Policing and detention
Media and commentary related to our work to provide critical oversight of NSW Police, prisons and youth detention centres, to protect human rights and ensure fair and lawful treatment.
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‘Growing crisis’: Record level of Aboriginal people in NSW prisons, new data reveals
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), are ramping up their calls for reform to the way Aboriginal people are policed, in light of new figures released by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) showing the proportion of Aboriginal people in prison is the highest on record. …
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NSW prisons more unequal than ever with record level of Aboriginal people behind bars
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) (ALS) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) say the Government cannot ignore the growing crisis of the imprisonment of Aboriginal people in NSW. New figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) show the proportion of Aboriginal people in prison is the highest on record. The…
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An evening with playwright Suzie Miller
Suzie Miller is a lawyer and playwright. Her play RBG: Of Many, One ran at the Sydney Theatre company between October and December 2023. Suzie’s other work includes the hugely successful Prima Facie, which will play on Broadway later this year, following success on London’s West End and in cinemas as part of the National…
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2SER: Police oversight body calls for an overhaul of ‘consorting laws’
A report from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission shows that consorting laws are being used to unfairly target Aboriginal people in NSW. And, they continue to be used on children under 18. The report recommends making changes, to ensure the laws are properly targeted to the serious crimes they were designed for. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has welcomed…
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Call to exclude kids from law banning criminal contact
A law meant for disrupting serious crime is disproportionately targeting Indigenous people and continues to be used on children, legal groups say. The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the NSW Bar Association on Wednesday called on the state parliament to narrow the scope of the consorting law, and ban its…
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Police oversight body calls for overhaul of consorting laws
Consorting laws are being misused and disproportionately target Aboriginal people.
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Paul Ramsay Foundation boosts the Raise the Age campaign
The NSW campaign to Raise the Age has received a significant boost, thanks to a generous commitment of campaigning and financial support from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Raise the Age is a national campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years of age. The NSW campaign involves a…
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Australia fails to meet anti-torture deadline
Australia has failed to meet a crucial deadline for implementing its international anti-torture treaty obligations, despite receiving an extended timeframe for compliance to January 2023. Australia ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in December 2017. But we are yet to take essential…
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UN urges Australia to improve treatment of people in detention
A report from the UN Committee Against Torture urges government action to improve Australia’s treatment of people in police custody, prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. The report follows a UN subcommittee visit to review places of detention in Australia, which was dramatically suspended in October when authorities in NSW and Queensland refused to…
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Legal Centres call for all COVID fines to be cancelled, existing fines regime to be reviewed
The NSW Government’s ‘law and order’ response to the pandemic created significant fines debt and damaged community-police relations in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the state, according to a new UNSW Law School report. Click here: UNSW Report The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), Redfern Legal Centre and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre…