“Impossible is only two letters from possible and you do not need sight to have vision.”
In celebration of the International Day of People with Disability this Friday, and with Disability Action Week starting next Monday, our outgoing Treasurer, Mitree Vongphakdi, sat down for a chat with UQ Law's very own academic, former athlete, and all-round legend, Associate Professor Paul Harpur.
Unprecedented delays now plague the parole system in Queensland, resulting in unjustified financial cost to the State, and undeserved human cost to communities. Urgent action is needed to rectify this problem. Failing to intervene would lead the criminal justice system to a breaking point.
In light of the development of COVID-19, stringent measures such as self-isolation and quarantine regulations have been put in place in order to minimise human contact and therefore slow down the spread of the virus. However, such circumstances seem to be a significant factor in the increasing number of domestic violence cases.
It is important to keep in mind that although indoor spaces like our homes may be a threat-free zone to many of us, we must recognise and acknowledge that it may not be a safe zone for all individuals.
Did you miss the DFAT Graduate Information Session last Wednesday? There’s no need to worry! We have got you covered.
For the first time ever, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (‘DFAT’) came to the University of Queensland (‘UQ’) to provide an overview of their highly competitive Graduate Program, and to share their tips and tricks for the application and interview process with UQ students. We were joined by Nicholas Williams (Deputy State Director, DFAT Qld) and Edward Kutra (Business Relations). The session was arranged by the team at BEL SET.
In 2018, the Prime Minister and Attorney-General released the Report of the Religious Freedom Review that concluded that there is an opportunity to further protect and better promote freedom of religion under Australian law and in the community. Upon this review, the Australian government committed to a range of measures to implement the recommendations and invited submissions on first exposure drafts of legislative reforms on religious freedom. These are the Religious Discrimination Bill 2019, Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019 and the Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Freedom of Religion) Bill 2019.
More recently, the second exposure drafts of the three bills were released. However, they remain a controversial issue with many legal professionals concerned about the practical effect of the bill.
Article by Linden Peacock
Content warning: this article discusses rape, sexual assault and child abuse.
In the years since social activist Tarana Burke first used the phrase “Me Too,” the #MeToo movement has empowered people across the world to publicly share their experiences of sexual assault and harassment. However, in two Australian jurisdictions, survivors of sexual assault are prohibited from sharing their stories under their real names.
This was an issue that Grace Tame encountered in 2017 when she approached journalist and activist Nina Funnell to go public with her story. 7 years earlier, at the age of 15, Grace had been groomed and raped by her teacher, Nicolaas Bester. Although Bester, who had been found guilty and sentenced to two years and six months’ jail time, can and has spoken out as he pleases, Grace was warned that she was only able to do so anonymously.
Under Tasmanian law, the anonymity of sexual assault survivors is protected under s 194K of the Evidence Act 2001, which stipulates that a person can only publish something that identifies a victim of sexual crimes with a court order. Courts can only make such orders if they deem the publication to be in the public interest, and publication without a court order is punishable as a contempt of court; in 2012, a Tasmanian newspaper was fined $20 000 newspaper when it published the name of a rape survivor with their consent.1
It is acknowledged by the Tasmania Law Reform Institute that the objective of the law is to ultimately protect survivors of assault, as fear of publicity and the prevalence of stigma are factors in many cases.2 Funnell, who first launched the #LetHerSpeak campaign in November 2018, writes that despite these intentions, “it is deeply disempowering and entirely unjust for sexual assault survivors to be told they are not entitled to use their own name to tell their own story. Relegating survivors to the shadows through anonymity also reinforces stigma and shame.”3
After two years a $10 000 legal bill, Grace has recently become the fourth person in Tasmania to win the right to share her story. “Getting my voice back has been so important for me,” she says.4 However, despite this personal victory, she states that “the law is still in place and other survivors still can’t speak. The fight is far from over. But having come this far I will stop at nothing.”5
Grace continues to work with Funnell to enact law reforms in both Tasmania and the Northern Territory, where gag-laws are still in effect. In April 2019, Tasmania’s Attorney-General, Elise Archer, agreed that the Government will review section 194K to determine if appropriate changes need to be made.
If you have experienced sexual assault, help and support is available. There are a number of services available, which you can find out more about here.
Article by Madeleine Jensen & Melanie Karibasic
This week we say farewell to Acting Director of the UQ Pro Bono Centre, Bridget Burton. For the past 18 months the Centre, University and students have had the pleasure of Bridget’s expertise and hard work. In that time, Bridget has worked tirelessly with students, industry partners and the community, supporting the new Queensland Human Rights Legislation, and building connections in the Asia-Pacific with a focus on Papua New Guinea. Before she leaves, we wanted to drop in and ask her a few questions about her journey in the law, and her thoughts on the future of students and social justice.
