Sydney Institute of Criminology
CrimNet
16 February 2023
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The CrimNet newsletter is sponsored by the Sydney Institute of Criminology. CrimNet provides regular communication between criminal justice professionals, practitioners, academics and students in Australia and overseas. Could you share CrimNet with your peers and help grow the network?
The University of Sydney’s central campus sits on the lands of the Cadigal people of the Eora nation and has campuses as well as teaching and research facilities situated on the ancestral lands of the Wangal, Deerubbin, Tharawal, Ngunnawal, Wiradjuri, Gamilaroi, Bundjulong, Wiljali and Gereng Gureng peoples. We pay our respects to elders, past, present, and emerging who have cared and continue to care for Country.
CULTURAL ADVICE: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that CrimNet may contain distressing material and images or names of people who have died.
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Institute Events and Activities
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LGBTQ organising in the new protest environment – book launch and panel discussion
Date: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Time: 6 pm (AEDT)
Venue: Camperdown Campus, Sydney Law School - in-person event
The use of public space for recreation and protest remains hotly contested, as reactions to anti-protest legislation in NSW and other Australian jurisdictions show. 2023 marks a decade since a case of police excessive force at the 2013 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras went viral on YouTube. That case marked a watershed moment in police-LGBTQ community relations in NSW, and was part of a global awakening about the power of bystander video distributed through social media. Dr Justin Ellis’ 2021 monograph Policing Legitimacy: Social media, scandal and sexual citizenship critically engages with that case and considers the relationship between digital media, LGBTQ identity-based rights claims and police accountability. This book launch and panel discussion provide a timely opportunity to consider how LGBTQ individuals and communities will organise in the face of increased penalties for peaceful public protest in NSW, and unease about police use of platform biometrics and related issues of privacy and consent. The launch of Dr Ellis’ monograph will be followed by a discussion on these issues chaired by Institute of Criminology co-director Dr Carolyn McKay, and between Professor Kane Race, Dr Justin Ellis and Mr Josh Pallas – president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties. Please join us for this timely and important discussion.
Dr Justin Ellis is a senior lecturer in criminology at the Newcastle Law School and the editor-in-chief of Current Issues in Criminal Justice, the journal of the Institute of Criminology at the Sydney Law School. His research examines the relationship between digital media technologies, institutional trust and politically vulnerable populations, LGBTQ in particular. His scholarship on these issues is regularly published in high-ranking internationally peer-reviewed journals and in media commentary.
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Beyond Punishment Seminar: Transforming rehabilitation through digital technology Date: 02 March 2023
Time: 6 - 8 pm
Venue: Law Foyer, Level 2, New Law Building (F10), Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney (Camperdown Campus)
Institutions of criminal justice are not isolated from broader trends in society – and developments in the application of technologies in prisons have made it important to reconsider the role of digital technologies in rehabilitation.
What is the role of digital technologies in the context of the rehabilitative aim of prisons? What ought it to be? How is this role likely to develop in the future? And what challenges need to be borne in mind when answering these questions?
These issues will be the focus of the Beyond Punishment Seminar: Transforming Rehabilitation Through Digital Technology, which is hosted by the Sydney Institute of Criminology in conjunction with Corrective Services NSW at the Sydney Law School.
A good first step is to assess the current state of play regarding potentially rehabilitative technologies in prisons. The seminar will examine the roll-out of android tablet devices in NSW prisons and the impacts on family visits, health services and education of people in prison, especially since the Covid-19 prison lockdowns, and it will also examine how the devices can be used to deliver effective programs of rehabilitation.
How are tablet devices employed in prison? Do they lead to greater participation in rehabilitation or mean that people in prison socially withdraw? Can android devices address reintegration back into society and minimise issues of digital illiteracy? Is this an initiative that can ultimately decrease re-offending rates?
Technologies are never politically neutral and often raise ethical issues that need to be considered, particularly in the context of criminal justice’s rehabilitative aims and this seminar will aim to consider these ethical issues and to try to answer some of the questions raised above.
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2022/23 Criminal Law CPD Series
September 2022 - March 2023
The 2022-23 Criminal Law CPD series, presented by the Sydney Institute of Criminology is an innovative educational program made up of 7 recorded webinars delivered by eminent speakers from the University of Sydney and the legal profession.
A new webinar will be released each month from September 2022 - March 2023. Quizzes will be included to test your comprehension of the material being discussed.
Register now for the full series or individual webinars and enjoy the flexibility of watching at your own pace from any location at any time.
Information for lawyers and barristers
If this educational activity is relevant to your professional development and practice of the law, then you should claim 1.5 MCLE/CPD points per seminar attended.
Practitioners are advised to check with the CPD governing body in their jurisdiction for the most accurate and up-to-date information. Find out about interstate accreditation.
Cost: Full series (7 x webinars) = $300
Individual webinar(s) = $50
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Dr Andrew Dyer – Available now
It is common for people to deceive other people into engaging in sexual activity with them. But there is sharp division about whether all such deceitful people should be convicted of a sexual offence and, if all or some of them should, which offence(s) should be convicted of.
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Brett Hatfield – Available now
In a system subject to growing case numbers, increasingly regulated pre-trial processes, plea negotiations, and broad discretion, how are those priorities managed? Crown Prosecutor Brett Hatfield will consider those competing priorities and how they are balanced in practice.
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Associate Professor Helen Paterson – Available now
Eyewitness testimony can provide critical leads in investigations and can be extremely persuasive in court. However, inconsistencies or inaccuracies in eyewitness accounts can undermine the perceived credibility of the witness and the value of the evidence.
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Talitha Hennessy – Available now
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the administration of justice and essential services of courts continued through the increased use of communication technologies. The shift to digital or virtual justice in both civil and criminal jurisdictions accelerated with varying degrees of success.
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Professor David Hamer – Available now
Following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Uniform Evidence Law jurisdictions are implementing reforms to the tendency and coincidence evidence provisions. These reforms aim to relax the exclusionary rules so that the prosecution can more readily rely upon other allegations against the defendant and the defendant’s prior guilty pleas.
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John Stratton SC – Available now
Appearing in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal can be an intimidating prospect. Seeking leave, applications brought out of time, questions of law, questions of fact, mixed questions: senior criminal law barrister John Stratton SC will consider these issues and offer best-practice tips developed over the course of his career.
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9 March 2023 | Judge Paul Lakatos SC
Balancing the competing priorities of offenders with mental health diagnoses, the community, and the criminal justice system more broadly, is complicated. At the intersection of those interests sits the Mental Health Review Tribunal. The Tribunal endeavours to acknowledge and respect the dignity, autonomy, diversity and individuality of those whose matters it hears and determines. But how are these outcomes achieved?
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Current Issues in Criminal Justice
Special Issue Expressions of Interes
Current Issues in Criminal Justice (‘CICJ’) is the journal of the Sydney Institute of Criminology at the University of Sydney.
The Editor welcomes suggestions for special issue topics; and/or suggestions or self-nominations of individuals to guest edit a special edition in 2024 and beyond.
EOI deadline is Monday 3 April 2023.
Your EOI must include:
- The proposed title of the special issue;
- The name(s) of and contact information for the guest editor(s);
- A brief description of the scope of the special edition and a statement about its interest to the CICJ readership (2 paragraphs);
- A list of the manuscript titles and abstracts (if available) that would be included in the issue (title, name of author(s) and affiliations); and
- An indication of whether contributing authors have been approached and/or confirmed.
The date of the special issue is subject to negotiation between the editor and the guest editor(s). Please note that guest editor(s) will be responsible for arranging and assessing two double-blind peer review of each submission.
For information about our submission requirements including word limits, see here
Special Issue EOI will be assessed on the basis of likely readiness of all the manuscripts; diversity of contributors (institutions and levels), and contribution to the profile of CICJ.
Please email law.cicj@sydney.edu.au for queries.
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Queer criminology: resources on criminal justice issues facing LGBTIQ+ peoples
As Sydney hosts World Pride and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival in the coming weeks, Current Issues in Criminal Justice has put together a collection of articles on queer criminology as a resource for practitioners, policymakers and academics. The collection is free to access for February and March 2023.
LGBTIQ+ individuals and communities continue to face a range of challenges from criminal justice institutions. Queer criminology is a growing area of research that seeks to enhance and evaluate efforts to address the inequalities and discrimination faced by LGBTIQ+ people in the criminal justice context. This collection brings together articles on this topic over the last decade as a resource that helps to explain the current socio-legal context in Australian jurisdictions for LGBTIQ+ peoples.
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Current Issues in Criminal Justice
Current Issues in Criminal Justice (CICJ) provides detailed analysis of national and international issues by a range of outstanding contributors. It includes contemporary comments, with discussion at the cutting edge of the crime and justice debate, as well as reviews of recently released books.
CICJ accepts submissions on a rolling basis.
You can access current and previous issues of Current Issues in Criminal Justice here.
If you have a book suitable for review by CICJ, please email the books editor, Celine Van Golde
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State’s toughest ever organised crime laws come into effect
Deputy Premier, Media Release, 01 Feb 2023
Tough new organised crime laws targeting money laundering, unexplained wealth and dedicated encrypted devices are now in effect, as the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government ramps up the fight against organised crime.
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Why do men who kill their families still receive sympathetic news coverage?
Denise Buiten, The Conversation, 15 Feb 2023
As the number of mass shootings in the United States this year continues to grow, so too have family murder-suicides. It is only February, and already at least three families have been shot and killed by men who took their own lives afterwards, following a string of similar such killings in 2022.
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Here’s some context missing from the Mparntwe Alice Springs ‘crime wave’ reporting
Chay Brown, Connie Shaw, Kayla Glynn-Braun, Shirleen Campbell, The Conversation, 10 Feb 2023
Let us tell you about our town, our home. Mparntwe/Alice Springs is a small town on Arrernte Country in the red hot heart of the land now called Australia. Our town, our home, is a place of beauty: spinifex-speckled red sand dunes; black limestone after the rain; emerald waterholes nestled between the ranges; a wonderfully alive desert in one of the most remote places on Earth.
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Australian medical watchdog announces major overhaul to protect patients from sexual misconduct by doctors
Emily Baker, Amy Donaldson and Maddy King, Four Corners, ABC, 13 Feb 2023
The Australian health watchdog has conceded it needs to "raise the bar" to protect patients from sexual misconduct, announcing it is seeking major changes to how health professionals are regulated in the wake of an ABC investigation.
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Northern Territory government sued over claims of sexual and physical abuse at Don Dale Youth Detention Centre
Jano Gibson, ABC, 13 Feb 2023
It was a minor property offence that led to his first stint inside Don Dale. But within three years, the Indigenous teenager had been in and out a dozen times and endured what he alleges was a "regime" where staff were able to sexually assault him with impunity.
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Second Kathleen Folbigg inquiry could be a test case for law reform in Australia
Jamelle Wells, ABC, 12 Feb 2023
The second judicial inquiry into the convictions of Kathleen Folbigg for fatally smothering her four children is being watched closely as a test case for law reform in Australia. The woman who has been referred to as the country's worst female serial killer, was convicted in 2003 of three counts of murder and one of manslaughter.
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Mexico made criminal justice reforms in 2008 – they haven’t done much to reduce crime
Rebecca Janzen, The Conversation, 8 Feb 2023
Mexico has waged a long, bloody battle on drugs and crime for decades. But violence there continues to soar.
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PM flags overhaul of Australia’s counter-terror laws to combat ‘real threat’ of rightwing extremism
Josh Butler and Daniel Hurst, The Guardian, 3 Feb 2023
Anthony Albanese has flagged a substantial update of Australia’s counter-terrorism laws as he warned of the dangers posed by rightwing extremists and “so-called sovereign citizens”.
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Australian Federal Police dismantle alleged international criminal syndicate based in Sydney Heath Parkes-HuptonPosted Thu 2 Feb 2023
Nine people have been arrested and millions of dollars' worth of Sydney homes, cryptocurrency and luxury items seized after federal police crushed a syndicate allegedly offering money laundering at an "industrial scale".
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SA 'playing catch-up' to change laws stopping Aboriginal people giving cultural evidence
Nicholas Ward and Angela Coe, ABC, 24 Jan 2023
The South Australian government will seek to remove legal barriers that prevent Aboriginal people giving evidence about their own traditions and customs in court.
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Publications
All open access unless indicated.
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Claiming Justice: An Analysis of Child Sexual Abuse Complainants’ Justice Goals Reported during Investigative Interviews
Robyn Holder, et al, 2023. Laws 12(1) 9
Abstract: Investigative interviewing of children who report sexual victimisation focuses on helping children tell in their own words what happened. Children may say other things important to them such as their justice goals. We conducted the first research into this possibility in an exploratory analysis of 300 transcripts of actual interviews with child complainants aged 3 to 15 years. Building on an earlier study involving adults, we explored what goals children may articulate, when in the interview process their goals are relayed and in response to which interviewer prompts. Our analysis revealed that most children did articulate one or more justice goals during these interviews, especially their desire for acknowledgement of the victimisation and its wrongfulness. Children articulated their justice goals spontaneously and largely without any direct prompting by the police officer. These findings suggest that there is more that institutions [and researchers] can learn from carefully listening to children and understanding them as agents claiming justice.
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Victim participation in criminal justice: A quantitative systematic and critical literature review
Robyn Holder, et al, International Review of Victimology, 0(0)
Abstract: Meaningful participation in criminal justice by victims of violence is an aspiration of advocates working across domestic and international jurisdictions. Researchers have examined a range of participatory activities undertaken by violence victims. However, there has been no review of research that could build shared understanding of the content and contours of ‘participation’, its benefits and disbenefits to victims, nor assess the quality of justice it delivers. This article presents the first systematic quantitative and critical review of the topic. Electronic literature databases were searched to identify empirical research of victim participation whether in domestic or international criminal justice. Searches for peer-reviewed academic English-language journal articles found 58 studies matching the selection criteria and published between 2002 and 2021. Just over half were common law-based studies that were themselves mostly conducted in the United States. Definitions of victim participation were oblique but three-quarters of the studies demonstrated victim participation in some way, mostly participation at trial. The most common form of participatory activity studied was the provision of victims’ views and concerns followed by victim impact statements. The conceptual focus of studies was largely rights-focused while a substantial number assessed offender-related outcomes. We argue for greater specificity of participatory mechanisms and outcome measures in research. Given the multiplicity of situations and procedures ascribed as victim participation, we provide a schematic to assist researchers in organising evidence for future theoretical scrutiny.
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Domestic and family violence perpetrator screening and risk assessment in Queensland: Current practice and future opportunities
Silke Meyer, Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice 660, Australian Institute of Criminology
Abstract: Following substantial domestic and family violence (DFV) reforms in Australia in recent years, the identification of victim-survivors is increasingly embedded across service system responses. In contrast, while men using DFV often have diverse service system contact for co-occurring issues, their use of DFV is often not identified.
This mixed-methods study examines current screening and risk assessment practices for DFV perpetration in service systems that frequently encounter men who may be using DFV, including mental health, alcohol and other drug services, corrections and child protection services. Results show significant variation in screening and risk assessment practices and attitudes across service areas.
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Mental Health Law: A Practical Guide
Yega Muthu, Lexis Nexis (released 28 Feb 2023)
The book provides a detailed and clear examination of hypothetical problem cases and responses, with coverage of all Australian jurisdictions in a mental health tribunal setting. It is filled with case examples and a wealth of practical advice to guide you through many complex legal issues relating to the respective Mental Health Acts, providing clear guidance, useful examples and all you need to know about mental health law in a civil context. It includes voluntary and involuntary patient care, community treatment orders, electroconvulsive therapy, emergency surgery, and appeals from the tribunal to a higher jurisdiction or a court of law. Treatment responses such as the prescription of psychotropic medication for a mental illness are also discussed. Various mental illnesses and disorders are explained using the selected diagnostic categories from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM). There is a brief explanation of how psychiatric disorders were perceived from medieval to modern times.
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The rule of law and armed conflict reconstruction implementation practices: A human right-based analysis of the Rwandan experience
Harry Amankwaah, Law Criminology and Criminal Justice
Abstract: This study provides a right-based analysis of the rule of law and armed conflict reconstruction implementation practices in Rwanda. It answers the mode of implementation of the ICTR and the Gacaca court system and assessed the consistency of these mechanisms with HRBA principles using a qualitative-content approach. The study revealed the consistency of ICTR operations with the HRBA principle on the rule of law; yet, the Gacaca court system appeared the opposite. Therefore, the need to identify and strengthen specific rule of law mechanisms to prosecute respective human rights and humanitarian law violations to reduce clashes. The study recommends sanctions be applied to all perpetrators of international crimes in accordance with their level of perpetration.
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The effect of victim intoxication and crime type on mock jury decision-making
Erica Martin & Lauren A. Monds, Psychology, Crime and Law
Abstract: Alcohol intoxication is a common feature in crime, yet jurors often possess little understanding of how alcohol affects eyewitness memory. Furthermore, jurors are often blind to biases about different crimes that affect their interpretation of eyewitness evidence. Accordingly, the current study investigated the impact of (1) a victim’s intoxication status during a crime and (2) the type of crime committed on mock jury decision-making. Undergraduate students (N = 228) read a trial transcript describing a rape or robbery committed against a woman who was either sober or intoxicated to a low, moderate, or severe degree when the crime occurred. They also completed questionnaires assessing trial-related judgements, sexist attitudes towards women, and alcohol beliefs, behaviours, and experiences. Mock jurors incorrectly perceived alcohol as detrimental to victim credibility at any dose. However, the victim’s intoxication status failed to influence verdict decisions, which were better accounted for by extra-legal factors. Variance in jury decision-making according to crime type was not observed. The current study asserts the need for jury education to correct misconceptions about the effects of alcohol on eyewitness memory, and continued exploration of the role of crime type and extra-legal factors in intoxication-related cases.
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Navigating the Disjuncture Between Domestic and Family Violence Systems: Australian Muslim Women’s Challenges when Disclosing Violence
Sandra Elhelw Wright, Australioan Feminist Law Journal
Abstract: This study uses an intersectional lens to examine disclosure among Australian Muslim women experiencing domestic and family violence (DFV). Findings reveal a disjuncture between formal DFV systems and Australian Muslim women’s realities. The disjuncture is fuelled by three key factors: reluctance to disclose violence due to discrimination and marginalisation; a disconnect between the language the women use to describe violence and the language used by formal DFV systems; and disclosures and identification of violence occurring primarily outside of formal DFV systems. The factors that lead to the disjuncture described above are shaped by all three of Crenshaw’s forms of intersectionality, demonstrating that while intersectionality can improve responses to disclosures of violence by marginalised women, it can only do so with a holistic application of the concept. One of the key implications of this is that investment is needed to increase the capacity of informal networks and non-DFV specific formal systems to identify and respond to violence in order to better respond to Australian Muslim women’s intersectional experiences. Acknowledging the factors affecting Australian Muslim women’s experiences of disclosure also yields benefits for other marginalised women.
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“If women stop, the world stops”: forging transnational solidarities with the International Women’s Strike
Selin Çağatay, International Feminist Journal of Politics
Abstract: Having roots in women’s struggles in different world regions, the International Women’s Strike (IWS) has, since 2017, generated a global wave of feminist mobilization against attacks on gender equality and sexual rights, neoliberalism’s multiple crises, and authoritarian, fundamentalist, and neo-nationalist politics. This article discusses the IWS from the perspective of transnational solidarities, with a focus on its manifestation in Turkey. First, differentiating between supra-political and left-leaning currents in transnational feminist politics, I outline the guiding principles of the IWS campaign as an acknowledgment of the systemic dynamics of gender oppression, a broad definition of women’s labor, and an intersectional understanding of solidarity. Second, drawing on field-based and digital ethnography, participatory action research, and interviews with activists from the coalition Women Are Strong Together, I discuss how the IWS principles overlapped with political dynamics and conflicts of interest between different women’s groups, hindering the possibility of a women’s strike in Turkey. The article demonstrates the tensions and transformations occurring at the intersection of the supra- and sub-national levels in feminist politics and contributes to the understanding of how different currents in transnational feminism dovetail with different imaginations and practices of solidarity.
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PRIDE COCKTAILS AND NETWORKING RECEPTIONNSW Law Society
Date: Thursday 23 February 2023
Time: 5.30 pm - 8.30 pm
Venue: Law Society of New South Wales
In collaboration with the recently launched NSW Chapter of Pride in Law – a national association of lawyers, academics and other legal professionals dedicated to enhancing the lives of the LGBTIQ+ community – the Law Society is hosting an informal cocktail and canape function for LGBTQIA+ members of the legal profession and their allies.
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Therapeutic JurisprudenceNational Judicial College of Australia
Date: 25-26 February 2023
Venue: Australian National University, Canberra
This conference, presented jointly by the National Judicial College of Australia and the Australian National University, brings together members of the judiciary, academics, policy makers and other experts to consider current issues and challenges in the Australian justice system.
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Gender persecution: New frontiers in international criminal law, Sydney Centre for International Law
Date: 1 March
Time: 1 - 2 pm
Venue: TBA
The crime against humanity of ‘gender persecution’, is currently being prosecuted for the first time in the International Criminal Court. Join Lisa Davis, Special Advisor on Gender Persecution to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor and Associate Professor at The City University of New York (CUNY) Law School in conversation with Rosemary Grey, Senior Lecturer, Sydney Law School and Co-Director of the Sydney Centre for International Law.
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Pride Address and Breakfast,Law Society of NSW
Date: Friday 3 March 2023
Time: 7.30am - 9.30am
Venue: Law Society of New South Wales
The Law Society's Diversity and Inclusion Committee invites you to hear from one of the global legal profession's most passionate advocates for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. South Africa's former justice Edwin Cameron served as a Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and is renowned for his HIV/AIDS and gay-rights activism, with Nelson Mandela declaring him "one of South Africa's new heroes".
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Chasing Wrongs and Rights: Elaine Pearson in conversation The Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney
Date: 2 March 2023
Time: 1 pm-2 pm (AEDT)
Location: Law Theatre G02, UNSW Law and Justice, Law Building (F8), University Mall, UNSW Sydney, Kensington NSW
Elaine has worked for Human Rights Watch since 2007 in New York and Sydney and conducted human rights investigations around the globe. She was Human Rights Watch’s inaugural Australia Director from 2013–2022. Prior to Human Rights Watch, Elaine worked for the United Nations and non-governmental organisations in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kathmandu and London. She is an adjunct lecturer in law at UNSW, was on the Advisory Committee of UNSW’s Australian Human Rights Institute 2019-2022 and on the board of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
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Student Criminology Forum 2023Australian Institute of Criminology
Date: 21 March 2023
Time: 10 am - 4 pm
Register by 14 March 2023
Registration is open to students with a current Australian university email address and an interest in crime and criminal justice. Register using your current university email address by Tuesday 14 March 2023. Positions are limited.
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The Treasury Consultation Paper: Access to offenders’ superannuation for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse
Closing date: 16 February 2023
The Government is seeking stakeholder views on 2 draft proposals to allow victims and survivors of child sexual abuse to access the superannuation of their offender for unpaid compensation orders.
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Review of serious road crime - call for preliminary submissions
The NSW Law Reform Commission
Submissions close: 17 February 2023
The NSW Law Reform Commission has been asked to review aspects of the law relating to serious road crime.
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EOI, Casual - Law and Criminology Sessional – Semester 1, 2023
La Trobe
Closing date: 20 February 2023
Duties at this level will include teaching in undergraduate Law or Criminology subjects, providing a high-quality experience that engages students through the conduct of tutorials in online, blended or face-to-face modes; grading assessment tasks and providing constructive, fair and timely feedback on learning to students.
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Social Justice Practitioner-in-Residence Expression of Interest
University of Sydney Law School
Closing date: 27 February 2023
With the support of the Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Fund, Sydney Law School offers frontline legal assistance lawyers an opportunity to be appointed as Social Justice Practitioner-in-Residence (SJPR). In that role, they will be able to reflect on their professional practice with the benefit of distance and time, to explore ways to improve their practice and/or the system within which they work and share their knowledge and insights more widely.
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Lecturer in Financial Crime
Grifith University
Closing date: 27 February 2023
The School of Criminology & Criminal Justice (CCJ) is seeking to appoint a Lecturer with expertise in financial crime (and/or related fields). As a Lecturer, you will have a developing research profile, will be highly committed to teaching excellence, and will actively and effectively supervise Honours and postgraduate research student projects.
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Call for Submissions: Current and proposed sexual consent laws in Australia
Parliament of Australia
Deadline for submissions: 2 March 2023
On 29 November 2022, the Senate referred an inquiry into current and proposed sexual consent laws in Australia to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 30 June 2023.
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Call for Preliminary Submissions: Firearms, knives and other weapons
NSW Sentencing Council
Submissions close: 3 March 2023
The Attorney General has asked the NSW Sentencing Council to review the sentencing of firearms, knives and other weapons offences in NSW.
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Policy Officer - NSW Law Reform Commission and Sentencing Council Secretariat
NSW Government
Closing Date: 5 March 2023
Are you passionate about improving the law? Do you enjoy taking a deep dive into complex legal and policy issues? Do you have exceptional skills in research, writing and project management? Can you think critically and creatively to solve legal and policy problems? If so, this role could be for you.
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Project Officer - Terrorism
NSW Government: Communities and Justice
Closing Date: 6th March 2023
The Department of Communities and Justice delivers legal, court and supervision services to the people of NSW by managing courts and justice services, implementing programs to reduce crime and re offending, managing custodial and community-based correctional services, protecting rights and community standards, and advising on law reform and legal matters.
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Assistant Professor A or B - Criminology and Criminal Justice
Bond University
Applications close: 15 March 2023
The Bond University Criminology and Criminal Justice program within the Faculty of Society and Design has established itself as a leader in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research. We offer a number of undergraduate and postgraduate study options, as well as higher degree research in the relevant discipline.
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Call for submissions on the strategic vision for the fulfilment of the mandate of Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
UNCHR
Submissions close: 17 March 2023
The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, will report to the Human Rights Council for the first time at its 53rd session, in June 2023, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 43/36. Her first thematic report will outline the strategic vision for the fulfillment of her mandate.
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Call for input on The use of technology in facilitating and preventing contemporary forms of slavery
UNCHR
Submissions close: 14 April 2023
The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences, wishes to focus his next thematic report to the General Assembly on “the use of technology in facilitating and preventing contemporary forms of slavery”. For the purpose of the report, he aims to also assess the experiences of survivors/victims who have been recruited and exploited in conducts within his mandate, particularly forced labour, the worst form of child labour, and forced and early marriage, with the use of modern technology in addition to analysing information from multiple other stakeholders and sources.
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BLOGS, INTERVIEWS & PODCASTS
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PODCAST: How should we respond to ‘youth violence’?
In this episode, Jess Miles speaks with Luke Billingham and Keir Irwin-Rogers, authors of Against Youth Violence, about a new way of making sense of this issue by putting it in the context of social harm.
They discuss the extent of the violence affecting children and young people, how harmful the way it is reported and talked about can be, and how we should be talking to young people about violence.
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Right to Information of Randall’s Records Denied
Blog: 07 February 2023
Last year I applied for my brother’s records during his involuntary confinement in Pearce House, Wolston Park Mental Hospital 45 years ago, under the Right to Information Act. My request was sent to the Information Access Unit at West Moreton Health for determination under the Right to Information Act 2009. My request was denied.
This agency can hardly been seen as independent – having oversight of the very institution at the heart of the historical scandal. I did at least discover that there are 196 pages of records that pertain to my brother’s ‘medical treatment’ in Wolston Park from 1978-79: including assessments, observations, and discussions between health staff and my brother.
I argued that there was a strong public interest in being able to access my brother’s files, in order to expose the historical abuses of Wolston Park Mental Hospital, to right the wrongs of the past, and to assist the recovery of bereaved family, like myself.
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"Everyone knows that children do their best when they are supported, nurtured and loved. But right now across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, charged with an offence, hauled before a court and locked away in a prison.
We know these laws are harming children at a critical time in their lives. When children are forced through a criminal legal process, at such a formative time in their development, they can suffer lifelong harm to their health, wellbeing and future"
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