News and Events

The NSW police have been given new powers to detect knives.

The National Justice Project (NJP), Redfern Legal Centre (RLC), Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) are hosting an expert forum, ‘Mental health call outs: who should respond?’ to consider alternatives to the current approach that sends police to be first responders to a mental health crisis.

A Guide to Driving Laws in NSW Developed by Weave and Redfern Legal Centre

Redfern Legal Centre (RLC), the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (ALS) are calling for immediate reform of the NSW fines system as a new report reveals that a heavy-handed approach to policing public health orders (PHOs) resulted in 3,628 children in NSW receiving COVID fines.

A trial date has been set by the NSW Supreme Court for the landmark strip search class action that will challenge the legality of strip searches conducted by NSW Police at music festivals over a six-year period.

Another music festival cancellation shows the effect of over-policing on the music festival industry.

In New South Wales, over seven years (from July 2016 to June 2023), a total of 1,546 children were subjected to an invasive strip search by NSW Police. An average of 220 children each year.

Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) has released a new report that reveals over a thousand children (aged 10-17 years) have been strip searched by NSW Police within a seven year period from June 2016 to July 2023. The report written by RLC solicitors, Samantha Lee and Josh Raj -‘The Need for Reform: Strip Searches of Children by NSW Police’ collates data about the number of children strip searched by NSW Police. The data was obtained from NSW Police via access to information law.

17 March 2024 Dear Premier Minns, Don't turn your back on Closing the Gap. Throwing more children in jail will make crime worse in regional communities, not better. Throwing more children in jail will lead to horrific outcomes for communities, families and those children, compounding abuse and trauma. Throwing more children in jail will cause unspeakable damage to Closing The Gap and efforts to create a better future for Aboriginal children in NSW.

Redfern Legal Centre stands with a coalition of Aboriginal and legal organisations that say a secret proposal to tighten NSW bail laws for children would make NSW regional communities more dangerous. Multiple government sources have indicated off the record that a proposal to introduce punitive law and order measures – including changes to bail laws that will result in more children going to jail – may be considered as early as this week.