The Australian media industry is united in its opposition to some key provisions of the federal government’s new whistleblower legislation – now before parliament – and is pushing for some significant…
A NSW parliamentary inquiry has recommended the introduction of a ‘partial defence of gross provocation’ in legal trials involving lethal violent acts.
AAP/Angela Brkic
Yesterday, the NSW parliamentary Select Committee on the Partial Defence of Provocation released its final report. The report contains a set of recommendations for reforming a defence that has long attracted…
Mark Dreyfus has put forward a new bill to protect whistlerblowers, but it falls short in several areas.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Australia has been fortunate enough to see mostly honest governments. We’ve experienced neither the corruption of 1950s Italy nor the tyranny of 1970s Brazil. We are not, however, without our issues: give…
Copyright law could make the job of creating Massive Open Online Courses more difficult.
Legal image from www.shutterstock.com
Another university has jumped on the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) bandwagon this month, with the Australian National University joining up with Harvard venture edX.
In ANU’s case, it will enable…
Yesterday’s Federal Court decision has the potential to change the future of online broadcasting.
Alan Klim
Online streaming of radio broadcasts may be a thing of the past after the Full Federal Court yesterday handed down a ruling that will result in radio stations paying higher royalties to the recording industry…
Google has scored a legal victory over the ACCC – but what was it all about?
EPA/Joechen Luebke
Google has won its long-running legal battle with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), after the High Court today overturned a ruling that the company had engaged in “misleading…
Egyptian Muslim preacher Ahmed Mohamed Abdullah stands accused of blasphemy charges after burning a copy of the Bible during last month’s protests by Muslims against a film depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
EPA/Khaled Elfiqi
In the wake of the violence sparked around the world by the anti-Islam video entitled Innocence of Muslims, the debate about the need for anti-blasphemy laws has re-emerged.
The Organisation of Islamic…
Footballer Liam Jurrah arriving at his committal hearing in Alice Springs. Are such processes really necessary?
AAP/Xavier La Canna
Significant questions have been raised over the past three decades, most recently by Victorian Attorney General Robert Clark, as to the benefits of the pre-trial system. In particular, whether having so…
Eddie Koiki Mabo (left) and Jack Wailu on the Torres Strait Island of Mer during the High Court challenge.
AAP/National Archives of Australia
Australians have just celebrated Mabo Day – this year marking the 20th anniversary of the landmark High Court decision that changed the course of land rights in Australia
The case has special resonance…
The government’s obligations to immigration detainees are very similar to those of prisoners.
AAP/Dean Lewins
A training manual instructing immigration detention centre guards to use force to incapacitate detainees was leaked this week. It included techniques to kick, punch and target pressure points on detainees…
Gina Rinehart with daughter Ginia Rinehart attend a State Reception for Queen Elizabeth II in Perth.
AAP/Lincoln Baker
The dispute between Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, and her children is more than a private squabble between relatives.
The high profile of the litigants meant the case was always going to…
