News and Events

RLC police powers solicitor David Porter was interviewed by The Guardian following legislation passed by the NSW upper house on 4 May 2016. These new bills grant police the power to treat minor offences as serious crimes, shut down public gatherings and impose individualised control orders, which seriously restrict the rights and liberties of individuals. 5 May 2016 - The Guardian Paul Farrell "This isn’t a question of the gradual erosion of equality before the law – the passing of these bills means it is gone," Porter said. "These new bills introduce public safety orders that are not about safety, but about control. They are about shutting down all sorts of public events, from protests to footy finals." "We can expect these serious crime prevention order applications to be substantially based, and determined, on secret police intelligence and evidence that police say cannot be shown to the person or their lawyer. In addition, the orders which will control the next five years of a person’s life, are determined on a lower burden of proof than normally applies in criminal proceedings." Read the article on The Guardian website.

RLC client Wan, an international student, was interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald following the release of a University of Sydney survey of 1400 international students which found 80% of international students working in the restaurant industry were being exploited by their employers.

Last week the City of Sydney Council motioned to grant the Redfern Legal Centre $100,000 over a 24 month period to provide legal resources for tenants in the Waterloo public housing redevelopment.

Complaints of alleged ‘online abuse’ by NSW Police towards Greens MP Jenny Leong have been made to the Police Integrity Commission. 14 April 2016 - Alt Media Christopher Harris

Sydney’s homeless population is set to benefit after the City of Sydney Council proposed scrapping over 60 alcohol-free areas across the city.

Multicultural and Indigenous groups have welcomed the release of a report by the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence.

City of Sydney Council has proposed the scrapping of 62 of the 399 alcohol-free zones (AFZs) across the City of Sydney's local government area. In response to NSW Police Force's objections, Redfern Legal Centre's police powers solicitor David Porter spoke to The Daily Telegraph about the benefit of removing AFZs.

The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence has concluded after 13 months, and handed down its final report, including nine recommendations relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. 30 March 2016 - NITV's The Point Charmaigne Weldon, Aboriginal Specialist Worker and Assistant Coordinator at RLC's Sydney Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service, spoke to NITV about the need for a similar response in NSW.

International education, which added more than $19 billion to the economy last year and is behind only iron ore and coal in terms of export value, is being “undermined” by thousands of unreported cases of harassment, underpayment or non-payment suffered by foreign students each year.

In December last year, just before Christmas, the state government announced a plan to redevelop the Waterloo area over the next 20 years. They also announced the need to relocate at least 2,000 public housing tenants as a result, while the redevelopment takes place. The plan follows similar decisions in 2014 and 2015 to sell and redevelop public housing areas in Ivanhoe and Millers Point.