Articles
Queensland bail laws for children
In 2024, Queensland introduced significant changes to its bail laws, aiming to tackle youth crime and enhance community safety. These reforms primarily focus on repeat offenders and represent a more stringent stance on granting bail, especially for young offenders deemed a risk to public safety.
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Significant changes to youth justice laws in Queensland
On 13 December 2024, the Queensland Parliament passed the Making Queensland Safer Act 2024, introducing significant amendments to youth justice laws. These changes mark a major shift in the way the justice system approaches young offenders, with some amendments already in effect and others set to come into force in 2025.
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Common interest privilege in Australia
Common interest privilege (CIP) is an extension of legal professional privilege (LPP) and applies to the sharing of privileged information between parties with a mutual interest in the outcome of litigation or legal matters.
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The ‘no body, no parole’ scheme in Queensland – clarifying the meaning of ‘remains’
Under Queensland’s ‘no body, no parole’ scheme, prisoners sentenced for various offences, including homicide, will be denied parole if the body or remains of their victim cannot be located, unless the prisoner provides satisfactory cooperation to locate the body.
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Managing Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace | WHS Law
In this article, we define and identify psychosocial hazards (risks to psychological health) in the workplace in Queensland and the duties PCBUs, officers and workers have in relation to such hazards.
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Mandatory sentencing in Queensland
When sentencing an offender for a criminal offence in Queensland, judges and magistrates usually have a level of discretion as to the sentence they impose. But that’s not always the case. A mandatory sentence is one that the judge or magistrate must impose upon someone who has committed a certain offence.
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Coronial inquests in health care related deaths
In all Australian states and territories, a healthcare professional responsible for a deceased person’s medical care immediately before death or who examined the deceased’s body must issue a cause of death certificate within 48 hours of the death or its discovery. However, a doctor must not issue a certificate if the death falls into a “reportable” death category.
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ASIC compulsory examinations under section 19
Section 19 of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission Act 2001 empowers ASIC to issue a notice requiring a person to appear for examination. This can happen if ASIC suspects or believes that the person can provide information relevant to an investigation.
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Trafficking dangerous drugs in Queensland
Trafficking in dangerous drugs is one of the most serious criminal offences in Queensland. Under the Drugs Misuse Act 1986, any person who carries on a business of unlawfully trafficking in a dangerous drug is guilty of a crime.
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Understanding criminal responsibility of children in Queensland
In Queensland, the principles governing criminal responsibility for children are carefully structured to address their developmental stages. Under the Criminal Code, the legal system recognises that children are not always capable of understanding the consequences of their actions in the same way adults are.
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A guide to child protection orders in Queensland
To issue a child protection order, a Magistrate needs to be satisfied, based on information provided by the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs and the Director of Child Protection Litigation, that a child has been harmed, is suffering harm or is at unacceptable risk of suffering harm, and there is no parent able and willing to protect them.
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Workplace right of entry for union officials
The Fair Work Act provides right of entry provisions which allow union officials to enter a workplace under certain circumstances. The purpose of a right of entry is to balance the workplace rights of employees and the rights of employers running a business.
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