Kaczmarek Grigor Lawyers

19/08/2021

Our Equality Law Program assists people who’ve been s*xually harassed at work every day. From this, we see that current laws and systems are letting people down.

A Bill due to be debated by the Australian Senate must be strengthened to prevent and address s*xual harassment within workplaces, to realise the vision of the Australian Human Rights Commission landmark s*xual harassment Respect@Work report.

Read our submission on the Bill: https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/we-must-implement-known-solutions-to-s*xual-harassment-work

18/08/2021

Victoria Legal Aid has made two new submissions that recommend reforms to prevent and address s*xual harassment within workplaces across Australia.

More information at the link below:

We have made two new submissions that recommend urgent and robust law reforms to prevent and address s*xual harassment, within workplaces across Australia.

05/08/2021

A lot going on here.

A high-ranking Victorian police officer facing a mandatory prison sentence over allegations he assaulted an emergency services worker has had charges against him withdrawn.

03/08/2021

Despite comprising just 8% of Australia’s prison population, female prisoners are the fastest-growing prison population in the country.

Between 2009 and 2019, Australia’s female prison population increased by 64% in Australia. And while the nation achieved a temporary decline in female prison rates in 2020 for the first time in years, rates increased again in 2021.

The increase in female incarceration disproportionately affects Australia’s most marginalised women. Incarcerated women in Australia are disproportionately represented in unemployment, mental health and homelessness statistics. And they’re disproportionately First Nations women.

While comprising 3% of the total female population, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women make up one-third of Australia’s female prison population. This is unsurprising, given the criminalisation of women is primarily a criminalisation of the most marginalised.

First Nations women continue to suffer the persistent effects of colonisation and neo-colonial policies that drive ongoing marginalisation of First Nations women, families and communities, including poverty, underemployment, intergenerational trauma, violence against women, the removal of children, and poor mental health outcomes.

However, while the criminalisation of marginalisation disproportionately affects First Nations women, non-Indigenous women experiencing an accumulation of risk factors also increasingly face more punitive responses to their coping mechanisms and survival strategies.

Read more at:

Female prisoner numbers have skyrocketed over the past decade, and an overwhelming majority of them have experienced domestic violence.

02/08/2021

Justice and health groups say at least 65% of the children jailed in 2020 are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

The ongoing “failure” of Australia’s top legal officers to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years old has seen 499 children aged 13 and under sent to jail in the past year alone, according to a coalition of 47 justice and health organisations.

The coalition – representing welfare, youth and legal advocates, including Anglicare and Acoss – says attorneys general have “failed” to take action, “despite being handed an expert report overwhelmingly recommending that all states and territories and the federal government change laws to keep children out of prison.”

In 2020, 499 children aged between 10 and 13 were imprisoned. At least 65% of them are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children. 68% of all children in detention were on remand, meaning they were yet to be convicted of any crime.

“Every day that attorneys general refuse to act, they are condemning a generation of our children to a lifetime behind bars. Ten-year-old children who get trapped in the criminal justice system don’t come out,” the co-chair of Change the Record, Cheryl Axelby, said.

“One year ago, every state and territory was given the chance to unite to close the gap and change the cruel laws that lock children as young as 10 years old away behind bars. They failed to take action then, we are calling on them to take action now to raise the age of criminal responsibility and invest in the community programs and family services that will keep our children safe and healthy and strong.”

Justice and health groups say at least 65% of the children jailed in 2020 are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

30/07/2021

Former detainees who were mistreated in Northern Territory youth detention facilities have secured a $35 million class action settlement.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers revealed the settlement figure after the Federal Court ruled against a NT Government bid to keep it suppressed.

The settlement for up to 1200 former detainees comes five years after the final report of the Royal Commission into youth detention in the NT revealed systemic and shocking failures, including “regular, repeated and distressing mistreatment” of young people.

It comes two months after controversial new NT youth bail reforms, which critics have said would only lead to more young Indigenous children behind bars.

Former detainees of Northern Territory youth detention centres hope a historic settlement will help drive improvements in the system they say has left them damaged.

23/07/2021

Police may lose legal power to ban suspected criminals from casino and racetracks.

'The exclusion orders have been a cornerstone of Victoria Police’s strategy to combat organised crime and money laundering since they were introduced during Melbourne’s underworld war in the early 2000s.

The casino has long been favoured for laundering the proceeds of crime and as a “neutral” place for criminal figures to meet and discuss business because of perceptions it is safe due to blanket CCTV coverage.

Victoria Police declined to comment on what prompted the review, except to say that it still considers the banning program “robust”.

“We can confirm that as a matter of good practice, all exclusion orders are currently being examined to ensure they are still relevant and procedural fairness was applied to the individuals,” a spokeswoman said.'

This is going to be an interesting space to watch.

A 16-year-old policy that stops alleged gangsters from doing business at Crown and on the track may be declared legally invalid.

19/07/2021

One of countless examples.

It was supposed to be a regular teen birthday party. Instead, it led to a police investigation, two trials and an experience one expert says should "shock our moral consciousness".

19/07/2021

The death of a 37-year-old man at Royal Adelaide Hospital on Thursday makes him the tenth Indigenous person to die in custody since March.

“For years we’ve been talking about the recommendations of the Royal Commission... they haven’t happened."

Almost 500 First Nations people have died in custody since the Royal Commission handed down its findings in April 1991.

The death of a 37-year-old man at Royal Adelaide Hospital on Thursday makes him the tenth Indigenous person to die in custody since March.

13/07/2021

Animal welfare advocates are calling for Queensland to follow in the footsteps of its neighbouring state when it comes to outlawing animal cruelty. (Warning: distressing images)

06/07/2021

By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The NSW government announced on 17 June that it will be expanding the Drug Court program out to the central northern NSW city

28/06/2021

Western Australia Police accessed information from more than a dozen G2G passes as part of their enquiries in several criminal investigations.
The data from the state's mandatory online registration form, which must be filled out by everyone entering WA, was accessed for 13 investigations involving murder, drug dealing, domestic violence and property laundering.

WA Police accessed private G2G pass data for criminal investigationsBy Tom Livingstone • Producer6:32pm Jun 17, 2021 Tweet Facebook Mail Western Australia Police accessed information from more than a dozen G2G passes as part of their enquiries in several criminal investigations.The data from the s...