Anti-discrimination law has existed in Australia for only fifty years, and yet in that comparatively short period it has become entrenched and almost unquestionable. An examination of its record, however, shows that it has not been an effective tool to achieve the goals for which it was designed and has become more of an expression...

Talk of reforming the Family Court and family law system is back in the headlines, but agitation about the family law system has a long history. Since the introduction of the Family Law Act and the establishment of the Family Court of Australia in 1976, there have been many parliamentary inquiries and numerous reforms. However...

Domestic violence is typically characterised by a wide range of controlling behaviours. An offence committed in the context of domestic violence is usually part of a larger picture of repeated and multifaceted physical, mental and emotional abuse in which the perpetrator uses tactics aimed at gaining power, control and dominance over the victim. A domestic...

This report updates select data from the Sentencing Advisory Council’s 2012 report Sentencing Children and Young People in Victoria. Specifically, it focuses on offenders aged under 18 at the time of offending (and under 19 at the time of commencement of proceedings) who were sentenced in either the Children’s Court or the higher courts for...

This report forms part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s research program in relation to criminal justice system’s response to child sexual abuse in institutional contexts. This study investigated the extent to which joint trials with cross-admissible tendency evidence infringed defendants’ rights, and the extent to which joint trials posed...