Ludovico Fabiano, a deputy mayor representing Waverley Council, home to one of Australia's largest Jewish populations, has been sacked after backing a move to condemn Israel's bombing of Gaza.

Recently, Waverley Council voted on a motion to condemn the attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas and give $10,000 to Jewish community organisations in their area. Ludovico Fabiano attempted to amend a motion about the Israel-Gaza conflict to call out "war crimes" by Israel but was voted out of his position during a public meeting on Thursday evening.

In the build up to Labor’s overhaul of the current state Drug Law system NSW recently introduced a two-strike system. Under this scheme, people caught with drugs of any form might be fined approximately $400 up to two times depending on the severity of their conduct and then made to undergo a compulsory training after which their fines will be wiped out. The failure to reform behaviour after the training means that the person will have to pay the required fees. 

While this system reduces the number of people charged under criminal law, it still does not remove all of the criminal connotations and surveillance power over the communities. 

Today, the High Court of Australia (“HCA”) has ruled that the Government cannot strip Australians who have been convicted of terrorism offences of their citizenship pursuant to section 36D of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.

The HCA decision is in response to an appeal that was lodged by convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who was incarcerated in 2005.

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties has long argued that section 36D of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 was invalid and that it did not empower Ministers to strip a person’s citizenship.

We have long held the position that depriving someone of their citizenship should not be a legislative response to any criminal offence – even the most shocking and inhumane offences such as terrorism as it is fundamentally undemocratic.

Today marks the first day of the Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit.

We have signed an open letter that will be delivered at the Summit on the urgent need for the risks that AI poses to our civil liberties and human rights to be considered when developing policies and regulations on the use and proliferation of AI. 

You can view the open letter here.

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (“CCL”) gave evidence today at NSW Parliament before the Modern Slavery Committee regarding its review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (“the NSW Modern Slavery Act”).

The review is concerned with whether the policy objectives of the NSW Modern Slavery Act remain valid.

The CCL strongly supports the policy objectives of the NSW Modern Slavery Act.

2023 NSWCCL AGM

Item 7.1 The Right to Protest

Under Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the right to peaceful assembly shall be recognised. No restrictions may be imposed unless the protest is an imposition to national security, public safety, public order, the protection of public health, morals or the rights and freedoms of others. Australia has ratified this international agreement and therefore laws should not be passed that are inconsistent with this right. 

2023 NSWCCL AGM

Item 7.2 Drug Reform Policy

NSWCCL welcomes the NSW government proposal for a pre-court diversion scheme affecting people caught in possession of small amounts of illicit substances. Under the changes, NSW Police will be given the ability to issue up to two on the spot Criminal Infringement Notices, which are $400 fines, to adults for personal drug use and small quantity drug possession offences. This is an encouraging first step towards broader drug reform however NSW Police will still retain their discretion in all cases to charge a person and proceed to court. It is still an offence to possess and use illicit drugs. Entry of a conviction or even a bond without conviction goes on a police record with possible drastic long lasting consequences for future employment and visas to enter other countries.

A coalition of legal, First Nations and Human Rights organisations have come together to call on the NSW government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

The group, which includes the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) NSW/ACT, AbSec, Amnesty International Australia, ANTAR, Australian Services Union NSW & ACT Services Branch, Community Legal Centres NSW, Just Reinvest NSW, Justice Reform Initiative, New South Wales Council of Social Service (NCOSS), NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), NSW Teachers Federation, Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Youth Action, brings a deep understanding of the negative impacts criminalising children has as well as knowledge and expertise on how to do better as a community.

In a statement, the group said better outcomes and a safer community wouldn't be achieved by doing things that don't work.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) is aware of an extraordinary general meeting occurring tonight, where members of both the Labor and Liberal party will put forward a motion to remove the Greens Waverley Deputy Mayor Ludovico Fabiano and Greens Councillor, Dominic Wy Kanak from various committees as a result of their public positions on what is occurring in Israel and Palestine.

These positions include the acknowledgement that there is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Palestine (and in particular Gaza) and that States must comply with their obligations pursuant to International Law.

A coalition has come together in NSW to call on the NSW Government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.

The group includes First Nations organisations, legal and human rights organisations, peak bodies in the non-government sector and unions. They bring a deep understanding of the impact of criminalising children along with the expertise and experience to help us to do better.

The group represents the services, communities and front-line workers who can build a better way for our children and our communities.

If we want better outcomes for young people and a safer community, we need to stop doing things that don’t work. Dragging children as young as ten through police stations and courts, strip-searching them and locking them up causes harm and fails to deliver on community safety. 

A Statement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, community members and organisations who supported Yes, ‘Statement for Our People and Country’, has broken this week of silence. 

The humanitarian crisis in Palestine is escalating – with civilians in Gaza still being
denied food, medical attention and supplies, water and fuel by the State of Israel.
There is no safe place to flee.

The organisers, Palestine Action Group and Tzedek member, Jews Against
Occupation, a Jewish collective – are protesting in one voice to stop the war and to
stand in solidarity with those impacted by the humanitarian crisis. We stand to give
the voiceless a voice. We are supported by unions, faith leaders, lawyers, civil rights
organisations and everyday Australians who recognise that, in the darkest days of
war, we have a collective responsibility to protect humanity.

Read their release here.

GRACE JOHNSON: The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) has condemned the police’s “scare tactics” in the days leading up to the pro-Palestine rally. 

Palestine Action Group had organised a peaceful rally which saw six thousand protestors assemble in Hyde Park this past Sunday. Roughly 1,000 officers were deployed around the city, including members of the riot, mounted and canine units. 

President of NSWCCL Josh Pallas said, “It was outrageous that the primary threat to crowd safety was from the NSW police, who threatened to use extraordinary powers under s 87D of LEPRA, which are available when there is a threat of wide-spread public disorder.  So-called police intelligence turned out to be completely unfounded. NSW Police and the Police Minister must explain how they got it so wrong.” 

“The police claims that there was such a threat can only be seen as a scare and intimidation tactic in the lead up to the protest. The emergency powers should not be available to prevent a political protest,” he continued. 

“The intense and large police mobilisation on the ground was another scare tactic aimed at intimidating overpoliced people who were demonised over the past week as posing a risk of violence by police and politicians.” 

Catie McLeod & Tamsin Rose: Human rights and legal experts have condemned the New South Wales government’s “escalating”, “unnuanced” and “disproportionate” rhetoric and response to pro-Palestinian protesters following a rally at the Opera House.

NSW authorities have vowed to stop marches from proceeding while protesters have promised to “march next week and every week” after a “static demonstration” in Hyde Park this Sunday.

Event co-organiser Amal Naser said they would be “out, loud and proud and we’re not going to bow down to the pressures that we’ve been experiencing from police and the premier”.

Sunday’s gathering was initially billed as a march through the city before police rejected the group’s application on the grounds it was submitted with less than a week’s notice.

Maeve McGregor: Saying the quiet part aloud is increasingly what escalation looks like in this country.

Take for instance Tom Koutsantonis, the South Australian energy minister whose recent words to the fossil-fuel industry — “[We’re] at your disposal” — coupled with the draconian anti-protest laws which ensued will forever condemn him and the government to which he belongs in the minds of so many Australians. 

Or NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, who on Tuesday afternoon appeared to expressly deny the rights of anyone in the state to assemble and protest. “I don’t want to see protests on our streets at all, from anybody,” she told 2GB, seemingly forgetting her state’s ostensive democratic trappings. Or federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who on Wednesday openly expressed his incredulity at the prime minister for not having declared a blanket nationwide ban on all pro-Palestinian protests, as if that’s even a legal possibility. 

Olivia Ireland and Michael Koziol: Premier Chris Minns’ declaration that pro-Palestinian activists will not be allowed to “commandeer our streets” has triggered a fresh brawl about the right to protest in NSW, as the government tries to counter days of criticism over its handling of Monday’s rally in Sydney.

The Law Society Journal has reviewed our documentary series “60 Years Strong.” They say: It’s 1963, and Australia and the world are in the early years of what would become known as one of the most tumultuous and divisive decades. 

The Civil Rights movement in the US reached a pivotal moment as Martin Luther King Jr delivered his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, inspiring many worldwide to fight for their rights.  

Closer to home, conflict in Southeast Asia intensifies and will send more than 60,000 Australians in the coming years to fight alongside their allies in the jungles of Vietnam, sparking a period of mass anti-war protests and demonstrations worldwide. 

Statement from Michael Cope, President of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties, Josh Pallas, President of New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, and Michael Stanton as President of Liberty Victoria.

Our organisations support the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart – a generous call from First Nations peoples for voice, treaty and truth. We also continue to urge the Commonwealth to fully implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which requires respect for self-determination. Whilst we acknowledge ongoing debate about whether the Voice is the optimal approach to enshrining First Nations representation in the Constitution, the Voice is the only opportunity currently open. If not taken, there is no guarantee any similar or alternate opportunities will present in the near future.