Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Activists want NT to make spit hoods illegal after report found they were used on children 27 times

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Campaigners says case of child who may have lost consciousness while restrained in spit hood highlights need to legislate ban

The sibling of an Aboriginal man who died after being placed in a spit hood while detained in South Australia has criticised the Northern Territory government for refusing to legislate a ban as recommended by the territory’s ombudsman.

Northern Territory police have used spit hoods on children at least 27 times since 2016, in a move labelled “extraordinary” by the NT ombudsman last week.

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Queensland may face damages bill for unlawful detention of children in watch houses, lawyers say

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Dylan Voller’s solicitor argues new law retrospectively legalising practice could be successfully challenged

The Queensland government could still face a damages bill in the tens of millions of dollars, some lawyers say, despite retrospective legislation exempting it from liability for holding children in adult police watch houses.

Dylan Voller’s lawyer Peter O’Brien, the solicitor behind the class action against the Northern Territory’s Don Dale youth detention centre, said he believed the retrospective legislation could be challenged in court.

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AFP received 28 misconduct allegations involving MPs, staff or ‘official establishments’ in 12 months

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Federal police declines to provide more details about the reports, which were made in the year after Brittany Higgins went public

Federal police received 28 allegations of misconduct by parliamentarians, their staff or “official establishments” in the year after Brittany Higgins’ allegations first became public knowledge.

But the Australian federal police has declined to outline any further details, including which state or territory police force it passed the reports to for further investigation.

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Children unlawfully detained in Queensland’s police watch houses blocked from suing

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Law changes retroactively exempt government from litigation as Labor refuses to release legal advice used to justify rapid changes to Youth Justice Act

The Queensland government has refused to release key legal advice it used to justify urgent changes to the Youth Justice Act, amid criticism over its decision to retroactively prevent children from suing if they were detained unlawfully.

Defending the government’s hurried changes to the law, the deputy premier, Steven Miles, said the solicitor general had advised it could not delay amending the act – even for a few weeks – to accommodate scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

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Keeping kids in watch houses: why the Queensland government could change the law to suit itself

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Possible ‘robodebt’ scenario left Labor to either move the children or suspend the Human Rights Act – and it chose the latter

Queensland Labor MPs found out on Monday that they were expected to vote to suspend the state’s Human Rights Act, for a second time, to allow for the indefinite detention of children in adult police watch houses.

No one else seemed to have any warning. On Wednesday afternoon – on a particularly dreary day in state parliament – the police minister, Mark Ryan, tacked the law change on to an unrelated child safety bill, allowing it to pass through parliament the following day with no committee scrutiny.

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‘Farm animals with better legal protection’: Queensland’s new child watch house laws pilloried

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Palaszczuk government overriding state’s Human Rights Act to allow for imprisoning children as young as 10 in adult watch houses

Queensland’s human rights commissioner has accused the government of setting a “dangerous precedent” after it overrode the Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained at adult watch houses and prisons.

In a surprise move, the Palaszczuk government introduced legislation on Wednesday to allow it to imprison children in adult watch houses “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.

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NSW police watchdog to oversee investigation into arrest of Indigenous man with disability in Taree

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Teenager remains in custody and faces seven charges, including hindering or resisting a police officer

The New South Wales police watchdog will oversee an investigation into the violent arrest in Taree last week of a handcuffed Aboriginal teenager with a disability.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), an independent watchdog that has oversight of NSW police, has confirmed it is involved in the force’s internal inquiry and that police have received a serious misconduct complaint about the incident.

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Aboriginal 18-year-old with disability thrown to ground during NSW police arrest while having seizure

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Exclusive: Police launch internal investigation over arrest at Taree, as footage shows officer performing a leg sweep while man is handcuffed

New South Wales police have launched an investigation after a young Aboriginal man with disability was violently arrested while having a seizure and thrown to the ground while handcuffed in Taree.

The 18-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after police received reports a man had allegedly tried to break into two homes. Police said the man then fled. A man was arrested on Gwenneth Avenue.

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WA activist charged over Woodside protest says police pointed gun at him day before

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Emil Davey says officer pulled over his car, pointed a gun and shouted at him but after his vehicle was searched he was released without charge

A Western Australian police officer drew his firearm while pulling over the vehicle of an environmental activist in Perth last month.

Emil Davey, 19, was driving in the suburb of City Beach on 31 July when he says an unmarked van overtook his car and then stopped suddenly in front of him.

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Mushroom mystery: family lunch leaves Australian town reeling after three deaths in suspected poisoning

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As police investigate what looks like a fatal case of food poisoning in Leongatha in rural Victoria, locals recall the victims as kind and community-spirited

In the quiet town of Leongatha in eastern Victoria, a group of family and friends sat down to a Saturday lunch at one of their homes.

Within hours of the meal four of the guests began feeling very unwell and eventually sought treatment at local hospitals.

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Lehrmann case shouldn’t shake faith in justice system, police union says

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Association chief urges community to come forward with complaints as fallout from Sofronoff inquiry into prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann continues

The police union says the Bruce Lehrmann case was “like no other” and shouldn’t deter complainants from coming forward or having faith in the justice system.

The fallout from the Sofronoff inquiry report continued on Tuesday, following the ACT government’s extraordinary criticisms of inquiry head Walter Sofronoff KC over the premature leaking of the report to journalists.

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Australia news live: pre-emptive release of Sofronoff report ‘denied me procedural fairness’, Shane Drumgold says

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ACT director of public prosecutions steps down after agreeing with ACT attorney-general Shane Rattenbury his position was ‘no longer tenable’. Follow live news updates today

PM urges people to look at the yes and no pamphlets

Albanese is asked about the word “Makarrata”, which has been subject to attack by the no campaign.

Why would someone disagree with the idea of Makarrata, with which is a Yolngu word for coming together after conflict - what that is about is just advancing reconciliation.

What the no campaign insists on doing is talking about anything but what is in the question before the Australian people. I would say to your listeners, have a look at what the question is, have a look at the yesand the no pamphlets. The yes pamphlet with its optimistic appeal for hope and a vision for the future, and the no campaign quoting people, misquoting people who are not actually supporting it.

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Head of inquiry into Lehrmann prosecution gave report to selected journalists before ACT chief minister

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ACT says it remains ‘extremely disappointed’ Walter Sofronoff released report to media outlets

The final Sofronoff inquiry report was handed to journalists prior to the ACT’s chief minister, the government has said.

The fallout from the explosive findings and premature publication of Walter Sofronoff KC’s report continued on Friday, following revelations that the inquiry head had provided embargoed copies of the final report to selected media outlets before police, the director of public prosecutions and other key players.

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Victoria’s first dedicated sobering up centre to open in inner-Melbourne suburb

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Andrews government unveils plan for 20-bed Collingwood facility as public drunkenness is decriminalised

Victoria’s first permanent sobering up centre will be set up in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Collingwood ahead of the decriminalisation of public drunkenness in the state.

The 20-bed facility has been announced as the Andrews government shifts away from treating public drunkenness as a crime and towards making it a health issue.

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Head of inquiry into Lehrmann prosecution released report to media without authorisation

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Walter Sofronoff KC provided copies under embargo to ABC and the Australian, but ACT spokesperson said release ‘affected the inquiry process’

The head of an independent inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann provided embargoed copies of his final report to the media without the knowledge of the ACT government.


In an explosive statement on Thursday afternoon, an ACT government spokesperson said the government was “disappointed that the Sofronoff Board of Inquiry Report has been released to select media outlets”.

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How a picture of bedsheets from dark web led police to Brisbane childcare centre and man’s arrest

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Tiny traces from videos and images drew detectives to a childcare worker accused of being Australia’s worst serial paedophile

In 2014, detectives from a specialist Queensland police unit came across a small number of videos and images posted online, depicting the abuse of two girls but containing few clues as to where in the world they had been made.

After the discovery by taskforce Argos, the Australia federal police (AFP) and other agencies began an international search for the victims. This included uploading the material to a database that could be searched by other law enforcement agencies.

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NSW police use force against Indigenous Australians at drastically disproportionate levels, data shows

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Exclusive: Redfern Legal Centre obtained records which show First Nations people were involved in about 45% of the incidents

New South Wales police used force against Indigenous Australians at vastly disproportionate rates during the past three years, internal police data shows.

Records obtained by the Redfern Legal Centre show Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were significantly overrepresented in police use of force incidents from 2018-20 to 2021-22.

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NSW police Tasered ‘extremely unwell’ Indigenous man a week before incident with Clare Nowland

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Exclusive: Man experiencing mental health issues sought help from police but was later Tasered in hospital by officers who mistakenly thought he was armed with scissors

Police Tasered a young Indigenous man hospitalised with mental health issues twice on the mistaken belief that he was armed with a pair of scissors, the Guardian can reveal.

Just one week before a Cooma police officer Tasered Clare Nowland in May, a young Indigenous man sought medical assistance from officers further north in Batemans Bay, on New South Wales’ south coast.

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NSW police reject suggestion ‘racism is rife’ in force and say ‘lessons learned’ after Bowraville murders

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Police act ‘with respect’ to victims and people in custody, federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and children hears

A senior NSW police officer has rejected suggestions “racism is rife” within its ranks and has told a federal inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and children that lessons have been learned after the Bowraville murders.

The parliamentary inquiry has held hearings around the country, hearing from experts, government and police agencies, and families of those murdered and disappeared.

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‘Out of control’: Sydney police battle escalating gang war with five people shot in five days

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Commissioner Karen Webb says targeted hits are ‘sad indictment’ on city as investigators work to bring situation under control

Sydney detectives are struggling to contain the city’s escalating gang war and are facing a “wall of silence” despite two people dying in separate shootings over the past five days.

The recent spate of shootings started a month ago when the prominent underworld figure Alen Moradian was shot dead in broad daylight at Bondi Junction.

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