The royal commission’s recommendations seek a complete transformation of Victorian family violence services, and the state’s prevention of and response to family violence.
By requiring that a person acting in self-defence must act genuinely and reasonably, Australian states and territories appropriately balance self-defence against vigilantism.
If passed, a new migration bill could mean that a person at risk of torture from the Syrian government would have to prove that they could not have gone to a part of Syria controlled by Islamic State.
The Australian Law Reform Commission has given George Brandis a report that does all that it reasonably could, while falling well short of what it was asked to do.
In an era of ever-increasing counter-terrorism powers, what is Andrew Nikolic’s appointment to a powerful parliamentary committee likely to mean for its scrutiny of national security legislation?
As a country that claims to uphold the human rights of all – including those before the law – Australia should take notice of international practice when it comes to life imprisonment.
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have introduced restrictive “consorting” laws. But are the laws justified? Are they an efficient and effective way to combat organised crime?
Until a public interest exemption is included in Section 35P, the offence will continue to impact press freedom and have a chilling effect on media organisations’ ability to report on ASIO’s activities.
It is easy to envisage a number of arguments that MPs might use in an attempt to justify ignoring the result of a same-sex marriage plebiscite and voting contrary to its result.
As the Law Council of Australia calls for the end of mandatory sentencing, it might be time for the Australian government to evaluate and resolve the troubles of this problematic system.
Detaining persons convicted of terrorist offences for lengthy periods after they have served their time could risk radicalising a section of the community who see the measure as unjust.
Gerard Baden-Clay’s successful appeal against a conviction for the murder of his wife should not be misread as a sign of judicial tolerance of domestic violence.
If we are content to sanction, disapprove and respond to sole nationals committing terror-related offences without revoking their citizenship, why is revocation necessary for dual nationals?