News and Events

An RLC webinar on financial abuse in family law: Understanding the new reforms

An RLC webinar on financial abuse in family law: Understanding the new reforms

The New South Wales police force knew drug detection dogs only have a “30% hit-rate” but continued to use them as the primary justification to strip-search people at music festivals, a court has heard.

A class action hearing led by Slater and Gordon Lawyers and the Redfern Legal Centre against the State of New South Wales, commenced on Monday, May 5th.

A centuries-old legal presumption that children aged between 10 and 14 don’t understand the difference between right and wrong is to be reviewed after New South Wales youth criminal conviction rates tumbled fivefold. The NSW attorney general’s office said the review will consider how the principle of doli incapax – Latin for “incapable of evil” – is applied in criminal proceedings, its impact on intervention, possible improvements and a framework for legislation. In NSW, the criminal age of responsibility is 10 but doli incapax can apply up to 14. The presumption can be rebutted if police can prove a child understood what they did was seriously wrong, as opposed to naughty. Geoffrey Bellew SC, the state parole authority chair and a former supreme court judge, and Jeffrey Loy, a former NSW police deputy commissioner, will lead the doli incapax review, the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, said on Thursday.

The young woman leading a class action over strip searches was subjected to a "degrading and humiliating" experience "akin to a sexual assault" by NSW Police at a music festival in 2018, a court has heard. WARNING: This article contains graphic content. Last month, the state of NSW made a dramatic backflip in the case, admitting police acted unlawfully when they searched Raya Meredith at the Splendour In The Grass music festival, ordering her to bend over while naked and remove a tampon. Her barrister, Kylie Nomchong SC, on Monday told the hearing her client would be making an additional claim for aggravated damages due to feelings of "hurt and distress" caused by police previously denying her account for more than two years.

Police officers illegally strip-searched a woman at a Byron Bay music festival, the New South Wales supreme court has heard, subjecting her to a “degrading and humiliating” inspection that included being told to remove her tampon while undressed in front of a police officer.

A class action hearing led by Slater and Gordon Lawyers and Redfern Legal Centre against the State of New South Wales will commence on Monday, 5 May. Justice Dina Yehia will preside over the multiple day hearing. The class action, filed in July 2022, challenges the lawfulness of thousands of strip searches carried out by NSW Police at music festivals between July 2016 and 2022.

Housing organisations welcome the new laws but are bracing for a spike in evictions before the change takes effect

In the federal budget, the government included a surprise announcement that it will ban non-compete clauses for workers earning under $175,000. What will this mean for small businesses as well as low wage employees?