As Queensland considers new laws to curb alcohol-fuelled violence in response to a one-punch death, several policy experiments that have occurred in recent years can provide valuable lessons.
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.
At a time when Australia is discussing the adequacy of legal responses to domestic violence, decisions that serve to lessen the culpability of men’s violence against women are undoubtedly concerning.
By drawing on interviews with perpetrators and their ex-partners and police evidence, a common discrepancy in victim and perpetrator accounts of domestic and family violence becomes blatantly obvious.
Part one of the ABC’s Hitting Home provides an insight into the work of those responding to domestic violence on the front line – including police, courts, refuges, and a specialist forensic unit.
Preventing crime before it happens, while saving resources, sounds like a great use of big data. But these calculated probabilities raise big questions about civil liberties.
Italian law is very clear on what constitutes a mafia-type organisation. But that definition could change if prosecutors in a high-profile case have their way.
Despite the many people with mental illness who go to prison, successful defences of mental impairment are rare. But this is not a ‘get out of jail free’ card and should be more accessible.
If we want to develop truly effective policies to reduce gun violence and its impacts on individuals, families and communities, we need to start basing Australian debate on Australian facts.
Depictions of women bullying women are a mainstay of reality television shows, just as reports of Twitter fights between female celebrities are regular tabloid fare. It’s a phenomenon with a long history.