‘Draconian and undemocratic’: why criminalising climate protesters in Australia doesn’t actually work
The criminalisation of environmental protest in Australia isn’t new.
The criminalisation of environmental protest in Australia isn’t new.
MALS has a discussion with lawyer and human rights advocate Angus Murray, Lucie Krahulcova from Digital Rights Watch, and Sam de Silva from the Oxen Privacy Tech Foundation to explore how the Identify and Disrupt Act works, how it may interface with activists and activist groups, as well as some potential ways to think about assessing the increased digital security risks for activist work.
Update: February 3rd, 2022 The Department of Home Affairs has stated that as of December 2021, they are now using the new powers introduced by the Identify and Disrupt Act. They have not disclosed which type, nor the quantity of warrants exercised; nor whether the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, or other…
Activism, Surveillance, and Digital Security Awareness is a panel discussion that Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) ran as part of Victorian Law Week 2021. It’s a discussion about the surveillance technologies currently being used, who is using them, what some of the laws are, and why we should care. We hear from four great voices…
Police have always had powers to deal with protesters and picketers in different situations. Earlier this year, the Victorian Government gave police officers and Protective Services Officers (’PSOs’) some new powers for protest situations by expanding existing ‘move on’ powers. You may have heard this referred to as the ’Anti-Protest Laws’ or the ’Summary Offences Bill’. Whilst the new move on powers are undemocratic and can affect protesters and picketers, protesting in Victoria is not illegal.