The use of good character references by convicted child sex offenders in court will be discussed at a long-awaited NSW Sentencing Council meeting on Wednesday. Last May, child sexual abuse survivor-advocates Harrison James and Jarad Grice launched the Your Reference Ain’t Relevant campaign, which aims to eradicate legislation that allowsContinue Reading
The rest of the nation should follow South Australia’s lead and allow residents to register as organ and tissue donors via their driver’s licence, the state’s health minister says. While most Australian jurisdictions previously permitted residents to register when applying for or renewing their licence, only SA still does. SAContinue Reading
A motel in a quiet Adelaide suburb has been targeted by neo-Nazis who staged a protest in broad daylight. Six members of the neo-Nazi group Nationalist Socialist Network were captured on video walking down Main North Rd in the northern Adelaide suburb of Pooraka on Sunday before stopping at theContinue Reading
Illegal tobacconists selling black market cigarettes and vapes are raking in up to $40,000 a week, fuelling an increasingly violent turf war — and the industry says it has been warning the government about this exact outcome for years. Around 30 tobacco stores across Victoria have been targeted by arsonistsContinue Reading
Australia’s illicit black tobacco market has continued to “explode”, according to police, with illegal tobacco linked to a string of recent gang murders and arson attacks across the country. Scott Weber from the Police Federation of Australia told an inquiry into new vaping and smoking laws that the black cigaretteContinue Reading
Teenagers under the age of 16 in Western Australia will be allowed to seek an abortion without the permission of a parent or guardian under a major bill set to be introduced this week. Currently, Western Australia is the only state or territory where a child under the age ofContinue Reading
It is a practice normally employed by the unemployed and people down on their luck. However, begging is turning out to be a lucrative job for one individual in Mumbai, India. Local media is reporting that beggar Bharat Jain has bagged himself ₹7.5 crore (AU$1.3 million) by panhandling on theContinue Reading
Landmark changes to “outdated” and overly harsh abortion laws in Western Australia will be introduced as the state government prepares to introduce a bill to fully decriminalise the medical procedure. The announcement follows a landmark study of thousands of people indicating an overwhelming support for change. WA is the onlyContinue Reading
Australia’s police ministers are poised to sign off on recommendations to close a loophole in the nation’s gun laws that may have contributed to the Wieambilla massacre. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will meet again with state and territory police ministers in Brisbane on Friday after being tasked by national cabinet withContinue Reading
The Queensland parliament has passed legislation the Palaszczuk government hopes will put the brakes on rising rents as weekly costs continue to soar. Rent rises will now be limited to just once a year from every six months in what the government promises will “give a fairer go to QueenslandContinue Reading