You may have seen our legal observers at the recent Invasion Day and Black Lives Matter protests, sporting hi-viz vests and briefing activists about their rights. We spoke to one of them, Romina Reyftmann, about how she helps to protect the right to protest. To defend the legal rights of protesters, our legal observers volunteer at marches and rallies as …
Inhumane conditions on Christmas Island provoke unrest: George Newhouse
Commenting on the recent protests in the Christmas Island detention facility, George Newhouse, Principal Solicitor and Director of the National Justice Project, has said tension has been building up over recent months at the facility. “The federal government has a policy of keeping detainees in harsh and inhumane conditions to force them to leave Australia, this disturbance should not be …
BREAKING: #DuttonDefeated in High Court by Refugees
Refugees who were detained by the government in Nauru and Papua New Guinea have secured a major legal victory in the High Court of Australia against the Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton. The High Court of Australia has ruled that the Federal Court has the power to hear the cases of over 50 refugees and asylum seekers, after the …
Young, Black and Behind Bars
As the Black Lives Matter movement spreads across the globe, the National Justice Project has been featured in Al Jazeera’s investigation of Australia’s Indigenous incarceration crisis, Young, Black and Behind Bars. Across Australia, Indigenous people are disproportionately arrested and locked up – some as young as 10 years old. In this special report, former inmates reveal what it is like …
WA Attorney General rejects calls to investigate murder of Baby Charlie; approves parliamentary committee into Margaret River tragedy.
The Attorney General of Western Australia, Hon. John Quigley MLA, has rejected calls for a public inquest into the role of police in the death of baby Charlie Mullaley, while approving a parliamentary inquiry into the role of the family law system in a Margaret River mass-shooting. Family members speak out: The Mullaley family has spoken out on the Attorney …
NSW Supreme Court Recognises Right to Protest during COVID19
In a major decision recognising the right to protest during COVID19, the NSW Supreme Court has ruled that the right to freedom of speech outweighs the minimal health risks of a COVID-safe rally. The court’s decision on Monday afternoon meant that a National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) rally against funding cuts to the university sector went ahead at 12pm today …
Advocates Secure Senate Support for Phone Life-Line in Detention
We congratulate Senator Jacqui Lambie for her decision not to vote to allow the Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton’s bill to take away mobile phones from people seeking asylum. Senator Lambie’s announcement that she will vote against the government’s amendments to the Migration Act comes on the back of a mass-petition, co-hosted by the National justice Project, the Asylum …
Critical Report into the Death in Custody of Mr Morrison is Released
The SA Ombudsman has handed down a damning Report into issues surrounding the 2016 death in custody of Mr Wayne Fella Morrison (named with family permission) and the way the South Australian Department for Correctional Services (the Department) failed to provide critical information about his health and welfare to his family. Mr Morrison’s mother and extended family have been waiting …
Damning Ombudsman Report Reveals Dangerous Failures In Bamaga Hospital Care – six-year-old Torres Strait Islander boy died after being sent home with Panadol five times
Sydney, Australia – Monday 24 August 2020Image above: Charlie (left), his mother Xernona and brother Richard (Supplied by family) First Nations people should be aware that this article contains the name and image of a child who has died. His name and the image are used with the permission of the family. The tragic death of six-year-old Charlie Gowa has …
Tamica Mullaley: “It’s clear to me that little Black lives don’t matter in WA.”
WARNING: Disturbing, traumatic content and references to Indigenous people who have died. Tamica Mullaley, whose son Charlie was assaulted and murdered by her ex-partner, has had her call for an inquest into her child’s death rejected by a WA judge. The case of Charlie Mullaley is heart-breaking and one of the most devastating cases the National Justice Project has ever …