Done By Law

Su Robertson and Daniel Bavcevic dicuss the submissions made to the Australian Productivity Commission regarding the 'Right to Repair' and how to improve consumer accessiblity to enforcing this right and the social and environmental benefits this will have for the community.Our guest is Brigette Rose, Senior Policy Officer at Consumer Action Law Centre. Brigette is the author of a recent submission to the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry into the Right to Repair.View the Consumer Action Law Centre submission here: https://consumeraction.org.au/right-to-repair-submission-to-productivity-commission-inquiry/  

The Australian Government, headed up by the ACCC, has conducted an indepth inquiry into the digital platforms, and has come up with a proposed media bargaining code, which was revealed earlier this year. The Code has a number of aspects to it, but has drawn most attention for the way it proposes to force the platforms to pay Australian media companies and local content in their search and on their feeds. Suffice to say the digital platforms aren't happy.Google and Facebook have come out fighting against the Australian government's news media bargaining Code, and have accused the Code of potentially 'breaking' the internet, and threatened to remove their services.The showdown is the latest example of the immense power struggles being waged between State actors and the new world superpowers; big tech. How can and should the law be used to regulate online platforms, and is Australia's Code the best way of doing it?Gemma and Daniel discuss with academic and senior lecturer Dr Jake Goldenfein from University

Sam, Gemma and Greg tackle the pressing questions - Can I return to Victoria after my from holiday? Are rent reductions still availabe? When do I need my face mask? And what about protesting? The team provides a quick update on changes to the law to date.

Su, Gemma and Daniel are joined by PhD candidate at the Australian National University and former Canberra Community Law solicitor, Radhika Chaudhri, to discuss new ways of ensuring Australian courts consider Economic Violence in a family violence context. We discuss new ways of using some old school legal ideas to get lawyers and judges thinking differently about this problem. We chat about mortgages, consumer contracts and other situations where women find themselves in crisis because of financial abuse.For the law nerds out there, the discussion is about the application of the equitable doctrine of undue influence to financial abuse cases in the Family Court and Supreme Courts. Radhika Chaudhri's research on this topic can be found published in the Australian Journal of Family Law in her article titled "Tackling financial abuse with the doctrine of undue influence". 

Many working in Community Legal Centres are still subject to workplace agreements which expired in 2009. Without change soon, already-low wages in the sector may stagnate, employees will continue to experience insecure work, and many passionate CLC lawyers may be hampered in pursuing systemic advocacy. Dylan Goldsworthy, Youth Lawyer from the Northern Community Legal Centre, joined us to discuss calls to revisit the CLC sector's workplace agreement.

Warning: this episode discusses the court process following reports of sexual violence or homicide as well as recent, well publicised sexually violent crimes which some listeners may find distressing.Nationally, many states have made changes to their laws to make sure victim/survivors of sexual assault can tell their stories, in their own words without court processes. However, proposed changes to the laws in Victoria have garnered criticism from victim/survivor advocates and groups, who consider these changes are regressive and put the power back in the hands of the accused. On the other hand, the Victims of Crime Commission thinks the government has got the balance right between a victim/survivor's right to privacy and their ability to self-identify. So what exactly is going on? Why have these laws become so divisive? We speak to Melbourne barrister Greg Bucchorn, who explains this complex legal landscape.

Su Robertson and Daniel Bavcevic interview Tiffany Overall (Advocacy and Human Rights Officer, Youthlaw) and Lloyd Murphy (Lawyer, Inner Melbourne Community Legal) about the community impact of COVID-19 fines and the worrying trend of internal reviews not being fairly considered by Victoria Police."It is troubling because the bottom line is, as community lawyers, we're not going to be giving advice to our clients to go through that process if we don't think there's any merit to their review." - Tiffany Overall (Youthlaw)In this episode we listen to reports of community legal service clients having internal reviews for COVID-19 infringements rejected. We hear about young people, people experiencing homelessness, suffering from mental illnesses or other vulnerable people who have had internal reviews rejected without detailed explanation of the reasons by Police.There are limited options after an unsuccessful internal review, it may lead to an Enforcement Review by the Government authority F

Su and Greg spoke with Tanja Kovac, CEO of Gender Equity Victoria, about the recent passing of Ruth Baden Ginsburg and Susan Ryan who were both iconic feminist trailblazers, their legacies in championing for sex anti-discrimination laws - in the courtroom and in parliament - and the new Victorian Gender Equality Act.

In this episode of Done by Law, Ingrid and Marissa talk about Indigenous stories, and who owns them. They are joined by Tony Briggs, a Yorta Yorta/Wurundjeri (Woiwurrung) theatre & film practitioner, who is the creator and writer of feature film ‘The Sapphires’, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. ‘The Sapphires’ is Tony’s family’s story, and in this episode, he shares his experience of telling his story on screen and stage. Tony speaks passionately about the importance of Indigenous stories being told by the owners of those stories, not only as a matter of authentic story-telling, but also as a matter of human rights. As Tony says, regardless of the questions that are raised around the law, ‘Aboriginal people own Aboriginal stories’.Marissa and Ingrid are also joined by Robyn Ayres, Chief Executive Officer of the Arts Law Centre of Australia. Arts Law founded Artists in the Black under Robyn’s leadership, a service of Arts Law that is dedicated to providing legal ass

In this episode Sam Elkin interviews Gregor Husper from the Police Accountability Project about the disturbing incident of brutality during an arrest in Victoria this week.  

Consumer leadership and engagement will be crucial to successfully build a better and fairer mental health system in Victoria. Victoria Legal Aid recently completed a project, 'Your Story, Your Say', which allowed 34 people with lived experience to share their experience with the Mental Health Royal Commission. We spoke with the project's coordinator, Simon Katterl, about the important expert evidence the project was able to deliver. You can read more about the final report and recommendations here: https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/your-story-your-say-experiences-of-mental-health-system

This evening we discussed where to find reliable legal information responding to COVID-19. This is especially important at the moment, when face to face community legal education delivery is not available or only available in a limited way, things are changing so fast and people are often unsure where to look and are relying on untrustworthy sources. We will also look at some resources specifically for young people.We were lucky to be joined by:Amala Ramarathinam, Senior Lawyer with YouthlawMark Tregonning, Community Legal Education Coordinator with Victoria Legal AidKirsten Young, Community Engagement Officer with Peninsula Community Legal CentreSummary of resources discussed:Legal information relating to COVID-19 across a number of areas of law Youthlaw's website for young people: http://youthlaw.asn.au/home/legal-issues-during-covid-19/Victoria Legal Aid's website: https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/find-legal-answers/covid-19-coronavirusJustice Connect's page dedicated to COVID-19 related

In this episode we interview Sam Drummond about the new human rights organisation Lawyers for Peace. 

Victoria is now in a declared "State of Disaster" with category 4 lockdown and some States have closed their borders to Victorians, as well as to their own residents who have been living elsewhere. In this episode we speak to Constitutional Law expert, Professor Kim Rubenstein from the University of Canberra about how the Australian Constitution is being used by Clive Palmer to challenge the WA border closures, and discuss what the High Court will consider when determining whether the closures are lawful.This is a critical legal issue which will have far reaching implications for many Australians currently living interstate. We interview, Amber, a Western Australian with family in Perth, who recently moved to Melbourne for study and now finds themself unable to return to WA despite facing homelessness in Melbourne.**Update (05/08/2020) - Our guest Amber was granted an exemption by the WA State Government to enter Western Australia after our interview regarding their circumstnaces.Show Note

Class Action Against NSW Police for Strip SearchesLaw firm Slater and Gordon and Redfern Community Legal Centre are leading a class action against NSW Police for strip searches conducted in the State. Our very own host, Gemma Leigh-Dodds is a Senior Associate at Slater and Gordon that is working on the action.Find out more about the class action here: https://www.slatergordon.com.au/class-actions/current-class-actions/nsw-strip-search-class-action For information about the Victoria Public Housing COVID-19 Lockdownshttps://flemkenlegal.org/latest-news/2020/7/5/legal-info-and-help-for-public-housing-residents-in-lock-downFor legal assistance of any kind call 1800 113 432. 8am - 6pm Monday to Friday. For urgent after-hours legal advice call 0434 136 501 (until Friday 10th July) 

In a week dominated by stories of the Black Lives Matter protests in the US and closer to home protests against Aboriginal deaths in custody and the overincarceration of our First Nations people, we look at promising Aboriginal-led decision-making processes that are helping protect culture and keep Aboriginal people safer through the justice system in Victoria.  We're talking restorative justice, and we're also talking about a beautiful possum cloak that's keeping culture real and present in the children's court.  We hear from Jarrod Hughes, a Taungurung man and Senior Advisor from the Research and Advocacy team at the Centre for Innovative Justice about their Open Circle Restorative Justice program. Website: https://cij.org.au/opencircle/ We also speak with Ashley Morris manager of Koori Services and Programs at the Children's Court of Victoria in Broadmeadows and hear about their Marram-Ngala Ganbu Program an innovative response to the over-representation of

In this Reconciliation Week episode:Southport Community Legal ServiceThe City of Port Phillip proposes to discontinue the funding of the Southport Community Legal Service to save $65,000 in its 2020/21 budget. The Southport Community Legal Service established in 1988 has and continues to rely on Council funding to provide the Southport community with essential and much needed legal services. In this episode we are joined by Brian Burton, Community Lawyer at Southport CLS, to discuss the important work that the service provides and why funding for community legal services like Southport is essential.To find out more head to the Southport CLS website: https://www.southportcls.com.au/ Reconciliation Weekhttps://www.reconciliation.org.au/ To find out more about the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia head to this ANU link:https://cass.anu.edu.au/news/new-indigenous-atlas-launches-anu