Submission: Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association
The right to protest comes from the implied freedom of political communication found in the Australian Constitution. It means while Australians may not explicitly have a right to protest, governments are expressly forbidden from introducing any laws which might impede a person's right to express themselves or protest. Despite this, the NSW government (alongside state governments in other jurisdictions) has introduced some of the most draconian anti-protest legislation in Australia which is accompanied by a stigmatising narrative of fear and security risk against protestors.
The NSWCCL submits that in New South Wales, section 144G of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW) (‘Roads Act’) and section 214A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) (‘Crimes Act’) significantly infringe people’s rights to freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of political communication, and ought to be repealed. These restrictive and repressive laws create an environment where stigmatising narratives flourish in sections of politics, media and law enforcement in Australia. There's a prevalent narrative enabled by these laws emphasising security threats and perceptions of disruption associated with public protests.
Read moreThe Guardian view on the WikiLeaks plea deal: good for Julian Assange, not journalism
Julian Assange should never have been charged with espionage by the US. The release of the WikiLeaks founder from custody in the UK is good news, and it is especially welcome to his family and supporters. He is due to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents at a hearing early on Wednesday, but is not expected to face further jail time. The court in Saipan, a remote Pacific island which is a US territory, is expected to approve the deal, crediting him for the five years he has already spent on remand in prison.
His opportunity to live with his young family comes thanks to Australian diplomacy under the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who had made clear his desire for a resolution, and the Biden administration’s keenness to get a controversial case off its plate, particularly in an election year. Seventeen of the charges have been dropped. The one that remains, however, is cause for serious alarm. It was the Trump administration that brought this case. But while the Biden administration has dropped 17 of the 18 charges, it insisted on a charge under the 1917 Espionage Act, rather than the one first brought against him of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
Read moreVale The Honourable Paul Leon Stein AM KC
NSW Council for Civil Liberties joins the chorus of voices to pay our great respect to the Honourable Paul Stein AM KC who passed away on Saturday, 22 June 2024.
Paul Stein was a longstanding and active contributor to NSWCCL over many decades. His contribution was enormous and will be sadly missed. As an environmental law expert, Mr Stein was a passionate environmentalist who held governments, corporations and lobbyists to account.
Read moreCity Hub: Australia should reconsider weak whistleblower protections, civil liberties council says
Civil liberties advocates are calling for stronger protections after Australian Taxation Office (ATO) whistleblower Richard Boyle lost his appeal to secure immunity from prosecution.
The former debt collector accused the ATO of aggressively pursuing debts from small businesses, which he said was destroying lives and causing unnecessary trauma in order to meet revenue goals.
Boyle is accused of 24 offences, including using a mobile phone to take pictures of taxpayers’ information and secretly recording conversations with colleagues. He had sought to rely on the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the whistleblowing law for public servants, to shield him from a criminal trial.
The matter will likely now go back to the South Australian District Court, where Boyle is expected to face trial in September. If convicted, he could face up to 46 years in prison.
Read moreMedia Statement: Chris Minns Broken Promise & Backflip on Drug Law Reform
This week Chris Minns has broken his promise to the people of New South Wales. He has abandoned his commitment to the drug law reform agenda he spruiked pre-election.
In Tuesday's budget, there was no funding for the long-promised Drug Summit. There was no funding to support the harm reduction strategies our communities so desperately need.
It has now been 25 years since the last Drug Summit occurred, and each day without action puts our communities further at risk of harm.
Read moreMedia Statement: Australia should reconsider weak and ineffectual whistleblower protections
Former Australian Taxation Office debt collector Richard Boyle has lost his appeal against a finding that he was not immune from prosecution under existing whistleblower protections.
Boyle had sought to rely on the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the whistleblowing law for public servants, to shield him from a criminal trial. He applied for a declaration from the South Australian District Court that he was immune from prosecution.
The PID laws shield a person who makes a “public interest disclosure from any civil, criminal or administrative liability (including disciplinary action)” for making the disclosure.
The matter will likely now go back to the District Court where Mr Boyle is expected to face trial in September.
If convicted, Mr Boyle could face up to 46 years in prison.
Read moreAustralia must recognise Palestine to promote peace
Such a move would support the peace efforts, not undermine them, as some have argued. By Fatima Payman, Labor Senator for Western Australia.
Over the last eight months, we have witnessed the mass killing and displacement of Palestinians and the devastation and destruction of Gaza carried out by Israel under the guise of “self-defence”. As the Israeli government continues to disregard its obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and cease genocidal acts, it is imperative for influential nations to take a definitive stance.
Australia, with its global standing and democratic values, is in a strong position to facilitate peace. An important step in this direction is recognising a Palestinian state. It is also a moral and ethical imperative.
Read moreHuman Rights Law Centre: UK High Court upholds protest rights, finds amendments to Public Order Act unlawful
In May, The UK High Court ruled in favour of challenges to amendments to the Public Order Act of 1986 (POA Act) which would’ve enabled increased police intervention in protests. In doing so, the Court protected the crucial civil right to peaceful assembly, representing “a significant win for protest rights campaigners in England.”
The POA Act is a UK law that regulates public order offences and allows the police to intervene in a public assembly if there is a “serious disruption to the life of the community.”
The first amendments to the Act in 2022 granted the Secretary of State the power to amend the definition of “serious disruption,” colloquially regarded as the “Henry VIII power.” This meant that amendments would be “subject to less scrutiny than Bills and cannot be amended by either House of Parliament.”
Then, two new public order offences were introduced: “locking on” and “tunnelling.” These new offences would bring on police action if they were regarded as “more than minor.” The definition of this phrase is “legally uncertain.” It facilitates greater police discretion and lowers the threshold for police intervention in protests.
Read moreGreen Left: NSW Labor’s harmful juvenile bail laws
“Punitive approaches simply don’t work,” says Lydia Shelly, President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.
In March, the Minns government introduced harsh new bail laws. The Bail and Crimes Amendment Bill 2024 makes it more difficult for juveniles, between 14-18 years old, to get bail. But tougher bail laws are a “tried and failed” method of reducing crime.
The NSWCCL accused the Minns government of taking a reactive policy approach once again and ignoring consistent evidence that increasing incarceration of young people has damaging consequences. As Shelly commented, “When children this young are forced through a criminal legal process, their health, well-being and future are put at risk.”
Read moreThe Guardian: NSW knife laws allowing suspects to be scanned without a warrant could be ‘abused by police’
Legal experts have cautioned that proposed laws expanding police powers in New South Wales to randomly "wand" or "scan" individuals for knives without a warrant may be prone to abuse due to the ambiguous language of the legislation.
Jordyn Beazley reported on June 4, 2024, that the NSW legislation, scheduled for debate this week, was developed following stabbings in Bondi Junction, Wakeley, and Coffs Harbour. Despite a 20-year decline in knife crime according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the proposed laws aim to address public safety concerns.
The legislation mirrors Queensland's Jack's Law, implemented after a two-year trial on the Gold Coast following the 2019 death of 17-year-old Jack Beasley. However, Sam Lee, a senior solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, argued that the NSW legislation lacks the explicit legal safeguards present in Queensland's law, potentially leading to misuse of power by police.
Read moreSubmissions: Review of Part 4AF of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and Review of Part 9, Division 7 in line with section 144H of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW)
We think these terrible laws should be repealed. The right to protest is a fundamental democratic right that allows us to express our views, shape our societies, and press for social change. In NSW, and nationally across Australia, it is under attack.
In April 2022, the NSW Parliament passed legislation to prevent “illegal protesting” on major roads, bridges, tunnels, public transport, and infrastructure facilities. The legislation amends section 144G the Roads Act 1993 which criminalises causing serious disruption by entering, remaining on or trespassing on prescribed major bridges and tunnels, to now include all “main roads”. Offences carry a maximum penalty of $22,000 or two years in gaol, or both.
Read moreSubmission: Community safety in regional and rural communities
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly Committee on community safety in regional and rural communities is focused on investigating drivers of youth crime in regional and rural NSW and how community safety can be improved.
Rather than empowering the Government to criminalise more conduct, increase sentences, and more permissively incarcerate people, we urge the Committee to look to solutions which focus on the causes of crime, harm minimisation and creating connected and inclusive communities where children can thrive.
Read moreMedia Statement: Safety in Regional and Rural Communities Inquiry
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly Committee on community safety in regional and rural communities is focused on investigating drivers of youth crime in regional and rural NSW and how community safety can be improved.
Rather than empowering the Government to criminalise more conduct, increase sentences, and more permissively incarcerate people, we urge the Committee to look to solutions which focus on the causes of crime, harm minimisation and creating connected and inclusive communities where children can thrive.
Measures taken need to be proportionate to the need for concern. We should not pander to the public “law and order” demands by some politicians and sections of the media through tougher laws and policies which have historically had adverse consequences. The focus should be on addressing underlying issues that lead to harm.
Read moreSubmission: Regulatory framework for cannabis in NSW
Cannabis is criminalised in New South Wales (NSW) with use, possession, cultivation and supply being the key offences. Cannabis has long been the most widely used illicit drug in Australia. In 2022–2023, 11.5% of people in Australia had used cannabis in the previous 12 months, around 2.5 million people. In comparison, the next most common illicit drugs (cocaine and ecstasy) were used by around 3% of Australians.
Read moreSubmission: AI technologies in Australia
The NSW Council of Civil Liberties submits that the proliferation Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses significant risks to the civil rights of the Australian public, despite providing many new social and economic opportunities. As it stands, Australia’s regulatory system fails to fully address and balance these risks against the wealth of opportunities – an issue that will grow with increased use of these technologies.
Our submission responds to two issues arising out of the Terms of Reference presented by the Select Committee on Adopting AI: (e) opportunities to foster a responsible AI industry in Australia; and (f) potential threats to democracy in institutions from generative AI.
Read moreThe Guardian: ‘We should all be furious’: Aboriginal people make up record 31% of adult prison population in NSW
New figures released on Tuesday show that the number of Aboriginal adults and young people in NSW prisons is the highest on record.
In March, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) reported that the number of Aboriginal adults in prison had hit a record high. Aboriginal adults now make up 31% of the prison population.
“To put that in perspective, in NSW, 3.2% of adults are Aboriginal, and one in 29 Aboriginal men in NSW are currently incarcerated,” said Bocsar executive director Jackie Fitzgerald.
“Alarmingly, NSW is no longer on track to meet its Close the Gap target to reduce the rate of Aboriginal adults in prison.” The goal was to decrease the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults held in custody by at least 15% by 2031.
Of the 12,456 adults in prison in March, 3,841 were Indigenous. This rise is not limited to adults, Fitzgerald noted.
Aboriginal young people now account for two-thirds (66.4%) of the youth detention population, which is also a new record in NSW. The overwhelming majority of Aboriginal youth in detention are on remand (78.4%), mainly for offenses like break and enter (29.3%) and car theft (22.4%).
“This is a crisis we should all be outraged about,” said Nadine Miles, principal legal officer of the Aboriginal Legal Service.
“The mass incarceration of Aboriginal people in NSW is the direct result of government policies developed without community input, which allow continued discrimination against Aboriginal people in the legal system.” NSW Premier Chris Minns acknowledged the statistics as a “major issue” facing the state.
“We want to work with Capo [the NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations] and other peak Indigenous organisations to reduce the rate of incarceration,” Minns said.
“That means addressing the underlying causes of crime in our communities.”
When asked if the state’s proposed knife-wanding laws would increase the number of Aboriginal people in custody, he said it was “difficult to say” but expressed hope that it would lead to a cultural change.
Read moreSIGN OUR PETITION: OPPOSE THE KNIFE AND BAIL LAWS
Media Statement: A weak government will always make weak laws
We call on the Minns Government to abandon these reckless, and ill-conceived laws and instead, convene a meeting of the Government, the Opposition and main stakeholders within the criminal justice system and civil liberties community to chart a way forward with respect to bail and criminal law reform.
We call on the Minns Government to stop their reckless and reactive policy announcements and commit, like the previous Liberal Government did, to utilise the established State Government law reform bodies such as the Law Reform Commission and the Sentencing Council, to drive evidence based policy solutions.
New South Wales now has the highest rate of adults on remand on record, as well as the number of Aboriginal adults on record on remand. We have officially abandoned the Close the Gap target. The Premier has introduced changes to bail that will see our prison populations explode for people charged with offences but who have not been convicted of any criminal offence.
Read moreMedia Statement: It is not books that Cumberland Council should fear – it is their own prejudice
We are aware that the Cumberland Councillors are meeting tomorrow to vote on whether they should overturn their discriminatory decision to ban Holly Duhig’s book “A Focus on Same-Sex Parents”.
The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties calls on the Cumberland Councillors to overturn their motion and publicly affirm that they will abide by their own Code of Conduct, but the values of equality, diversity, and freedom of expression.
Read moreGuardian: Labor councillor stands by vote to ban same-sex parenting books in Sydney council libraries – as it happened
Book banning does not ‘bode well for social cohesion’, civil liberties council says
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties says the decision of a Sydney council to ban a book on same-sex parenting is “out of step with Australian values and is discriminatory”.
NSWCCL president Lydia Shelly said that banning books is the “polar opposite” of what public libraries are intended for – to provide “essential repositories of knowledge and information [with] spaces for learning, exploration, and intellectual freedom”.
Read more