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.

Parole for Lex Wotton: Lessons from Palm Island: 3 August

Lex Wotton has just been paroled. For him, this closes another chapter in his struggle for the mistreatment of people on Palm Island to be stopped. Lex Wotton was found guilty of riot in the wake of the tragic death in custody of Mulrunji (Cameron) Doomadgee in custody in 2004. We hear from Craig Longman, friend of Lex and Director of the Black & White Justice Foundation about suggested systemic corruption, abuses of position and failures in Queenland policing revealed by this case.

Income Management: Learning from Indigenous Experience: 6 July

The NT intervention’s caused much heartache in remote communities. Extentsive restrictions were imposed on indigenous communities with respect to grog, income and controversially pornography. But it’s income management that has affected the lives of indigenous people the most. Instead of receiving money from Centrlink their payments are quarantined to be used for specific purposes. Communities in the Northern Territory have been having their income managed and the response of the communities has been mixed, but many people find it degrading and discriminatory. Well, in the NT, it’s all changing as income management is rolled out to some non-indigenous people. Tonight, we’re joined by Welfare Right solicitor at the Northern Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency, Nadia Rosenman to tell us what she’s learned about the scheme.

Local Law 8 Repealed or Not?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Last week Yarra Council repealed the law at a special council meeting addressed by a number of prominent Indigenous leaders in the area.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.

Done By Law on Survival Day

- Done by Law on Survival Day -

Here at Done by Law as part of 3CRs special Survival day broadcast we’re
trying something a bit new – we’re going to broadcast a reading of Maria
Giannacopoulos’ 2006 essay - Terror Australis: White Sovereignty and the
Violence of Law as published in the Borderlands e-journal.

The central contention of this essay, is that Australian law is a regime
born of, and sustained through racial violence. The paper rejects the
notion that there is an absolute separation between the workings of
Australian law and the workings of white sovereignty. Maria uses the
federal anti-terrorism laws, and the Tampa ruling, to bring together two
distinct instances of Australian law in order to show the inextricability
of law and racial violence.

you can find the original Giannacopoulos essay at the borderlands e-journal:

DBL 24 Nov: Local indigenous leaders speak out against local law 8

Last month on Done By Law, we examined the recent decision by Yarra Council to place a ban on public drinking through the introduction of Local Law 8, which will give police the power to pour out opened drinks and issue on the spot fines of $100.

This week we speak to three Indigenous leaders from Collingwood about what impact they think the laws will have, and how they intend to fight these provisions (see our news section for the details).

We also speak to Fitzroy Legal Service advocate Meghan Fitzgerald about new laws being introduced to give police the power to move people on.

DBL: LOCAl law 8 and the ban on public drinking in yarra, 27 Oct 2009

This week on Done By Law we take a look at the recent decision by Yarra Council to place a ban on public drinking. Local Law 8, was passed at a heated Council meeting last week and will give police the power to pour out opened drinks and issue on the spot fines of $100. We’re joined by Councillor Steve Jolly, the only member of Council to oppose the ban, and Belinda Lo from Fitzroy Legal Service.

The Coroner’s Inquest into Paul Carter: 2 June 2009

This week we’re joined by three guests to discuss the Coroner’s findings in relation to Aboriginal man Paul Carter’s death in Mildura in August 2006. The 33 year old man died after being left by local Police about 12km out of town. We’re joined by Jane Dixon SC, who represented the family at the hearing, by Jill Prior from the Victoria Aboriginal Legal Service and by Denis Johnson, Paul’s brother, who gave evidence at the hearing.

Sorry Day 26 May 2009

Join us tonight on Done By Law for a special Sorry Day edition of the program where we examine, with Professor Larissa Behrendt, how well Australia has responded to the 54 recommendations of the Bringing Them Home Report.

Muriel Bamblett talks human rights

One year after the Human Rights Charter was introduced in Victoria Done By Law talks to Muriel Bamblett, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency about the relationship between Indigenous people and the human rights agenda in Victoria.  We take a look at the extent to which a human rights framework is useful in pursuing aboriginal health and wellbeing, and what the limitations are.