Latest articles and news by Liberty Victoria

  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: February 10, 2023
    Liberty Victoria’s Sam Norton said the justice system was responsible for delivering justice, not the police. “Our criminal justice system delivers, our police are not there to augment it with their physical violence,” he said.
  • Press Release
    Post date: February 9, 2023
    Vote Here The Liberty Victoria Voltaire Human Rights Awards is an important event in the Australian human rights calendar. For more than two decades, the Voltaire Human Rights Award has been presented to a person or organisation for outstanding contributions to civil liberties and human rights. ... Read more
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: February 7, 2023
    Michael Stanton President of Liberty Victoria was a guest on the Law Report A Victorian coroner has described the treatment of an Indigenous woman in prison as inhumane and her death preventable. Arrested on the suspicion of minor shoplifting charges, the woman was denied bail. As the Victorian... Read more
  • Press Release
    Post date: January 30, 2023
    In light of the damning findings of the Coroner in relation to the tragic death of Ms Veronica Nelson, now is the time to fix Victoria’s broken bail laws. The Coroner has found, in the clearest terms, that Victoria’s harsh bail laws breach the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities... Read more
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: January 28, 2023
    Despite a range of bodies calling for change, including a parliamentary inquiry, the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and Liberty Victoria, the police union has opposed the watering down of the laws.  
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: January 24, 2023
    Legal groups have urged the Victorian government not to delay reforming the state's tough bail laws, in anticipation of the findings of a major coronial inquest being handed down next week. Changes are also supported by Victoria Legal Aid, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Liberty Victoria... Read more
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: January 24, 2023
    Legal groups, MPs and the partner of Veronica Nelson are urging the Victorian government not to squander the opportunity to overhaul the state’s bail laws following a major coronial inquest into her death. Changes are also supported by the Law Institute of Victoria, Victoria Legal Aid, Victorian... Read more
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: January 24, 2023
    Liberty Victoria's Sam Norton said the state got the balance wrong on bail laws after Bourke Street, allowing for repeat offenders to be held on remand for low-level crimes such as shoplifting under the reverse onus test. "Engaging in law reform in response to utterly appalling acts of an... Read more
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: January 24, 2023
    Liberty Victoria president Michael Stanton ­described the current laws as “broken”. “We are concerned that bail laws are increasingly being used as a means of preventive detention in some circumstances where prisoners, even if found to have committed the charged offences, would not receive lengthy... Read more
  • Liberty Victoria in the News
    Post date: January 24, 2023
    In a submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, human rights organisation Liberty Victoria noted that in 2020, the rate for Aboriginal adults in custody was about 1837 per 100,000 Victorian Aboriginal adults, while the general adult imprisonment rate for Victorian adults was 135. Liberty... Read more

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