This year the NSW Labor Conference provides an opportunity for the Government to abandon the draconian policies relating to bail laws, the suite of anti-protest laws and the harmful drug laws that are unfair and unjust and must be changed.

NSW Labor has a proud 130-year history of convening this annual democratic assembly. We urge the Labor parliamentary team to listen to its members and put into practice the democratic ideals of the party’s founders.

This Labor conference should be a place where the government emerges with a plan for a more positive future for everyone in NSW. Labor’s policies should leave no-one behind. We urge the Minns Labor Government to seize this moment and reframe the future for NSW through a lens that is evidence based, democratic and upholds the Labor values that our oldest political party should be so proud of.

For nearly six months, a group of peaceful protestors have maintained a vigil outside Anthony Albanese’s electorate office in Marrickville. The vigil is noteworthy in that the organisers, their families and attendees are diverse in their religious beliefs and cultural heritage. Importantly, the organisers and many of the protestors live in the local electorate of Grayndler.

Six months on, they are still seeking a meeting with their local member of parliament to discuss Australia’s obligation in preventing the further suffering of Palestinians which includes forced starvation, mass displacement and the unprecedented violence in Occupied Territories of Palestine and Gaza.

Unfortunately, Mr Albanese has refused to meet with his constituents. Yesterday, Mr Albanese’s office issued a letter to the peaceful protestors, demanding that the peaceful vigil be conducted elsewhere.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties wrote to the Prime Minister in April urging him to meet with his constituents. We recognise this vigil as a legitimate exercise of democratic freedoms available in Australia. To date, no response has been received.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties position is unequivocal - the democratic rights of peaceful protestors must be protected and the Prime Minister has an obligation not only to uphold the right to protest, but to meet with his constituents.

We will always defend the right to protest and the protestors who choose to exercise this right.

A Palestinian-Australian constituent of Anthony Albanese seeking visa help has been arrested and charged with trespassing, after she allegedly refused to leave the prime minister’s electorate office in the Sydney seat of Grayndler.

Sarah Shaweesh livestreamed her arrest on social media, saying she was a local constituent who lived in Marrickville, and the police had “threatened to arrest me because I went into the office to ask about my family’s declined visa applications”.

What sort of drug law reforms are likely to be on the agenda at the 2024 NSW Drug Summit?

The changes sought are focused on people who use drugs, not cultivators, manufacturers or suppliers, because it’s long been understood that illicit drug use should be treated as a health issue and not a crime.

Uniting’s Fair Treatment campaign has been calling for drug decriminalisation in NSW and the ACT since 2018, and so have the over 70 other organisations partnering with them, which include the NSW Bar Association, Community Legal Centres NSW and the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT.

Currently, in NSW, a person found with a quantity of an illegal drug deemed for personal use can be charged with drug possession, which is an offence under section 10 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) (DMT Act) that carries a maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,200.

While section 12 of the DMT Act makes it a crime to self-administer an illicit substance, which too carries a maximum of 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,200.

Decriminalisation would see the revoking of the criminal sanctions relating to these laws, so that possession or use would no longer be a crime. Instead, people found in possession would rather be subject to a civil penalty, a small fine, or have the option of attending a counselling session.

NSW Premier Chris Minns last week announced a four-day Drug Summit to take place in December, comprising two days of regional forums in October 2024 and two days of forums in Sydney.

The announcement of the 2024 Drug Summit fulfils one of Labor’s election promises in a move that has been widely welcomed. 

Lydia Shelly, President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL), commended the Premier for listening to the community and announcing the Drug Summit. 

“This Summit is crucial for changing the demonisation of drug use and users and addressing the over-policing of minority populations. The success of reform depends on changing the way we talk about drugs and those who use them,” she said. 

“Pill testing provides individuals with critical information about the substances they intend to consume, enabling them to make informed and safer choices. Pill testing saves lives and the Summit is an ideal environment to have the conversation.”

Read the full article here.

Following the arrest and 3-month jail sentence of climate change protester Laura Davy, 21, a second protester has been given a one month custodial sentence after he suspended himself above a railway track in Newcastle.

Samuel Gribben, 21, received appeal bail on Friday following his sentence for his action as part of the coal port Blockade Australia protests.

Lydia Shelly, President, NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) called for NSW anti-protest laws to be immediately repealed. 

“There is no place for them in an open and democratic society. The right to protest is integral to democratic system of government and way of life,” she said. 

“In Australia, protest movements have historically been instrumental in holding governments to account and affecting real change. This has included disruptive protests that are considered ‘inconvenient.’”

Shelly adds that these anti-protest laws “not only criminalise protests, but they also cultivate an environment of fear and they have a chilling effect on organising peaceful movements that desire positive social change.”

Read the full article here.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) commends the Minns Government for today’s announcement of the 2024 Drug Summit and 12 new drug and alcohol hubs across state.

The 1999 Drug Summit held by Labor remains a significant and defining moment for drug law reform in Australia and globally. The 2024 Drug Summit gives New South Wales another chance to lead the conversation about drug use and harm minimisation.

‘Prior good character’ is a factor that has long been relevant to the sentencing exercise in appropriate cases (cf Section 21A(3)(e) and (f) of the Act and the common law). Its application must be understood in the context of the sentencing task, and our submission commences with a brief survey of the nature of the sentencing task with a focus on general principles of particular relevance to this submission. The submission then turns to briefly state the law governing the operation of good character as a mitigating factor. Next, the submission sketches existing limitations on good character as a mitigating factor in sentencing. The final two sections contain NSWCCL’s assessment of the continued importance of good character as a mitigating factor in sentencing, and its consequent recommendations.

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.

In New South Wales, section 144G of the Roads Act 1993 (NSW) and section 214A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
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 laws are restrictive and repressive.

There's a prevalent narrative enabled by these laws emphasising security threats and perceptions of disruption
associated with public protests. This narrative emboldens law enforcement to use unnecessary force against
protestors and pursue disproportionate laws and actions against protestors in New South Wales and across
Australia.

In our recent submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of
Association, we recommended that the Special Rapporteur visit Australia to assess Australia’s Laws and legal
framework regarding their compliance of with right to peaceful assembly and of association.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties opposes in the strongest terms the newly announced “Campus Access Policy 2024”.  We proudly stand beside students and staff at Sydney University in the fight to protect their right to protest.

We are astounded that Sydney University would join with state governments and large corporations in Australia who seek to encroach on the right of public assembly and to shut down free speech. The University, which can boast a proud history of facilitating free speech and protest on campus should not be part of problem.