Are Criminal Laws Enough to Protect Victims of Forced Marriage in Australia?
By Famida ZanaForced marriage remains one of the most complex and poorly understood human rights and policy issues encountered by Australia in recent years.
Law and Policy
“This man is not going to fuck with me” – A Review of Witness by Louise Milligan
By Amy WaltersWitness reveals how ill-equipped the criminal justice system is to serve the interests of victims of sexual assault.
No refuge: Unpicking the 2021 Australian Budget
By Dr. Srishti SehgalEvery year, there are high hopes that the budget will usher in new policies for refugees and people seeking asylum. Unfortunately, the 2021-22 budget appears to forecast another bleak 12 months for refugees.
Coming of Age in the War on Terror: A Review
By Sam BrennanA generation of Australians have now grown up during the war on terror, the effect this has had on Australian society is pervasive, and nowhere more so than in our schools, as Randa Abdel-Fattah writes in her book Coming of Age in the War on Terror.
Australians Abandoned in India – the latest victims of political expedience
By Esther RockettFrom safe within their national borders, Australians watch the calamity unfold on their screens – terror stricken families trying to save dying loved ones as the subcontinent’s hospital system collapses – desperately crowdsourcing medicine and oxygen cylinders.
Watching Australia’s Terror Watch List
By Mikele PrestiaIn early March, then Minister of Home Affairs Peter Dutton signalled his intention to proscribe British Neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD), a terrorist organisation. This represented a significant, if contextually alarming, moment in Australian history.
Merging of Family Court, Breakdown of Family Law
By Gabrielle EbelingWith the support of One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson, the Federal Parliament has passed a bill that risks saturating the Federal Circuit Court and endangering the safety and welfare of families in critical need of expert attention, writes Gabrielle Ebeling.
Why Criminalisation of Coercive Control is Not Enough
By Gabrielle EbelingWhile coercive control legislation would mark a monumental shift away from the violence model of abuse, which sensationalises discrete episodes of physical assault, the reality is that the laws are unlikely, in and of themselves, to serve victims’ needs and prevent future harm.
Don’t Erase Trans Kids
By Roslyn CookThe NSW One Nation Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020, which is currently open for public comment, would deny children in our community the right to be seen, to be protected, and to be treated with integrity by schools and teachers.
It Is Not Rocket Science: Australia Needs to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.
By Sam BrennanOn January 22 the possession and facilitation of nuclear weapons will be prohibited by international law, however, Australia has at every stage of the law’s process shown its unwillingness to create an anti-nuclear world.
No fair go for the forgotten ‘legacy caseload’ asylum seekers
By Sangeetha PillaiDr. Sangeetha Pillai writes about the story of Zaki Haidari and how he got caught up in Australia’s ‘legacy caseload’ legal limbo.