 passed the Senate yesterday and is set to become law. The bill, which was introduced by Malcolm Turnbull and supported by the ALP, has been widely criticised as infringing on democratic rights and moving Australia in the direction of becoming a police state.…

On 26 June 2018, the Supreme Court of Queensland handed down a decision ordering that Ayla Cresswell could use the sperm of her deceased partner to conceive a child via Assisted Reproductive Therapy (ART). It was a historic decision as no such order had previously been made by an Australian court. The decision has broad…

The Victorian Court of Appeal yesterday handed down its decision on the appeal by Bauer Media against the Supreme Court’s decision to award actor Rebel Wilson 4.5 million dollars damages for defamation. The Court of Appeal reduced the judgment in Wilson’s favour to an award of $600,000, finding that the Supreme Court judge made an…

Last year, Federal Attorney-General George Brandis announced that the family law system, which has not been overhauled since the Family Court was established in 1976,  would be subject to a wide-ranging review. Concerns about the current family law system include the length of time it takes for a matter to be finalised, the cost of…

The award-winning three session Queensland Traffic Offenders Program (QTOP) is now available online. The online program, which aims to educate traffic offenders about the risks of unsafe driving costs $185 and must be completed on a laptop or desktop computer with a camera and a strong internet connection. What does the program involve? The program…

In February 2018, the Home Affairs Department introduced the Identity Matching Services Bill into parliament. This bill, if passed, will allow the Department of Home Affairs to collect, use and disclose information relating to the identity of individuals through biometric facial recognition software. Government departments and some private entities will be allowed to access and…

When a couple separates, their asset pool is dealt with in a property settlement, while arrangements for the care of children are made in a separate proceeding, in the form of parenting orders. But what about the family pets? How do courts decide who gets the dog, cat or other animals? The Family Law Act…

Following the deaths of seven in a mass shooting near Margaret River last week, criticisms have emerged of Australian gun laws. Whilst Australia has historically had a reputation as a leader in effective gun control, this tragedy has raised questions as to whether we are doing enough to ensure the safe use of firearms. What…

Refugees are persons who are outside their country of origin and who are unable to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of any of the following grounds: Religion; Race; Nationality; Political opinion; Membership of a particular social group; The definition of a refugee is contained in the Refugees Convention 1951,…

The growing use of Facebook and other social media in recent years has had a range of implications for family law matters. It has become increasingly common for social media posts to be relied on as evidence in these matters. Courts have also started allowing for the service of court documents via Facebook in some…

Australia’s start-up scene is one of the most promising and rapidly progressing in the world. With the thirteenth largest economy and the ninth highest income per capita, Australia is fast beginning to project a Silicon Valley-esque sense of opportunity for start-ups. Venture capital is one way for aspiring founders to get their companies up and…

Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is a psychological term that refers to the altered mental state suffered by women who are victims of domestic violence. The theory, first detailed by Professor Lenore Walker in 1979, posits that victims of domestic violence become caught up in a cycle of violence that causes them to remain in the…

The introduction of P turns is one of several changes to Road Rules that Vic Roads has rolled out for specific locations in Melbourne. The new rules are designed to reduce congestion in areas notorious for traffic jams, but critics say they will only create more confusion. The infamous ‘hook turns’ mandated at particular intersections…

In April 2018, Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John announced that he would introduce a Bill that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote if they wished to do so.  Numerous other countries, including Brazil and Austria, have 16 as the minimum age to vote. The question of whether the Australian voting age should be lowered to…

Aboriginal people have long been over-represented in Australian prisons. While the incarceration rate has increased across the board in the last 20 years, the Aboriginal incarceration rate has skyrocketed.  The number of Aboriginal Australians in custody has increased by 88% since 2004, while the non-Aboriginal incarceration rate has risen by 28%. In the Northern Territory…

A sharp increase in the number of people charged with drug driving offenses has been recorded in New South Wales in the last three years. Drug testing was introduced in NSW in 2007, and in 2015 the government announced that it would triple the number of roadside tests administered by police. A person does not…

The Defence of Intoxication Using Intoxication as a defence in WA is governed by the Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA) (‘the Code’). That section operates in conjunction with section 27 of the Code, which deals with the defence of Insanity in WA. The two sections operating together provide for the circumstances when Insanity…

The New Gift Card Regime Changes to the Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) will introduce a new mandatory minimum expiry period of three years for most gift cards and vouchers sold in New South Wales from 31 March 2018. The new legislation will apply to cards and vouchers sold both in-store and online. The State…