Category Archives: Australian police and policing

‘Grab and drag’ proposal will bridge gap between assault and sexual offences in Victoria, experts say

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Law reform body says there should be consequences for offenders who make victims fear they will be sexually assaulted

Offenders who grab and drag their victim in a way that makes them fear they will be sexually assaulted could be jailed for up to 10 years under a proposal outlined by Victoria’s peak law reform body.

The Andrews government asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) to review “grab and drag” offences after a 2018 assault in which Jackson Williams grabbed a 39-year-old woman and dragged her into an alleyway.

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NSW principal’s Harvard scholarship paused due to school investigation

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Education department probes complaints about Katoomba high school’s response to claims of harassment among students

The principal of a Blue Mountains high school has had a prestigious Harvard scholarship put on hold while her school is investigated by the New South Wales Department of Education.

The internal departmental investigation comes on top of two court cases involving staff or students at the school.

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Life after prison: Victoria expands jobs program for ex-offenders in bid to reduce recidivism

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Inquiry has found unemployment a key compounding factor in people returning to jail

Domestic violence and sexual assault survivor Grace* knows first-hand the discrimination experienced by ex-prisoners while job hunting.

The 27-year-old floated between the criminal justice system and attempts to find work, having been locked up for theft and drug possession.

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Almost 400 Queenslanders have waited two years for a decision on domestic violence assistance

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Figures tabled in parliament reveal demand on victims of crime fund growing 16% this year

It took Lisa* and her son just three days to receive a disaster support payment after they were forced to abandon their flooded Brisbane home in February.

But Lisa says after fleeing an allegedly physically and sexually violent relationship, she waited eight months for an initial payment from the state government through Victim Assist Queensland (VAQ).

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Shayla Phillips: Tasmania police use dogs and drones in third day of search for missing girl

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Shayla, 4, was last seen near Stormlea Road in Stormlea on Wednesday afternoon

Tasmanian search crews remain hopeful a missing four-year-old girl will be found alive and well as the search enters its third day.

Shayla Phillips was last seen about 2.30pm on Wednesday near Stormlea Road in Stormlea, wearing pink leggings, a cream top and gumboots.

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Push to protect sexual assault victims’ communications with doctors enters Victorian parliament

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Confidential communications often obtained by defence lawyers to undermine victims’ credibility

Victorian alleged sexual assault victims will have the right to defend their confidential communications being aired in court under new amendments to be introduced to state parliament by Justice party MP Stuart Grimley.

The amendments to the justice legislation amendment bill 2022, to be debated in the upper house on Thursday, were recommended in two separate inquiries by the Victorian Law Reform Commission in 2016 and 2021.

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Zachary Rolfe on leave as NT police investigates internal disciplinary matters

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NT police union says the force is investigating several matters unrelated to the shooting of Kumanjayi Walker

Constable Zachary Rolfe is on leave as the Northern Territory police investigates internal disciplinary matters, only days after he was found not guilty of murdering Kumanjayi Walker.

Rolfe, 30, has been told to take leave as the force investigates several internal matters unrelated to the shooting, Guardian Australia has confirmed. It is unclear what those investigations concern.

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Man charged with murder after three die in Sydney boarding house fire

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A 45-year-old man has been charged with three counts of murder after the fire in the inner west suburb of Newtown on Tuesday

A man has been charged with three counts of murder following a fire in a boarding house in Newtown in New South Wales on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old man, who police say was a former resident of the boarding house, was also charged with one count of destroying or damaging property by fire or explosive.

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Ben Roberts-Smith a mentor to Zachary Rolfe, the NT police officer cleared of murder

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Relationship between two former soldiers detailed in statement by Rolfe’s mother, Debbie, in Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial

The former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith, who is facing allegations of war crimes, was a “mentor” to Zachary Rolfe, the Northern Territory police officer who was cleared on Friday of murdering Kumanjayi Walker.

The relationship between the two men, who have been at the centre of separate trials that have dominated the media for more than a month, is detailed in a statement by Rolfe’s mother, Debbie, submitted to court as part of Roberts-Smith’s case.

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Zachary Rolfe found not guilty of murder over Kumanjayi Walker fatal shooting

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Rolfe, 30, was also cleared of two alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death

Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe has been found not guilty of murder in relation to the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.

Rolfe, 30, was also cleared of two alternative charges of manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.

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Police drop all charges against Friendlyjordies producer accused of stalking John Barilaro

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Kristo Langker was arrested at his home in June last year after an investigation into alleged stalking

Police have dropped all charges against Friendlyjordies producer Kristo Langker after accusing him of stalking former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro.

Langker, 22, was arrested at his home in June last year after an investigation into alleged stalking by NSW police’s fixated persons investigation unit.

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Judge urges jurors to ‘guard against’ emotion when considering verdict in Zachary Rolfe murder trial

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A jury has retired to consider its verdict in the case of the Northern Territory constable charged with the murder of Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker

The judge presiding over the murder trial of Northern Territory constable Zachary Rolfe has urged the jury to ignore emotion or sympathy that may have arisen during confronting evidence in the case when they consider their verdict.

Judge John Burns gave the jury his directions in the supreme court on Thursday. The jurors have now retired to consider their verdict after an almost five-week trial.

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Zachary Rolfe trial: other officer present when Kumanjayi Walker was shot begins evidence

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Remote Sgt Adam Eberl tells court he did not consider Walker to be dangerous when police first encountered him

A police officer involved in the attempt to arrest Kumanjayi Walker before his death has told a court he was “surprised” other officers had not used their guns when the Warlpiri man threatened them with an axe during a seperate incident days earlier.

Remote Sgt Adam Eberl was the other officer in the room when Constable Zachary Rolfe shot dead Walker on 9 November 2019 in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.

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Cleo Smith: Terence Darrell Kelly pleads guilty to abducting four-year-old from WA campsite

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Kelly, 36, admits in court to taking child from a tent last year. Other charges have been adjourned to a later date

A man has pleaded guilty in court to abducting Cleo Smith from her family’s West Australian campsite, sparking a widespread search and attracting global attention.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, on Monday admitted taking the four-year-old from a tent at the remote Blowholes campsite last year.

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Tasmania jumping castle accident: what we know so far

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Five children in Australia are dead and another three are in critical condition after a bouncy castle was blown into the air in an incident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport

Five children are dead and another three are in critical condition after a jumping castle was blown into the air during an end-of-year celebration at a school in Tasmania’s north-west.

The Tasmanian premier, Peter Gutwein, is currently in Devonport and gave an update with the Tasmania police commissioner, Darren Hine, on Friday morning.

In Australia Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline 1800 551 800, mental health helpline 1800 333 288 and Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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Tasmania jumping castle tragedy: child victims named as Devonport community mourns

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Premier Peter Gutwein says the tragedy at Hillcrest primary school is beyond comprehension as police investigate bouncy castle accident and one child is released from hospital

Tasmanian police have released the names of the five children killed in Thursday’s tragic jumping castle accident in Devonport.

The five children who died are Addison Stewart, 11, Zane Mellor, 12, Jye Sheehan, 12, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, 12, and Peter Dodt, 12.

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Cleo Smith’s alleged abductor Terence Darrell Kelly moved to maximum-security prison

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Kelly, 36, transferred from Carnarvon to Perth in Western Australia after being charged with various offences including one count of taking a child under 16

The man charged with abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith will be transferred from Carnarvon to a maximum-security prison in Perth.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, appeared briefly before a magistrate in Carnarvon on Thursday charged with various offences related to the abduction of Cleo, including one count of forcibly taking a child under 16.

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Cleo Smith search: WA police examining ‘every inch’ of campsite for ‘disturbances in sand’

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Officers also sifting through garbage collected from roadside bins near where four-year-old went missing

West Australian police are using drones and aircraft to create a detailed map of the Blowholes campsite as they look for “disturbances in the sand” during the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of four-year-old Cleo Smith.

Police recruits are also sifting through a mountain of rubbish collected from roadside bins stretching more than 600km along Western Australia’s north-west coast in the hope of finding any clue that could lead to Cleo.

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Queensland police seize Nazi flag flown near Brisbane synagogue

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Swastika seen hanging from Margaret Street apartment complex in city’s CBD

Congregants at a Brisbane synagogue were confronted by the sight of a Nazi flag flying from a nearby apartment window on Saturday.

Visitors to the synagogue reported seeing the swastika symbol hanging from a UniLodge complex on Margaret Street in the central business district on Saturday morning, the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies vice-president, Jason Steinberg, said.

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