Last week on the Law Report, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus discussed his hopes with Kristina Kukolja that the incoming Labor government could restore public confidence in our system of government.  In a wide-ranging interview Mr Dreyfus outlined his legislative priorities including his commitment to a federal anti-corruption commission, review of whistle-blower legislation and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), media freedoms and the Privacy Act.

Climate action activists have made headlines again this week as multiple protests organised by Blockade Australia have caused disruption across Sydney.

As is to be expected, the protests have been met with a high police presence — with allegations of cops using excessive force and threats of fines and jail time for those involved.

These new anti-protest laws have been repeatedly criticised by the Greens — who have accused the government of only implementing the legislation to target climate activists.

The policy has also been slammed by the Aboriginal Legal Service, NSW Council for Civil Liberties, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Environmental Defenders Office.

For more information, read the full article. 

Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group Choice has revealed that major retailers may be in breach of privacy laws using facial recognition technology in their stores. The Good Guys, Kmart, and Bunnings have been condemned by the group for not providing enough transparency about how the data they collect from their customers is used.

Right before the pandemic shut down shifted the focus of concern, NSW drug policy was under scrutiny with the then Berejiklian government baulking at pill testing trials to address drug-related deaths at events and rather attempting to shut down the festival industry as a response.

So, it’s against this backdrop that Drug Policy Australia held the Is It Time to Legalise Drugs? forum in Sydney, with a lineup of speakers representing some of the heavyweights in the drug law reform space, including Fair Treatment and Harm Reduction Australia, who came together to discuss the long recognised need to end a century of drug prohibition.

The Fair Treatment decriminalisation campaign was launched in 2018, with a long list of civil society groups in support of it, including the NSW Bar Association and NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

For more information, read the full article. 

NSWCCL recently wrote to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reiterate our call for the Australian Government to exert its diplomatic influence on both the United Kingdom and the United States to end the unjust prosecution of Julian Assange and to bring him home.

New laws criminalising 'grossly offensive conduct' have been introduced into Victoria's parliament today, ABC News reports. However, Criminalising something as broad as offensive conduct brings with it a set of complex challenges of definition and should be the subject of close scrutiny. NSWCCL spokesperson Stephen Blanks comments on new Victorian government law criminalising grossly offensive conduct.

For more information, listen to the full video. 

Trade Unions, NSW civil society and human rights organisations are calling on the NSW Upper House to seize the opportunity to disallow the short-sighted, draconian regulations in the new NSW Government anti-protest laws through a disallowance motion introduced by Greens MLC, Abigail Boyd.

The Australian Human Rights Institute has called for greater scrutiny of Rwanda’s human rights record by international leaders ahead of its hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2022 in the Rwandan capital of Kigali this week.

Over the past year, the Institute has been campaigning to draw attention to the issue of enforced and involuntary disappearances in Rwanda. In 2021, it worked alongside human rights barristerJennifer Robinsonof Doughty Street Chambers, London and Australia’s leading independent law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth to assist human rights advocate Noël Yandamutso Zihabamwe with filing a UN complaint regarding such a case.

For more information, read the full media release. 

Yesterday, police visited a camp site at Colo Valley, resulting in several arrests of climate campaigners and the reported detention of approximately 30 people at the property.

“The reported policing over the weekend at Colo Valley appears to be heavy-handed and is cause for concern,” said NSWCCL spokesperson Stephen Blanks.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) seeks to provide protection to First Nations peoples worldwide. It establishes guidelines setting minimum standards for individual, cultural, and collective rights.  The UNDRIP was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 and was adopted by Australia two years later in 2009. 

On 29 March 2022, the Senate referred an inquiry into the application of the UNDRIP to the Legal and Constitutional References Committee. NSWCCL has welcomed the opportunity to present a submission to the Committee, declaring that more can be done to better incorporate the principles and aims of UNDRIP into Australian law.

Josh Pallas, President NSWCCL, sat down with Sydney Criminal Lawyer's Paul Gregoire to discuss Josh’s take on the new Albanese Government. Josh wrote last week that NSWCCL welcomes the end of the Morrison government, while it’s “cautiously optimistic” about the coming of Albanese and the changes it could bring.

"My views haven’t changed, I remain cautiously optimistic. The picture of the Nadesalingam family back in Biloela over the weekend were great and social services minister Amanda Rishworth’s early end to the trial of the cashless debit card for welfare recipients was another excellent news story.

The attorney general also sounds like he’s busy at work making preparations for the introduction of a national integrity commission. So, there are definitely promising signs." Josh Pallas said. 

Josh Pallas, President NSWCCL, unpacks how things may look for queer politics under the Albanese Government. Before the election Prime Minister Albanese committed to reintroducing a form of protection for religious persons from discrimination, while at the same time protecting queer students from expulsion from schools. Labor’s policy platform speaks to strengthening anti-discrimination laws, not weakening them. But until we see the details of any proposed bill we won’t know whether queer rights are curtailed or removed in favour of religious rights.

For more information, read the full article.

NSWCCL joined with peak civil liberties organisations across Australia to congratulate The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP for his re-appointment as Attorney-General of Australia. We prioritised the following issues:

• A federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)
• Uluru Statement from the Heart
• Treatment of refugees and people seeking asylum
• Privacy
• LGBTIQ+ rights
• The need for a Federal Charter of Human Rights
• The Australian Human Rights Commission
• Politicisation of Tribunals
• Ending political prosecutions
• Mandatory sentencing
• Prisoner voting rights
• Raising the age
• Increasing the rights of the crossbench

For more information, read our full letter.

The awards for Excellence in Civil Liberties Journalism are a national program open to all journalists who have been published or broadcast in Australia between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. 

“This is an opportunity to acknowledge the fantastic work local journalists are doing to support the advancement of civil liberties and human rights at a state and federal level. Journalists are so important in holding those in power accountable and must be celebrated.” Josh Pallas, President, NSWCCL said.

“We have tremendous diversity, depth and sophistication in the work being produced and it’s important to showcase this extraordinary talent.”

The last two years have been unprecedented in many ways, COVID 19, escalating natural disasters, dire warnings of catastrophic climate change, #MeToo, Black Lives Matter. It is of no surprise that there was significant anxiety and anticipation around the result of this year’s federal election, particularly for civil libertarians and human rights advocates.

It may seem strange that the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties are offering our views so late in the piece, but we were waiting to see whether the Albanese government would be in majority or minority and for the Senate composition to firm up. It now seems clear that it will be in a slim majority.

Three new magistrates have been appointed to the Local Court of NSW bringing with them almost 90 years’ worth of collective experience.

Aaron Tang, Don McLennan and Pauline Wright will be sworn in on 7, 8 and 9 June, respectively.

Attorney-General Mark Speakman said, “These appointees bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the NSW Local Court, having worked across a range of areas in legal practice.”

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) congratulated their former President, Ms Wright, on her appointment to the Local Court of NSW.

Josh Pallas was elected to take over Ms Wright’s position as President following her resignation.

“Pauline’s departure was unexpected and will be a great loss to NSWCCL. I have no doubt that she will prove to be an outstanding and compassionate Magistrate and will serve the citizens of our state well”, Mr Pallas said.

Attorney General Mark Speakman has finally proposed a response to the 2020 recommendations of the Special Commission into the Drug "Ice" (Ice Inquiry). His proposal is that individuals caught with illegal drugs for personal use would face a $400 fine or health treatment instead of being brought before the Court.

NSWCCL is pleased to finally see a response from the Attorney General. We are heartened to see his recognition that the current approach to drug policy in NSW is "clearly not working". 

However, we are disappointed to see that the Attorney General has chosen a path forward which is only a partial response to the sound and evidence based recommendations of the Ice Inquiry. 

Former President of the Law Society of NSW Pauline Wright will be sworn in as magistrate to the Local Court this month, as part of plethora of new appointments to the state’s busiest court system.

Wright, who is a Partner at PJ Donnellan & Co in Gosford, boasts a rich career and has been active in the areas of criminal justice, anti-terrorism and asylum seeker policy. Wright was president of the Law Society of NSW in 2017, having served on the Council since 1997. She has also held the office of President of the Law Council of Australia, and President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

The NSWCCL congratulated Wright on her appointment and thanked her for her long service and organisation. Wright’s election as President in 2019 made history for NSWCCL as the second only woman to be elected to the office since the organization was founded in 1963.

“Pauline’s departure was unexpected and will be a great loss to NSWCCL. I have no doubt that she will prove to be an outstanding and compassionate Magistrate and will serve the citizens of our state well,” Wright’s successor Josh Pallas said.

For more information, read the full article.

On 1 June 2022, Attorney General for New South Wales, Mark Speakman, announced the appointment of former NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) President, Pauline Wright as a Magistrate in the Local Court of New South Wales.

NSWCCL congratulates Ms Wright, who joined NSWCCL in 1988, on her appointment and thanks her for her long service with the organisation.

NSW has become the last state to legalise voluntary assisted dying (VAD) after a landmark bill passed the lower house on the 20th of May. The bill will allow people with a terminal diagnosis to access voluntary assisted dying, subject to a set of legislated safeguards.

The passage of the bill saw a slew of amendments proposed by its opponents in the upper house. The filibuster attempt included a failed amendment to allow aged care facilities to ban residents from accessing voluntary assisted dying.

The right to access VAD has been endorsed by organisations like the Dying with Dignity NSW, Go Gentle Australia, the NSW Nurses & Midwives’ Association, the NSW Council on the Aging, ACON and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

For more information, read the full article.