As the world goes into lockdown, we’re all urging each other to “stay home!” But for many of us, those two words incite unimaginable fear and dread. As domestic violence cases are expected to surge in this time, how will an already overstretched and underfunded domestic violence service industry handle it? By Jill Tengco Forced […]
Justice
Indigenous and proud of it
By embracing and exposing their heritage, indigenous entrepreneurs are progressively reaching new heights in the business sector despite a lack of funding from the Australian government. In a climate of increasing and widespread acceptance of their past, indigenous Australian entrepreneurs are prospering without sacrificing their cultural traditions. For entrepreneur Josie Alec, gaining knowledge […]
Do Sydney siders welcome more immigrants?
Immigration has never been a more contentious subject. With the world in crisis and many looking for refuge in developed countries, I stop and ask if Sydney locals welcome these refugees. “I say let them in! I don’t see how someone could deny desperate people safety, especially families with young kids…I love it here and […]
Your say: Is your privacy too much to pay for national security?
The Turnbull Government’s has unveiled its plans to roll out new legislation, along with a $294 million package to boost security at Australia’s airports. New police powers will allow officers to ask any traveller for proof of identity. Under current laws, police can only ask for proof of identity if they suspect a person has […]
Women reclaim their bodies, 150 metres at a time
The importance of freedom of speech has been a key message of anti-abortion campaigners, however, Camperdown lawyer Kirsty Gan notes it’s important to consider the differences in Australia’s laws compared to America. “I think it’s important to recall that Australia doesn’t have a US-style positive right to say whatever you like. Rather, the constitutional […]
‘All’s wool that ends wool’ for the farmers exporting live sheep, but for the animals themselves, it’s far from a ‘ewe-topia’.
The exporting of live sheep is a divisive issue that has many caught between wanting Aussie farmers to make a living, and the ethical treatment of animals. The trade has sent 200 million animals to the Middle East in the past 30 years, and has killed two and a half million of them. In 2009 […]
Immigration: Your Say on 40 Million
With government reports estimating Australia’s population will rise to 40 million by 2050, almost twice the current population, opinions on immigration are at a soaring high. It’s time to ask: What do Australians really think about our ‘boundless space to share?’ “I mean, it’s hard to talk about these things today. But I think the […]
Trauma and Stigma in Criminal Law.
Criminal legal practitioners regularly come face to face with the darkest parts of humanity, however their resulting trauma remains unacknowledged by the judicial system itself, despite a resounding call for change. By Maya Skidmore. “To the best of my knowledge, I am the first and only sitting judicial officer to talk about […]
It’s been a law-ng hundred years
Written by: Tania Tan It has been 100 years since the Women’s Legal Status Act was passed in 1918, but women in the legal profession are still underrepresented in leadership positions. This was according to the Law Council of Australia, which launched a national campaign in 2017 to counter biases in barristers’ chambers and law […]
Mind the accessibility gap
Mind the accessibility gap The private nature of Australia’s public transport, written by Callum O’Donnell A frustrated Ben Falkiner paces up and down Sydney’s Como train station talking on his mobile. “This should never have happened!” he says to his mother on the other end, “I can’t believe they forgot”. Ben was supposed to […]
BREAKING THE CYCLE OF DISADVANTAGE
Over the last decade the New South Wales prison population has surged by 35%, prisoners on remand have doubled. Is the increase in the number of people with disabilities in prisons a sign the current policies for dealing with disadvantage are wrong? STEPHEN HILL reports. The lack of adequate disability support services is driving […]
Redress Scheme to come into effect following Report on child abuse
By Demi Ball When the Royal Commission released its final report into institutionalised child sexual abuse, over 8000 victims came forward to share their stories. And now, a new National Redress Scheme will be introduced to make sure their experiences are never repeated. Faye* was in her early teens when she was sexually abused by […]
The forgotten victims of Islamophobia: Devout Muslim Men
Video.mp4 Muslim men who have been discriminated for wearing their religious clothes, are being overlooked with the focus being on female victims. With the political climate being gripped by Islamophobia, many in the media have focused on how Muslim women have been discriminated for wearing their religious clothing such the niqab (a garment of clothing […]
Autism and technology: paving a brighter future by Camilla Theakstone
Autism is an increasingly prevalent mental condition that is characterised by deficits in social interaction, forming relationships with other people and using language and abstract concepts. It is traditionally diagnosed in early childhood as that is the time that symptoms start to appear. The condition is also on the rise in Australia. […]
Bombs, Beards and the Salwar Kameez: Exploding the Silence on Islamic Men and Religious Dress
By Reena Mukherjee During Eid festivals next month, Islamic Australians from across NSW will attend celebrations in their religious attire, with a growing number of calls from lobby groups for greater acceptance of women donning the burqa or hijab. But what about the men? Here are the stories of the kameez-wearing males who have become […]
Islamophobia: “It’s time to look at Muslim men as well.”
While media coverage on Islamophobia has been extensive, this hasn’t always meant equality for all. The one-sided coverage represents Muslim women: the hijab, the burqa and the niqab. For many Muslim men, their outwardly visible faith and common backlash often go unnoticed, leaving half a religion left behind in the debate. By: Nazla Sajed […]
Criminalising Disability
People with disabilities, particularly cognitive or psychosocial disability, represent 18% of Australia’s overall population but account for half of the total prison population. Inside prison, this group are at serious risk of abuse. Supporting diversion of people with disability away from the criminal justice system and into community support will break the cycle, researchers say. […]
“We Can No Longer Ignore the Reality of What is Present Within the Australian Hip Hop Scene”
By Cindy Yu “I went from having a really good year in 2014, started to make a small kind of gain to winning awards and initiatives, which then exposed me to what can only be described as online harassment within a 48-hour period of winning that award.” Sarah Connor, an Australian hip hop artist, was […]
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Survivors are now heard and recognised for the abuse they went through as a vulnerable child, and are able to seek comfort from the other survivors’ stories. By Kirsta Cheung Children were taken to Sunday morning church services by devoted religious parents who’d entrust priests to care for them, during the 1950s. Father John Perez […]
Fake It ‘Till You Make It: The Consumer Paradox within the Booming Replica Luxury Marketplace
It accounts for $450 billion AUD global industry, yet the freedom for budget-conscious millennials to score the latest designer ‘it’ piece does not evoke thoughts of an insidious market underbelly; one deeply embroiled in organized crime, money laundering and the exploitation of human rights. Welcome to the underworld of replica luxury products, where the demand […]
Indigenous hip hop: the movement that is just getting started
by Adamo De Nigris Artist Lady Lash is a prominent member of the indigenous hip hop community. Photo taken by Karina Marlow. Crystal Clyne Mastosavvas, known by her stage name Lady Lash, comes from Ceduna, on the west coast of South Australia. Male rapper ‘Ziggy Ramo’, also comes from a rural community, outside Perth in […]
One hundred years on, how much further do female lawyers have to go?
By Madeleine Thomas Australia is striving for greater gender equality in all sectors, but the legal industry is still struggling to close the pay gap and put women in high places. This year marks the centenary of the Women’s Legal Status Act of 1918, and while numbers of female solicitors in our community are […]
Have we responded to our children?
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is not an easy discussion to have, but it is the hope of previous generations, their suffering, and their courage, that will ensure abuse never happens to another child of Australia, writes Jackson Eldridge. “That year (1975), a group of 20 boys went with […]
The Trouble with Justice
by Cheryl Till When Magistrate David Heilpern first spoke about his experience with vicarious trauma at a Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation (TJMF) annual lecture last October, he did not expect his picture to end up on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald. “I think this must have really hit a nerve,” Heilpern said. […]
D.I.Y Dying: Assisted Death for the living
Do-it-yourself euthanasia kits are being sold legally in Australia under the disguise of home brewing devices. By Abbey Farlow Max Dog Brewing is not what it looks like. It’s website is donned with pictures of friends enjoying beer together. The unknowing eye would mistake the site for an independent brewing company selling kits for the […]