Done By Law

Mandatory sentencing: 28 June 2011

Victoria’s Attorney-General Robert Clarke has announced the Government’s intention to introduce statutory minimum jail sentences for persons convicted of offences involving “gross violence”. The Government says that it is meeting the community’s expectations of punishment and aiming to deter further offenders by mandating minimum custodial sentences of 2 years for 16 and 17-year olds and 4 years for adults. Others in the community worry that removing judicial discretion and considerations of rehabilitation can do more harm than good. On tonight’s show we seek the perspective of  Jill Prior and Ellie Pappas of Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service on these proposed laws and how they will play out for offenders and their communities.

DBL: Parents Drug Testing Children: 8 September 2009

In July 2009, a US-based bioscience company launched online sales of their drug testing kit, Hair Confirm, in Australia. Parents can now take samples of their children’s hair and have them tested for cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy use in the last three months.

There are concerns parents will do this without their children’s consent, which has resulted in criticism of the testing kit from civil liberties groups and drug counsellors.

However – the proposed testing kit also raises a number of legal issues about the rights of children to consent to, and know about, medical testing on themselves, their access to medical records and what happens to children if they test positive to drugs via this testing method.

Tonight we are joined by Professor Loane Skene, a specialist in health and medical law, and Annie Davis from Youth Law to discuss these issues.

DBL: Same Sex families law reform 21 October 2008

This week, we interview Lynne Morgain from the ALSO Foundation about the recent and pending changes to the law relating to the recognition of same sex families in Victoria.  In particular, we discuss the Bill currently before the Upper House of the Victorian Parliament which will give children in same sex families the same legal recognition as children in heterosexual families.  We also discuss news in brief with a focus on the social justice issues that have arisen.