Keeping children out of custody wherever possible – the Supreme Court of Victoria overturns decision to refuse bail to 15-year-old child
HA (a pseudonym) v The Queen S EAPCR 2021 0019 (19 March 2021)
The Victorian Supreme Court overturned a decision to refuse bail to a 15 year old child. In deciding to grant a child bail, Justice Maxwell and Justice Kaye were guided by the “fundamental principle” of the youth legal system to “keep children out of custody wherever possible.” Their Honours also raised the “unacceptable” rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal legal system and considered that the “courts have a duty, in cases such as this, to be conscious of the need to avoid compounding those incarceration rates.”
Read More
Aboriginal Australians cannot be deported as 'aliens', High Court holds
Love v Commonwealth of Australia; Thoms v Commonwealth of Australia [2020] HCA 3
The High Court of Australia, by majority of 4-3, has held that Aboriginal people are not “aliens” and therefore cannot be deported under laws passed under the “aliens power” conferred on the Commonwealth Parliament by s 51(xix) of the Constitution.
Read More
High Court Recognises Significance of Cultural and Spiritual Loss in Native Title Decision
Northern Territory of Australia v Mr A Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples & Anor; Commonwealth of Australia v Mr A Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples & Anor; Mr A Griffiths (deceased) and Lorraine Jones on behalf of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples v Northern Territory of Australia & Anor [2019] HCA 7
The High Court in hearing its first ever native title compensation case, ultimately reduced the amount of native title awarded to the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Peoples of Timber Creek (Claimants). However, significantly, the Court rejected the appellants’ arguments against the cultural loss amount, upholding the trial judge’s original determination of $1.3 million.
Read More
NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal awards compensation to Aboriginal tenants for uninhabitable housing
Various Applicants from Santa Teresa v Chief Executive Officer (Housing) [2019] NTCAT 7
The Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) has awarded compensation to Aboriginal tenants in the remote community of Santa Teresa over the Northern Territory government's failure to provide habitable public housing. Residents of 70 households in Santa Teresa brought the action against the Northern Territory government. In this decision, the first four of these cases proceeded to hearing, and the Tribunal awarded compensation in each case.
Read More
Victorian Court of Appeal outlines how participating in the Koori Court process is relevant to sentencing
Honeysett v The Queen [2018] VSCA 214
The Victorian Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against sentence of 5 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 3 years for armed robbery. This case provides useful guidance on the weight to be afforded to an Aboriginal offender's participation in the Koori Court process.
Read More
