A new report – Intimate Partner Abuse of Men – has revealed that about one in three cases of domestic violence in Australia are against men. Government-funded public awareness campaigns and different training within the health and welfare sector are needed, it says. Roger Smith comments »..

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Do the 'bikie laws' breach rights?

What does CLA think of the SA legislation - the 'bikie laws' - now being considered, on appeal, by the High Court. Does the Act breach an individual's human rights, we were asked by a student?

Prisons, parole and a ticket-of-leave system are in the DNA of many Australians, WA's Chief Justice Wayne Martin points out. It's time we re-thought sentencing and parole to better reflect what today's community wants...and it may be a case of deja vu all over again!  Read speech »...

Police should not investigate police deaths in custody, CLA's Keith McEwan says. There needs to be an independent body set up for such cases - justice demands no less, he says.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has the opportunity to resolve an overwhelming injustice by acting on the Bryce case, where a man who could not be jailed elsewhere in Australia languishes in a Queensland jail on a federal charge. The time to act is now, Mr Attorney, CLA says.

"I'll never be affected by abuse of civil liberties: it won't happen to me". But, as Susan Carty explains, you can be accused and convicted on an Australian street - even when innocent - if someone whose identity is kept secret reports youfor littering, maliciously or by mistake. Then how do you prove you are innocent?

The Rudd government pans to set up a secret list of people suspected only of arson, and to possibly restrain, detain or put suspects under active surveillance for three months every year. The proposals , which represent a new low for civil liberties in Australia, involve creating a secret central database, then allowing local authorities (not judges or magistrates) to decide on "intervention strategies".

Police and the Police Minister in WA seem determined to introduce a system where people are penalised by loss of demerit driving points if they can't prove themselves innocent. The proposal to reverse the burden of proof is a further example of how the traditional rule of law in Australia is being turned on its head.

Defendants - high profile or low, colourful or drab, poor or rich - do not deserve to face huge legal bills when the government accusers get its wrong and they are proved innocent by a court. In magistrates' courts in WA, acquitted defendants don't pay costs, so why not the same system in superior courts, Brian Tennant says.

Aborigines continue to be massively over-represented in the nation's jails. But in WA, the situation is beyond dire: Aborigines are closing in on being half the total number of people jailed in the state, when they comprise only about 3% of the state's population. It is beyond time for Premier Barnett and A-G and Corrective Services Minister Porter to take decisive, positive action, CLA says.

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Because Australia does not have a national Bill of Rights, federal legislation can transgress against peoples freedoms and liberties with impunity. But the ACT (and Victoria) have passed Human Rights Acts, so legislation in the ACT "mirroring" federal laws must be altered to be human rights compatible, CLA says, in relation to a proposed Surveillance Devices Bill.

A former SAS soldier, the newest member of the WA Parliament, delivered a telling commentary on the erosion of civil liberties in Australia when he gave his maiden speech in March. "...a speech capable of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up," said ABC reporter, Claire Krol.

SA Premier Michael Rann, up for re-election in March 2010, is proposing that a defendant's personal history should be revealed to juries - before they decide guilt or innocence - so as to send more people to prison. CLA and the SACCL, plus most other knowledgeable legal observers, think Mr Rann is confusing conviction with justice.

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Victoria is one of the more enlightened states in looking after Indigenous people...but still the statistics are appalling, as this analysis by Keith McEwan points out. "Life is not so good for an Indigenous person living in Victoria...or, for that matter, anywhere in Australia."

As governments worldwide cut back on prison numbers to save money, New Zealand is headed in the other direction, counter-intuitively cutting back on rehabilitation services, which will increase repeat offending and lead to more cost to the taxpayer.