The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties is concerned about media reporting alleging that NSW Police are lobbying the State Government to introduce new laws that would create criminal offences for the parents of minors found with weapons, including knives.

BOSCAR data indicates that knife crime has declined in New South Wales over recent consecutive years. The position of NSW police does not reflect the current research on the prevention of crime. We strongly urge the State Government to resist populist calls for legislative change that will not make our communities safer.

The Council urges all levels of Government to invest in our public mental health care system, public mental health supports and resources (including in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities). This includes committing to a date for the proposed ‘whole of government’ Drug Summit, which remains one of the unfulfilled election promises to the people in New South Wales that could meaningfully impact weapons related crime.

Currently, individuals incarcerated in NSW serving sentences of 12 months or more are ineligible to vote in state elections. However, federally, these restrictions only apply to those sentenced to at least three years of imprisonment. This discrepancy has prompted questions from civil rights groups in NSW, who are now urging the government to address this disparity and advocate for equal voting rights for all incarcerated individuals, regardless of the length of their sentence.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties is among these groups. NSWCCL holds the position that inmates should not be denied the right to participate in this fundamental democratic process. Not only is this denial contrary to any potential rehabilitative outcomes that detention might serve for an inmate, but it also harms society as a whole.

Our president talks to The Project about search laws in NSW in the wake of the recent tragic attacks in Sydney involving knives.

37 civil rights, union, and environmental organisations, together with the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), are calling on NSW Labor to repeal the draconian protest laws first introduced two years ago.

Premier Chris Minns has been asked to conduct a public inquiry into the laws which have been said to create a “chilling effect on civil movements and social progress”. 

The laws in question, amendments to section 144G the Roads Act 1993, criminalise “serious disruption” to prescribed bridges and tunnels as well as all “main roads”, with a max penalty of $22,000, or two years in jail, or both.

NSWCCL said protest is a “fundamental democratic right” that allows us to “express our views, shape our societies and press for social change”.

The NSW Government confirmed this afternoon that there will be a public review into the state’s anti-protest laws after overwhelming public pressure.

This comes after 37 organisations and over 1000 individuals signed an open letter and petition demanding the review, and for it to be conducted transparently with the opportunity for public scrutiny.

In 2022, the NSW Government passed legislation to prevent protesting on major roads, bridges, tunnels, public transport and infrastructure facilities. This amended section 144G the Roads Act 1993 which criminalises serious disruption by entering, remaining on or trespassing on prescribed major bridges and tunnels, to include all main roads.

The first of April marked the two-year anniversary of the NSW government’s draconian antiprotest regime, which has effectively stamped out unsanctioned civil disobedience actions that cause public disruptions in order to raise public awareness to drastic issues not being addressed by government.

Two years on from this a coalition of civil society groups led by the NSW Council for Civil Liberties has formed, calling on NSW premier Chris Minns for a transparent review of these laws. The coalition includes Australian Democracy Network, Redfern Legal Centre, National Justice Project, Wage Peace, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, the Australian Palestine Network, the Maritime Union of Australia, APAN and the Socialist Alliance, along.

With a review of the 2022 anti-protest laws currently in progress, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties is urging the NSW Labor government to incorporate public submissions into the process and ensure it is conducted with transparency.

NSWCCL have stated: "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"

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) strongly condemns the recent remarks made by the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, linking a pro-Palestine protest to the tragic events of the Port Arthur massacre. Such statements not only lack factual basis but also dangerously conflate unrelated issues, leading to misinformation and unwarranted associations.

Today, the NSW Council for Civil Liberties is appearing before the NSW Electoral Matters committee to call on the Committee to recommend that the current restrictions on prisoners right to vote in the NSW Electoral Act be removed.

The Council strongly believes that any exclusion of a person’s right to vote is a grave curtailing of the right to participate in a healthy democracy. This has a de-facto consequence of creating “tiers of citizenship” and does little to assist in the rehabilitation of incarcerated people when they have served their time.

The Council is also concerned about the disproportionate impact that the current restrictions on prisoners’ right to vote has on First Nations communities.

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 new 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.

The legislated review of the undemocratic “anti-protest” law is scheduled to take place after 1 April 2024 and will be carried out by the Department of Roads and the Attorney-General’s Department - the NSW Government has so far refused to commit to the review being open to the public and transparent. The right to protest cannot and should not be scheduled merely for a “departmental” review. 

The diversity of the organisations that have signed the open letter is significant. It evidences the grave concerns that are held by civil society organisations, unions, faith bodies, environmental and human rights organisations.

READ our open letter HERE.

READ our petition HERE.