LibGuides: English: Past Issue: Trust in Authority

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Issues in Society

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Issues in Society: Digital Editions

Trust in the Courts: Background

Trust in the Courts: Articles

''Did you resist?' Despite reforms, alleged rape victims still face torment in Australian courts', Nino Bucci - The Guardian, 30 March 2021
Changes designed to protect sexual assault victims are not always being implemented, and ‘dinosaur’ attitudes to cross-examination die hard.
'The 'rule of law': how the Australian justice system treats sexual assault survivors', Nick Evershed - The Guardian, 17 March 2021
Most victims do not report to police, but even if they do, the vast majority of investigations fail to result in a prosecution.

Trust in the Police: Articles

'Smith Street gay bar apologises for police tribute after online hate', Zach Hope - The Age, 25 April 2021
Management of a gay nightclub in Fitzroy has apologised following backlash over its decision to honour the memory of Glen Humphris and the three other police officers killed in last year's Eastern Freeway tragedy. Sircuit Bar on Smith Street was bathed in blue at 5.36pm on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the four officers' deaths. The venue posted that Constable Humphris was a regular at the bar and was missed by staff and management. But online activists soon bombarded the bar's Facebook page with criticism it was siding with police in the midst of a campaign to end Aboriginal deaths in custody. "Absolutely abhorrent statement to make," one of the comments read. "Why not stand in the fight to stop black deaths in custody instead of supporting oppressors? The queer community will never stand with cops."
'Indigenous man sues over 'police brutality', Tom Cowie and David Estcourt - The Age, 25 March 2021
An Aboriginal man is suing Victoria Police over claims officers threw him off his bicycle, pinned him to the ground and called him a "black c---" in an arrest for not using a bike light. Korey Penny, 32, has filed a writ in the Supreme Court seeking damages over allegations of police brutality following his arrest on St Kilda Road last year.

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Trust in the Police: Background

Content warning: Please be aware that some of the videos and articles on this page deal with issues around domestic violence and sexual assault. You may find this content distressing.

'Rough justice: How police are failing survivors of sexual assault', Inga Ting, Nathanael Scott and Alex Palmer - ABC News, 28 Jan 2020
This excellent piece of journalism illustrates the rate of sexual assault reports in Australia, how they are handled by police and the courts, including a breakdown by state and postcode.
'Falling through the cracks', Inga Ting and Alex Palmer - ABC News, 29 January 2020
A follow-up to the previous article delves further into the issue of sexual assault cases in Australia, including the personal stories of victims seeking justice.

Video: NSW Police Denied Investigators' Requests To Interview Christian Porter's Accuser | The Project
New details have today emerged around the woman who levelled historic rape allegations against former Attorney - General Christian Porter - allegations he strenuously denies.
Video: Australia’s Domestic Violence Shame: 98 Domestic Violence Orders Are Broken Every Day In QLD Alone - The Project
Anger is growing over a system that let Kelly Wilkinson, and so many other domestic violence victims down, after it was revealed that the man charged with the brutal murder of the Gold Coast woman walked free on serious charges just 8 days before her death.
Video: Police accidentally gave domestic violence victim's phone data to her attacker | 7.30 - ABC News
For victims of domestic violence the police are often the first people to whom they turn. For Sydney woman Sophie Spittles, doing just that was a decision that ultimately made her feel less safe, instead of more protected.
Video: NSW Police says police giving victim's phone data to attacker was a genuine mistake | 7.30 - ABC News
Leigh Sales interviews NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Leanne McCusker about police mistakenly giving a domestic violence victim's phone data to her attacker.
'Aboriginal drivers in WA more likely to get fines from police officers than traffic cameras', Calla Wahlquist - The Guardian, 5 Feb 2020
Senior police in Western Australia were warned 12 months ago of a “clearly disturbing” trend of Aboriginal drivers being overrepresented in police-initiated traffic stops, which led to a “notable ethnic disparity” in the issuing of fines. (Older article, relevant for background reading.)

Aboriginal deaths in custody: Articles

'More work to be done', Kyra Gillespie - The Moyne Gazette, 5 June 2021
Uncle Johnny Lovett's life has been shaped by otherness. Some of his earliest memories are of the poor treatment of his father and uncles, who despite serving in both World Wars, weren't recognised because they were Aboriginal.This week was National Reconciliation Week, which shines a light on the historical and contemporary issues that Aboriginal people have encountered since colonisation. Via NewsBank
'Let the truth-telling begin in schools', Teela Reid - The Age, 30 April 2021
Schools are a fundamental pillar of our society; they have a duty to ensure the perspectives of Australia's First Nations are core to the curriculum, not a side note in history or an elective option. The announcement today by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority - that the nation's students should be taught about the colonial invasion of this continent - is a proposal that has been a long time coming.
'A verdict's tears - and resolve', Nyadol Nyuon - The Age, 24 April 2021
Too often, justice has not been guaranteed to black lives. On the 30th anniversary of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, with at least 474 Aboriginal deaths in custody since that report, First Nations Peoples still don't have the answers they are waiting for, let alone justice.
'UN asked to look into the death in custody of Indigenous man David Dungay', Lorena Allam - The Guardian, 10 June 2021
International lawyer Geoffrey Robertson to argue Australia failed to protect Dungay’s right to life and denied family justice for his 2015 death in Long Bay jail

English Issue: Additional Material

Click here for additional material on the following topics:

Lack of diverse representation in Government

Government attitudes towards women

Responses to Anti-vaxxers

Aboriginal deaths in custody: Background

Australia: Act on Indigenous Deaths in Custody (Human Rights Watch)
The Australian government’s continued failure to address Indigenous deaths in custody tarnishes the country’s rights record and global standing, Human Rights Watch said today. April 15, 2021, is the 30th anniversary of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which contained numerous recommendations for reform. The Guardian’s Deaths in Custody tracking project reported that since the 1991 Royal Commission, more than 470 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody in Australia. Some of these deaths were clearly preventable, from suicide, violence, or a lack of prison support.

Video: The Facts About Aboriginal Deaths In Police Custody | Black Lives Matter | The Project
We’re watching the US self-destruct after George Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police. But the traumatic vision of his last breath is not a new tragedy, and it’s not just an American story. These injustices happen on our soil too.
Video: Justice for Indigenous Deaths in Custody | Q+A, ABC TV
"We're not asking for the world, we're asking to live." How can Australia strive towards justice for those who have died in custody?

Aboriginal deaths in custody: Background reading

Black Lives Matter
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.

The tall man: death and life on Palm Island by Chloe Hooper
ISBN: 9780143010661
Publication Date: 2009
In November 2004, in the small township of Palm Island in the far north of Queensland, Detective Hurley arrested Cameron Doomadgee for swearing at him. Doomadgee was drunk. A few hours later he was dead, his liver (according to the inquest) so badly damaged it was almost severed.
Eddie's Country by Simon Luckhurst
ISBN: 9781875641949
Publication Date: 2006
Eddie Murray died in suspicious circumstances in a police cell in the NSW town of Wee Waa in 1981. He was twenty-one years old. Eddie's Country is a powerful testament to the courage of his grieving parents Arthur and Leila Murray and to the many others who were prepared to fight for justice. It places the struggle and heartache of the Murray family into context as it examines the socio-economic conditions faced by Aboriginal people in rural NSW.
Issues in Society: Indigenous people and criminal justice by Justin Healey (Editor)
ISBN: 9781925339901
Publication Date: 2019
Indigenous Australians are among the most incarcerated people on Earth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders make up 2% of all Australians, yet constitute more than a quarter of the nation's prison population. Over-representation in the criminal justice system by Indigenous men, women and young people is a persistent and growing problem. | Available as both a print book and ebook.

English: Past Issue: Trust in Authority

Research Help

Need help accessing resources from home?

Issues in Society

Trust in the Courts: Background

Trust in the Courts: Articles

Trust in the Police: Articles

Research with NewsBank

Trust in the Police: Background

Aboriginal deaths in custody: Articles

Lack of diverse representation in Government

Government attitudes towards women

Responses to Anti-vaxxers

Aboriginal deaths in custody: Background

Aboriginal deaths in custody: Background reading