The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has been advocating for the rights of protestors since 1963 and today we are living in some of the darkest times our members have seen.

Music industry figures and legal experts have criticised a proposal floated by NSW Police that would effectively censor certain forms of hip-hop music in Australia.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph on Monday, NSW Police acting assistant commissioner Jason Weinstein suggested police would contact streaming platforms and ask them to remove music police believe incites violence or criminal activity.

NSW Council of Civil Liberties president Josh Pallas said police in the UK have been “quite effective” in employing take-down requests aimed at drill rappers, and such a move “has the capacity to be absolutely shocking”.

Josh Pallas, President NSWCCL adds his voice to calls for the urgent establishment of a federal ICAC with power to investigate law enforcement officials in the wake of allegations about the AFP's handling of claims two alleged mafia assassins were behind the murder of former Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester.

More than fifty people braved downpours on July 11 to stand with Tim Cumins, father of imprisoned environmentalist Max Cumins, who called for his son and activist Tim Neville to be released from Silverwater jail.

Blockade Australia activists Max and Tim were sent to Silverwater jail after police raided their camp in Colo in June.

President of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, Josh Pallas spoke at the event, saying that the purpose of the Bail Act is “to ensure that people attend court. It should not be used for the purpose of segregating people who otherwise show no risk of failing to attend court from participating in society”.

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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. 

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. 

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.

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.