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Editors for this issue: Julian Hosgood, Alana McCarthy and the WA Editorial Committee CONTENTS ArticlesBriefsColumnsABSTRACTS
Articles
Homophobia perpetuated: The demise of the Inquiry into the Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 (Cth)
by Sandra Berns and Alan Berman
This article traces the history of Inquiry into the Marriage Amendment
Bill 2004 and ensuing legislation and explores constitutional and
international law issues in the context of that history. The authors
argue that the aborted Inquiry and the Marriage Amendment Bill 2004
significantly weaken Australia's claim to be an egalitarian society and
serve as a poignant reminder that pseudoegalitarian ideals such as
'mateship' and a 'fair go' are no protection against measures that
marginalise vulnerable minorities for political gain. The resultant
amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 perpetuate homophobia and
marginalise gay, lesbian, transgender and intersex Australians.  | Add to cart |  |
Use and abuse of copyright: The 'sweat of the brow' theory gone mad
by Joellen Riley In
Seven Network (Operations) Limited v Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance,
the Federal Court of Australia allowed copyright law to be used to
punish a union for communicating with workers about proposed terms and
conditions of their work. This article criticises that decision as a
misapplication of copyright law - even copyright law as it stands in
Australia, post Desktop Marketing Systems Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd. | Add to cart | |
Cops and consultation: Police accountability community teams in New South Wales
by Mark Walters
Police Accountability Community Teams (PACT) were introduced in 2002 in
an attempt to create consultation within local communities between
residents and the local police service. The Teams were proclaimed as
ensuring local area commanders were accountable to local communities
and that communities would be able to help with developing solutions to
reduce crime and the fear of crime. Yet over two years on from their
implementation it appears that PACT has had a limited effect on local
policing. This article looks at the reasons why PACT is failing and
what needs to be done in order to encourage community participation in
local policing. | Add to cart | |
Homelessness, human rights and social inclusion
by Philip Lynch
This article considers governmental obligations in relation to the
realisation of human rights and argues that the international human
rights framework is useful and important in identifying, monitoring and
addressing factors which contribute to homelessness and social
exclusion. It also argues that policies, programs and services for the
alleviation and eradication of homelessness and the promotion of social
inclusion should be founded on the human rights principles of
non-discrimination and participation. The article concludes that
homelessness and social exclusion can be significantly reduced by
governmental implementation of obligations to respect, protect and
fulfil human rights. | Add to cart | |
Inciting hatred or merely engaging in religious debate? The need for religious vilification laws
by Raymond Chow Abuse
and vilification of Arab Muslim Australians has increased markedly in
recent years. While the harmful impact of religious hate speech on
individuals and groups in Australian society has been documented, its
significance continues to be dismissed or minimised in public debates
of proposed religious vilification laws. The need for the introduction
of legal remedies is often dismissed because religious vilification is
equated with criticism of religious belief and is deemed
distinguishable from racial vilification. Actual experiences of
religious vilification reveal such arguments and comparisons to be ill
founded and highlight a pressing need to employ both legal and
non-legal means to educate the wider community, and to protect and
empower the victims of religious hate speech. | Add to cart | |
Child pornography laws: The luck of the locale
by Carolyn Penfold
The great variation between the criminal laws of the Australian States
and Territories was highlighted recently by Operation Auxin, which
investigated Internet distribution of child pornography to Australian
residents. This article discusses the disparity in relevant criminal
laws across the Australian States and Territories, attempts to make
Australian criminal law more uniform, and attempts to make Australian
regulation of Internet content more uniform. The article concludes that
significant disparities remain, but that this is one area which really
would benefit from increased uniformity of law. | Add to cart | |
The foundations of legal citizenship: Community law, access to justice and the community legal sector
by Mark Rix and Scott Burrows
This article focuses on the notion of legal citizenship and its link to
the services provided by the community legal sector and the community
legal centres (CLCs) it comprises. CLCs are experts in 'community law',
a broad area of law that encompasses many administrative, civil and
family law matters that affect the daily lives of most people. These
matters also affect the cohesiveness and inclusiveness of the bonds
that tie people together as community members and Australian citizens.
As specialists in this field, CLCs have a vital role in giving
practical meaning to the notion of citizenship and especially its legal
aspects. The article investigates how, in performing their routine
activities, CLCs actually give substance to the notion of legal
citizenship and make a significant contribution to the inclusiveness of
Australian society. It also considers the implications of the deepening
crisis confronting the community legal sector.
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Briefs
Community legal centres: Whingers or prophets?
by Sebastian De Brennan
Governments often claim that no matter how much funding they devote to
access to justice initiatives, groups such as community legal centres
(CLCs) will ask for more. Such assertions are mischievous for they
suggest that CLCs demand unrealistic or unreasonable public funds for
their operations. Even a cursory analysis of the various funding
submissions reveals that CLCs do not expect extravagant levels of
funding at all; being amongst the first to recognise that economic
realities militate against this. Recent research involving interviews
with the personnel of four western Sydney CLCs seemed representative of
a sector keen to arrive at constructive, and indeed economically and
politically palatable, funding solutions. Far from playing the 'blame
game' all four CLCs were keen to discuss ways in which stakeholders
could go forward.
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Holocaust era insurance claims: Compensating the unimaginable
by Megan Hoey
This brief puts the Holocaust victims insurance claims process in its
historical context and describes the workings of International
Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.
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Columns
Sport and the Law: Sex and the team player: when a team becomes a gang
by Sally Kift
This article replays and laments the sexual assault scandals that
enveloped Australian football in 2004–05 and links them to the bonding
and ritual humiliation central to so many men’s team sports. It suggests
that the iconic male 'team' celebrates a quite narrow, stereotypical
conception of masculinity which, when mixed with a deeply ingrained
‘booze culture’ that seems to intensify when football teams play ‘away’,
presents as an environment in which rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs
are held, reinforced and flourish.
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Asia-Pacific: Justice-seeking after mass violence: India and Indonesia compared
by Jemma Purdey
As democratic states, both India and Indonesia proudly declared the
success of their respective national elections in 2004. However, the
prevalence of violence in these countries, both by the state against
civilians and by civilians against each other, has created an
environment where violence is a part of daily life. In India and
Indonesia the threat of terrorism and conflict between ethnic and
religious groups is ever present and events of mass violence have been
prominent in recent times. The 2002 riots in Gujurat, mass riots in
Jakarta in May 1998 and the post-referendum violence in East Timor in
2001, are just a few examples. Though democracies, the separation of
the political institutions of the state, the judiciary and internal
security apparatus are not clearly defined in either country. As a
result, for victims seeking justice after mass violence, the responses
of these political and judicial systems has produced varied and mostly
unsatisfactory outcomes.
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