police misconduct

• Victoria needs a new independent police oversight authority – but to work what will it need to look like?

  21st Sep 2023

  To succeed, the new independent police oversight authority called for by many, and most recently the Yoorrook Justice Commission, will need new capabilities and new powers, including the power to obtain information directly from Victoria Police systems and the power to directly investigate potentially systemic issues, including over-policing of minorities, racism and cultural issues, such as sexual harassment. 

• Victoria and Lawyer X

  12th Jul 2023

  ‘Confidence in the rule of law, in ensuring police act within the law, and that serious wrongdoing by public officials, including police, will be uncovered and punished, is essential in a democracy,’ writes Greg Barns SC, dismayed by the latest development in the Lawyer X scandal.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in the justice system

  1st Jun 2023

  The youth justice system in WA is broken, but there are simple solutions, writes Alice Barter of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, raising her voice to speak on behalf of young clients at Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Unit 18, who have been ‘unnecessarily criminalised due to trauma, poverty, disability, racism and over-policing’.

• Lawyers call for NSW strip search inquiry to be continued

  6th Feb 2020

  The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s (LECC) decision to cut short its inquiry into potentially illegal strip searches conducted by NSW police is very concerning, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• Police accountability in Australia: Complaint mechanisms

  12th Apr 2018

  What are the current police complaint mechanisms around Australia? And is Australia complying with its international obligation to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations, and specifically those perpetrated by police authorities, are adequately held to account through an independent, effective and impartial investigation into their conduct?