Category: Australia
Coercive control is insidious and costing lives. What’s being done to combat it? | ABC News – YouTube
Danielle Laidley among advocates to welcome bid to scrap WA Gender Reassignment Board – ABC News
Western Australians will no longer have to undergo medical or surgical reassignment in order to change their sex or gender, under the state government’s proposed law reforms.
The state’s Gender Reassignment Board, which manages applications to legally change a person’s gender, would be abolished under the new laws.
Attorney-General John Quigley said the legislation would bring WA in line with the rest of Australia.
The proposed law reform comes after a landmark investigation into gender-affirming care in England, known as the Cass Review.
It recommended significantly limiting the prescription of medications, known as puberty blockers, for people aged under 18.
Federal health minister Mark Butler described the review’s findings as “significant” but said the clinical treatment of transgender children in Australia was very different than in the UK.
[Ed: Sigh. What will it take for Australian politicians to educate themselves on this issue before introducing further harmful legislation?]
Source: Danielle Laidley among advocates to welcome bid to scrap WA Gender Reassignment Board – ABC News
Protecting sexual offence victims’ private information in court through independent legal representation
The Australian-first study that explores how sexual offence victim-survivors’ private information – medical and counselling notes, prior sexual experiences, and digital communications, such as phone records – can be better protected in court through independent legal representation (ILR).
Nicole Lee: Survivor and advocate for ending violence against women with disabilities
As WHO releases a policy brief on violence against women with disability, we interviewed Nicole Lee, a survivor of intimate partner violence and advocate for violence prevention and response. After suffering a decade of abuse perpetrated by her former husband and carer, Nicole now uses her experience to advocate for the rights of others – especially those who may otherwise lack a voice.
Source: Nicole Lee: Survivor and advocate for ending violence against women with disabilities
Recorded sexual offences among juveniles in Australia | Australian Institute of Criminology
This study analyses Australian Bureau of Statistics data to examine trends in the rate of juveniles being proceeded against by police for sexual offences in Australia, from 2008–09 to 2020–21. Over the 13-year period, the rate of recorded sexual offences committed by juveniles per 100,000 population was consistently higher than the rate for adults. While recorded assaultive sexual offences committed by juveniles decreased during this period, recorded non-assaultive sexual offences increased notably, and were still increasing at the end of the study period. The study highlights the need for increased focus on early intervention (from the age of 13 onwards) and prevention efforts targeting non-assaultive sexual offending by both sexes and assaultive sexual offences by male juveniles in Australia.
Source: Recorded sexual offences among juveniles in Australia | Australian Institute of Criminology
Lehrmann loses defamation bid, judge finds he raped Higgins
A Federal Court judge has sensationally dismissed Bruce Lehrmann’s multimillion-dollar defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson after finding the former Liberal staffer raped Brittany Higgins in a Parliament House office.
While Justice Michael Lee found there were discrepancies in the evidence of all parties involved, he was scathing in his assessment of Lehrmann’s truthfulness in his evidence.
Lehrmann now faces a significant bill for the legal costs of Ten and Wilkinson.
Lee said Lehrmann was indifferent to whether a drunk Higgins consented or not before he raped her on a senator’s couch at Parliament House.
Earlier on Monday, Lee described Lehrmann as an unreliable, dishonest witness.
“Mr Lehrmann has no compunction from departing from the truth if he thought it was expedient,” he said.
“I am satisfied that in important respects, he told deliberate lies.”
Lee made clear that his finding Lehrmann raped Higgins was made to the civil standard of proof, or balance of probabilities.
The finding was not made to the criminal standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, and the Federal Court decision does not amount to a conviction. Nor will it lead to any criminal punishment.
Source: Lehrmann loses defamation bid, judge finds he raped Higgins
Halt gender affirmation practices | Victorian Petition
The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that Victoria practices a condemned model of care to address childhood gender dysphoria with no reports of the model being abandoned.
The affirmation model in Victoria is based on the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) affirmation model for addressing childhood gender dysphoria. The model was considered as one of the benchmarks of care by many but others questioned this model. To resolve this issue, an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people was commissioned in 2020 by NHS England and NHS Improvement and led by Dr Hilary Cass, a retired consultant paediatrician and former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the United Kingdom. The final report was published on 10 April 2024. The report has condemned the affirmation model, highlighting the lack of evidence to justify its use.
The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to halt gender affirmation practices in Victoria.
Bondi Junction stabbing: Joel Cauchi identified as attacker
Queensland man Joel Cauchi, 40, is the murderer who went on a stabbing spree at Bondi Junction Westfield, killing six people and injuring at least a dozen more before police shot him dead.
Cauchi killed five women and one man as he rampaged through the busy shopping centre brandishing a knife in Sydney’s east on Saturday afternoon.
Police believe Cauchi lived with schizophrenia. There was no clear motive, but they were investigating a potential history of targeting women.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the “horrifying and violent attack on innocent people” would be subject to a major criminal investigation to “prevent acts like this from happening again”.
He praised the “instinctive bravery” of Inspector Amy Scott, who fatally shot Cauchi, saying the police officer ran towards danger and “without a shadow of a doubt, saved many, many lives”.
Source: Bondi Junction stabbing: Joel Cauchi identified as attacker