Done By Law

DBL: Consumer Rights: 13 July 2010

Everyday People, Everyday Rights

The term human rights is talked about a lot these days, but do you know how human rights are relevant to you on a practical day to day basis? On todays show we will be talking with Jessie Lees from the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission about a human rights project that she is coordinating called Everyday People, Everyday Rights. It is a joint program between the VEOHRC and the Neighbourhood Justice Centre that brings together City of Yarra residents, business owners and local agencies to plan 10 human rights focused meetings with the local community.

DBL: Social media and your rights at work: 8 June 2010

You’re home from work, you kick off your shoes, and your working day, along with your responsibilities to your employer, are over for the day.  Or so you think.  But with the advent of social media and the ‘broadcast yourself’ world of online publishing, your after-hours activities can be more easily tracked by your employer and also leave you open to public scrutiny.

What you do in your own time can get you sacked but the risks are higher in the online world, as demonstrated by the recent case of Catherine Deveny, who was terminated by the Age for her controversial twittering at the Logies.

Tonight on Done by Law we are joined by Zana Bytheway, Executive Director of Jobwatch, to remind us that being facebook friends with your boss may not be a good idea and to shed some light on exactly what you can and can’t be terminated for.

SMART JUSTICE CAMPAIGN: 11 MAY 2010

Ah, election season: when it seems that only ‘Law and Order’ is on the menu and being ‘tough on crime’ is the daily mantra.  But do the measures offered by politicians, such as more police and more prisons, really make our communities safer?  Are the politicians really offering us policies that will lower crime or do they risk making things worse for everyone?
Enter the ‘Smart Justice’ campaign, spearheaded by the Federation of Community Legal Centres, which is about to be relaunched at the end of May.  The campaign is designed to promote criminal justice policies that are effective, evidence-based and human rights compliant.
Tonight on Done By Law, we speak to Hugh de Kretser, Executive Officer of the Federation of Community Legal Centres, to discuss the smart justice campaign and do a bit of myth busting about crime in Victoria and how to really make our communities more safe.

Paint it White: May 4 2010

Kyle Magee is a dude on a mission. He’s been whiting out corporate advertising and he’s prepared to go to jail to start a debate about advertising and the global corporate media.  Kyle’s been pathologised by the system, experienced incarceration and been ignored by his lawyers and Magistrates in the system.  Kyle now gives his side of the story.  To find out more, visit Kyle’s website globalliberalmediaplease.net

Fatal mistake? VicPolice taser trials: 27 March 2010

In February this year Victoria Police announced a trial of taser stun guns in Bendigo and Morwell. The trial will start in July 2010 and run for a year. Currently, only two specialist police units, the Special Operations Group and Critical Incident Response Teams, part of the Force Response Unit are authorised to use tasers. Previously both former Police Commissioner Nixon and current Commissioner Overland had ruled out the expansion of tasers to general duty police. Therefore this trial represents a signifcant shift in the manner in which police can deploy force.

In 2009 an Office of Police Integrity report which investigated Victoria Police’s use of force recommended that officers not be given taser stun guns. There are substantial dangers that tasers can kill or harm if used on vulnerable groups, such a young people, people with heart conditions, people experiecing mental illness, or if the taser is used in particular ways. The data suggests around 73% of taser use in Victoria was against people in mental health crises and that 85% of subjects were affected by prescription or illegal drugs. Evidence from overseas and increasingly from Australia suggests that tasers are prone to misuse. 

Done By Law discusses these trials with Emma Ryan, a Monash University lecturer and PhD researcher.

DBL: Compensation for Anti Uranium Protesters: 20 April 2010

DBL: Terror laws on appeal: 30 March 2010

Local Law 8 Repealed or Not?

On November 24th last year Done by Law spoke to Fitzroy Indigenous elders about Local Law 8 - a Yarra city council provision intended to ban public drinking, listen to the show here.

Last week Yarra Council repealed the law at a special council meeting addressed by a number of prominent Indigenous leaders in the area.  The following day, the council reinstated the law on a technicality.

Meghan Fitzgerald from Fitzroy Legal Service joined us to talk about whats happening with the law, and what some of the provision’s effects have been.

Police Violence and African Young People

On Thursday 18 March , a coalition of Community Legal Services  released a damning report into the police mistreatment of African young people.

The report details the experiences of African young people from three regions of Melbourne: Dandenong, Braybrook and Flemington.

The research found that across Melbourne, African young people are over-policed, including the disproportionate use of stop  and search powers and in some cases extra-legal violence.

Furthermore, the work has found that some of the ‘community policing’ oriented attempts at intervening-  such as community-police soccer games and camps- have not only failed to address the issues, but may in some cases actually be making matters worse.

Tonight we will talk to Daniel Haile Michael, one of the participants in the research and Shane Reside, one of the reports authors.

The research, funded by the Legal Services Board, was jointly managed by Springvale Monash Legal Service, Fitzroy Legal Service and the Western Suburbs Legal Service.