Done By Law

Say “NO COMMENT!”

On Done by Law we interview Erin Buckley from Fitzroy Legal Service about their new ‘Say NO COMMENT’ ad, soon to be launched on 3CR. We discuss the reasons Fitzroy Legal Service advise clients to provide no comment interviews and why FLS decided an advertisement on how to do a no comment interview was necessary. We also discuss some of the history of Fitzroy Legal Service’s engagements in community legal education, and some of the synergy in this new campaign and previous campaigns that were an important part of the community law movement. For more information about your rights when arrested see the Activist Rights webiste or the FLS Law Handbook.

Working with Children’s Check - 14 May 2013

Increasingly Working with Children Checks are being required for jobs where people do not work directly with children but who may work in close proximity to children, such as cleaners or gardeners. Amendments took effect in December of last year, which raise the bar even higher for people who have a criminal record. Listeners might be asking themselves, in what circumstances could my right to work be restricted by Victoria’s Working With Children Act 2005?

On the show tonight to discuss the Act and explain the recent changes is Damian Stock, a Senior Lawyer in the Social Inclusion program at Victoria Legal Aid.

Challenging Injustice: A Talk by Bryan Stevenson

With thanks to the University of Melbourne, we broadcast a talk by Professor Bryan Stevenson about the American experience of injustice and parallels that can be drawn in Australia. Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Professor Stevenson graced the TED talk stage earlier this year to receive a standing ovation for his insights into the experiences of the poor and marginalised within the American criminal justice system. His public lecture at Melbourne University Law School last month booked out but we were fortunate enough to gain permission to broadcast a recording. We highly recommend viewing the full video from the University of Melbourne website of what was a truly inspiring lecture for anyone interested in justice, equality and holding onto hope in the law as a means of achieiving a more just and equal society.

Parties, police and public order

In recent months there have been several reports of police treating parties, especially underage house parties or warehouse parties, as quasi ‘public order’ situations and responding with heavy handed and at times violent policing tactics. Last Friday a warehouse party in Clifton Hill, attended by approximately 100 party-goers, was violently shut down after the Critical Order Response Team and the dog squad from Victoria Police arrived. Tonight on Done by Law we speak to Sarah McLaren (not her real name) who witnessed and experienced police violence on Friday night about what she saw and experienced. We also speak to Anthony Kelly, CEO of the Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Service, about the specialist units in Victoria Police and trends in policing that are seeing their increased deployment.

Young people out of prisons!

The issues surrounding young people being placed in adult prisons raises a raft of human rights and legal issues. Tonight we talk to Chantelle Higgs from the Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People (CHRIP) about these issues and their advocacy for the decarceration of young people.