News and Events

Today, the second COVID Fine case brought by Redfern Legal Centre was back in the Supreme Court. 

Police in New South Wales are using force against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a vastly disproportionate rate compared to non-Indigenous people.

Redfern Legal Centre has filed another NSW Supreme Court application seeking the withdrawal of a COVID fine on the grounds of invalidity. 33,000 COVID fines were withdrawn following the first Supreme Court case in late 2022, and 29,000 remain.

RLC has obtained permission to release the manual to the public.

Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have lodged a complaint against former NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller and NSW Police over their heavy-handed approach to handing out more than 60,000 COVID-19 fines during the pandemic.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) has just released the NSW Police Use of Force Manual. Redfern Legal Centre has pushed to have the use of force examined by the LECC and for police documents about the use of force to be released.

Tomorrow (25 May), the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) will examine the use of force by NSW Police, along with systemic issues related to the arrest and detention of children.

Today the NSW Supreme Court published its reasons in a test case about COVID-19 fines. The decision clarifies the requirements necessary for a fine to be valid, and calls into disrepute all the remaining 29,017 COVID-19 fines that have not been withdrawn.

Police are conducting more than 150,000 body searches annually across NSW, with children and Indigenous people more likely to be targeted. Redfern Legal Centre obtained NSW Police statistics about person searches via access to information laws. 

Revenue NSW has conceded that many COVID-19 fines are invalid. But what does that mean for the rest of the community who may have received or paid fines?