As the attorney-general considers whether to dissolve the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, freedom of information documents show the body has been so stacked with government appointments that they are radically affecting its decision-making outcomes.
With two new appointments to the High Court pending, a controversial case over the constitutional status of Indigenous Australians, and a federal judicial conduct commission in the wings, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has a packed legal agenda.
With affirmative consent laws expected to be introduced in Queensland, the state is on track to go from being arguably the most archaic in Australia in regard to sexual assault legislation to the most progressive.
As Blockade Australia concludes a week of climate protests in Sydney, police are using extraordinary tactics against the group, arresting and rearresting dozens of people.
Despite ample warning that Australia’s jails are facing a rapidly ageing population, little action has been taken to mitigate the complications of dementia and illness.
The suicide of Ricky Lee Cound in a prison south-east of Perth has sparked a fresh campaign for the recognition of sovereign rights and government accountability for Indigenous deaths in custody.
Before the election, the Morrison government’s charities commission began issuing letters that threatened charities with deregistration if they were engaged in advocacy. Many regard these ‘reviews’ as a means of silencing the sector.
Despite a 2016 royal commission, conditions in youth detention in the Northern Territory remain cruelly punitive, exacerbated by even harsher restrictions due to Covid-19.
