Category Archives: Law (Australia)

Law professor at centre of leaked email controversy claims University of Melbourne suspended him because of his political opinion

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Exclusive: Dr Eric Descheemaeker also alleges Australia’s top-ranked university will sack him unless ‘restrained from doing so’, court documents show

A University of Melbourne law professor who claimed “‘Blak’ activists” were leading the prestigious institution to “destruction” alleges he has been suspended because of his political opinion.

Guardian Australia on Saturday revealed that Dr Eric Descheemaeker is suing Australia’s top-ranked university for discrimination. The legal action comes after a 2023 email written by Descheemaeker to the then head of the Melbourne Law School (MLS) was leaked and posted around the university’s Parkville campus last month.

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‘Gross over-reach’: Labor group urges Albanese to reject key parts of antisemitism envoy plan

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Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine concerned by Jillian Segal’s recommendation government adopt IHRA’s contested definition of antisemitism

A “groundswell” of Labor rank-and-file members are urging the government to reject key recommendations from the federal antisemitism envoy, according to an internal lobby group, urging a focus on anti-racism education rather than more contentious ideas such as stripping funding from universities and arts bodies.

Labor Friends of Palestine, an internal campaign group of members and politicians, said it was concerned about anti-Jewish hatred, but would be troubled about wider adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s contested definition of antisemitism, as recommended by Jillian Segal in a wide-ranging plan last week.

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Protest at Sydney synagogue wasn’t targeting ‘religious event’ but Israel Defense Forces speaker, court told

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NSW Labor’s anti-protest laws protecting places of worship have ‘chilling effect’ on democracy, Palestine Action Group barrister tells supreme court

A protest outside a Sydney synagogue – which was the “catalyst” for the New South Wales government introducing anti-protest laws designed to curb antisemitism – was targeting an event where a member of the Israel Defense Forces was speaking, a court has been told during a constitutional challenge.

The Palestine Action Group is challenging in the NSW supreme court the Minns Labor government’s controversial laws giving police broad powers to restrict protests.

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Security company at Westfield Bondi Junction scrambled to buy stab-resistant vests after attack, inquest told

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Glad Group CEO says the company’s security staff now wear stab-proof vests ‘as uniform’ at shopping centres

The head of the company providing security to Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney scrambled to buy stab-resistant vests after six people were fatally stabbed, including a member of the security team.

Joel Cauchi, 40, killed Ashlee Good, 38, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Pikria Darchia, 55, Dawn Singleton, 25, and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, and injured 10 others at Bondi Junction Westfield on 13 April 2024 before he was shot and killed by police officer Amy Scott.

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Victoria fast-tracks machete ban as more arrests made over Northland shopping centre fight

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Police say further arrests ‘imminent’ after Sunday’s clash between alleged ‘rival youth gangs’

The sale of machetes will be banned in Victoria from Wednesday, after an alleged clash involving the weapon forced Northland shopping centre into lockdown at the weekend.

It comes as Victoria police made further arrests and said more were “imminent”, after the alleged fight between “rival youth gangs” on Sunday.

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Push to save John Pesutto from bankruptcy after $2.3m Moira Deeming defamation costs order

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Online fundraiser launched as former Victorian Liberal leader hopes to avoid being forced to resign from parliament if he is unable to pay the sum

Friends of the former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto have launched an online fundraiser in a bid to help him “avoid the possibility of bankruptcy” after he was ordered to pay more than $2.3m in costs following his loss in a defamation case brought by the Liberal MP Moira Deeming.

The federal court registrar Alison Legge handed down the decision during a short hearing on Friday in which she ordered Pesutto pay $2,308,873.11 in legal costs.

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Judge suggests NSW police had ‘absolutely no evidence’ to justify main strip-search in class action

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Justice Dina Yehia says manner force conducted its defence ‘is a matter, I’ll be quite honest with you, of grave concern to me’

A Sydney judge says the way the New South Wales police force defended a claim it unlawfully strip-searched a woman at a music festival – including a last-minute admission – was “of grave concern to me”.

Justice Dina Yehia made the comment in the NSW supreme court during closing arguments in a class action against the police.

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NSW forestry agency should be shut down for repeatedly breaking law, critics argue

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Forestry Corporation says suggestion that it can be compared to a criminal bikie gang is ‘ridiculous’

A former magistrate and one of Australia’s most experienced scientists have launched an extraordinary attack on the New South Wales government’s logging agency, describing it as effectively a “criminal organisation” that should be shut down after a string of court convictions.

Prof David Heilpern, a NSW magistrate between 1998 and 2020 and now the dean of law at Southern Cross University, said the state’s Forestry Corporation should be “disbanded” as it was was no longer fit for purpose.

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Erin Patterson trial live: medical staff reveal differing severities of illness of each guest at fateful mushroom lunch

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Australian woman has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder relating to a lunch she served at her Leongatha home in 2023. Follow live updates

Ian Wilkinson says late wife Heather ‘fairly excited’ about lunch

The examination now turns to the invite for the mushroom lunch.

There was no reason for the lunch.... We were very happy to be invited. It seemed like maybe our relationship with Erin was going to improve.

Just seemed like a normal person to me... when we met, seemed quite friendly. We never had arguments or disputes.

She just seemed like an ordinary person.

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Erin Patterson trial live: cross-examination of second witness Christine Hunt begins in mushroom murder trial

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Australian woman has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her Leongatha home in 2023. Follow live updates

Our justice and courts reporter, Nino Bucci, was in the court room in Morwell last week for the first week of Erin Patterson’s murder trial.

Catch up on his report on the first week of the trial:

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Nick McKenzie denies seeing privileged communication between Ben Roberts-Smith and his lawyers

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Investigative journalist says ‘legal strategy’ he referred to in secret recording was reference to war veteran allegedly telling his ex-wife to lie to court

Investigative journalist Nick McKenzie has denied in a Sydney court that he saw privileged communications between Ben Roberts-Smith and his lawyers during the proceedings of the war veteran’s failed defamation case against him and Nine.

The court also heard a “secret” recording where McKenzie allegedly told a witness in the defamation proceedings that Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife, Emma Roberts, and her friend Danielle Scott were “actively briefing us on his legal strategy in respect of you”.

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Murder charges over shooting of gangland lawyer Joseph Acquaro dropped

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Victoria DPP’s move on charges against Vincenzo Crupi brings end to case that threatened to force police to reveal informer’s identity

The Victorian director of public prosecutions has dropped murder charges relating to the shooting death of gangland lawyer and police informer Joseph “Pino” Acquaro.

The explosive development brings to an end a court case that threatened to force Victoria police to reveal the identity of human sources in order to prosecute Vincenzo Crupi, who they alleged had murdered Acquaro.

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Nine journalist Nick McKenzie allegedly told of Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife’s planned legal action

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Roberts-Smith argues his unsuccessful defamation case against McKenzie and Nine newspapers should be retried because of a ‘miscarriage of justice’

The Nine journalist Nick McKenzie was told about a legal action Ben Roberts-Smith’s ex-wife planned to take against the war veteran ahead of his defamation trial, a court has heard, with the informant allegedly telling him “it’s always good to be on the front foot”.

On Tuesday the federal court of Australia heard that a friend of Emma Roberts had told McKenzie that Roberts-Smith was planning to notify and write to the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions (CDPP) about an alleged “breach” and to “restrain any further publications being made”.

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This article was amended on 2 May 2025. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Nick McKenzie was told Emma Roberts planned to contact the CDPP. McKenzie was told that Ben Roberts-Smith planned to do this.

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Married at First Sight Australia groom applies for restraining order against on-screen bride

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Ryan Donnelly alleges that Jacqui Burfoot has made ‘vicious’ and ‘malicious’ claims about him online

A Married At First Sight groom claims he was left fearful after his estranged on-screen bride tried to destroy his life by posting about him online.

Ryan Donnelly and Jacqui Burfoot were paired together in this year’s season of the hit Australian reality TV series but chose to separate during an insult-laden final vows ceremony.

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Court battle by survivor of Catholic church abuse will help others challenge past settlements, lawyers say

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Man praised for ‘towering courage’ in paving way for survivors to challenge past settlements that effectively protected church institutions

Lawyers for an abuse survivor say a high court ruling on Wednesday will pave the way for more survivors to challenge past settlements that “served only to protect the church institutions” from paying out genuine compensation.

The survivor, known as DZY, was confronted with insurmountable legal barriers to his planned civil action against the Christian Brothers in 2012 over abuse at the hands of two Catholic brothers, brothers Robert Best and Gerald Fitzgerald, in the 1960s.

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Man accused of Cassius Turvey murder ‘is lying through his teeth’, court told

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Jack Brearley says his co-accused delivered fatal blows to 15-year-old but his version is challenged under cross-examination

A man accused of murder who blamed his co-accused for the death of Indigenous teenager Cassius Turvey has had his version of events challenged while giving evidence in his defence.

During testimony on Thursday at the West Australian supreme court, Jack Brearley, 24, told a jury that prosecutors had it wrong and he did not strike the 15-year-old in the head with a metal pole in Perth’s eastern suburbs on 13 October 2022.

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Major staff cuts on table at Victorian magistrates court, threatening Allan government’s crime crackdown

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Potential cuts expected to more than 25% of backroom staff, underlining challenge for state government crippled by debt but trying to bolster public safety

The Victorian magistrates court is considering cutting more than a quarter of its backroom staff despite its workload likely increasing as the Allan government presses ahead with “tough on crime” policies.

Leaked documents show it is proposed that 24 out of 92 staff from the courts’ corporate services department are made redundant, including those working in family violence and legal policy areas.

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Melissa Caddick’s duped investors recoup another $3.5m after settlement with auditors

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Investors defrauded by 49-year-old before her 2020 disappearance and death to get back portion of their $23m in losses

Investors defrauded by Melissa Caddick before her disappearance and death will recoup a portion of their $23m in losses after settling a class action lawsuit with her auditors.

Victims have already been repaid $7.25m after liquidators of the dead fraudster sold off her assets in 2023 and 2024.

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Dutton flip-flops on proposals for three separate referendums if Coalition wins election

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Opposition leader floats – then walks back – polls on Indigenous recognition, four-year parliamentary terms and stripping citizenship of dual nationals

Peter Dutton has floated – then quickly walked back – proposals for three separate referendums if he wins office, shutting down ideas he had raised to change the constitution for Indigenous recognition, four-year parliamentary terms and stripping citizenship of dual nationals.

The opposition leader had told The Australian newspaper in an interview published on Saturday that he was open to referendums on the three issues if there could be bipartisanship found with the Labor party. “I hope at some stage there will be common ground,” Dutton told the newspaper.

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Domestic violence survivors urged to take safety precautions after NSW justice department data breach

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Attorney general says hacker gained unlawful entry to state’s Justice Link system and accessed 9,000 files, which could include victim details

Domestic and family violence victim-survivors who are concerned their safety may have been compromised have been advised to take precautions after a major data breach at the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ).

The state attorney general, Michael Daley, said on Thursday that the hacker gained unlawful entry to part of the state’s secure online court registry system via a registered account and accessed 9,000 files.

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