Law Report

'Facial recognition for cows', GPS animal tags and DNA testing represent some of the technology being developed to help investigate and solve livestock theft and other farm-related crimes.

Could changes to visa cancellation policies under section 501 of the Migration Act signal a softening of Australia's stand on deportation on character grounds? Also, the sticky note at the centre of a legal challenge to deportation. And fugitive Darko Desic is allowed to stay in Australia.

A Victorian coroner has described the treatment of an Indigenous woman in prison as inhumane and her death preventable. Arrested on the suspicion of minor shoplifting charges, the woman was denied bail. As the Victorian Parliament resumes sitting, Premier Dan Andrews has committed to overhauling the state's strict bail laws. With the permission of the family — we are using the name and the voice o...

If you are responsible for a motor vehicle accident, just how far does your legal liability extend? A court decision could upend the assumption that in an accident, the car behind is always at fault. And a controversial case involving drug use in a parked car may be heading to the High Court.

The Federal Administrative Appeals Tribunal or AAT is to be axed, why and what will replace it? Remote signing of Wills was introduced as a COVID emergency measure, but as a new decision shows, there can be traps.

The New South Wales Supreme Court has ordered a judicial review in the convictions of the so-called 'Croatian Six'. Justice Robertson Wright said there are doubts and questions about the evidence used to convict the men in 1981. This episode first aired in September 2022.

Electric scooters are becoming an increasingly popular form of transport, but there is a confusing mosaic of laws that regulate their use across Australia. So, when accidents happen – who should be held legally liable? 

Should patents be granted to Artificial Intelligence algorithms? Should machines have copyright over the art works they generate? What about animals? This episode first aired in June 2022.

In the second of a two-part series, the Law Report speaks with members of the International Association of Women Judges in several countries. They explain the obstacles women judges face and what gender diversity brings to legal decision making.

In the first of a two-part series on women judges, the Law Report focuses on the experience of judge Shakila Abawi Shigarf, who was forced to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban retook power in August 2021.

The Federal Court has confirmed native title over more than 40,000 square kilometres of sea country in the Torres Strait region. For the first time the claim brings together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to achieve joint native title outcomes.

In the final part of a special for the Law Report we dig through recent cases with legal experts to find out what you can do when the neighbours want to build up and block the sunlight from hitting solar panels on your roof.

Medibank is the second high-profile company to be investigated by the Commonwealth privacy regulator over large-scale data breaches in recent months. Where does the government's legislative response fit within the broader review of the Privacy Act? And in the final part of a special for The Law Report, we dig through recent cases with legal experts to find out your right when the neighbour plans t...

When you are fighting with your neighbour over things like noise, trees or pets, whose side is the law on? In the third of a four-part special for the Law Report we dig through recent cases with legal experts to find out your rights when it comes to keeping pets in apartments. 

Five years on, has the NT royal commission into youth detention achieved what it set out to do? Why do some children commit crime? Research reveals calls for more government support for Indigenous kinship carers in WA. Also, when you are fighting with your neighbour over things like noise, trees or pets, whose side is the law on? In the third part of a special for The Law Report, we dig through re...

When you are fighting with your neighbour over things like noise, trees or pets, whose side is the law on?

Hundreds of thousands of customers could be eligible to claim compensation after three of Australia's biggest banks – the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Westpac – settled class actions worth $126m over the sale of 'junk' insurance policies. Also, when you are fighting with your neighbour over things like noise, trees or pets, whose side is the law on? In the second of a four-part special for The Law R...

We dig through recent cases with legal experts to find out when it comes to noisy neighbours who are in the right.

The New South Wales government has offered a lukewarm response to a parliamentary committee report that calls for an overhaul of the state's coronial system. And, when you are fighting with your neighbour over things like noise, trees or pets, whose side is the law on?

For the first time a journalist is allowed to record in the Thomas Embling Hospital, Melbourne's forensic healthcare facility. Meet therapists, the psychiatrist in charge and some of the patients who have committed a serious crime but are deemed not responsible for their actions due to mental illness. This episode first aired in March 2021.

Why did the actions of one juror lead to a mistrial for Bruce Lehrmann? And the case of a Brisbane motorbike accident victim who failed to secure compensation because he couldn't identify the truck that caused the incident.

The head of a team of United Nations torture experts speaks exclusively to the Law Report about the decision to suspend inspections of detention facilities in Australia. And, in a court or tribunal hearing, can one side use secret evidence that the other can't see?  

The UN is urging Australian governments to offer unlimited access to UN inspectors visiting prisons and other detention facilities around the country. And Justice Jayne Jagot has been sworn in as the newest member of the High Court and for the first time a majority of the sitting judges on Australia's highest court are women.

What do Australia's leading lawyers think about the Federal Government's plan to enshrine a First Nations' voice to parliament in the constitution? The country's top legal minds have been meeting to 'pressure test' the draft model. And how should judges be appointed?

Does the Federal Government's draft legislation for a national anti-corruption commission go far enough? And retired UK Supreme Court judge Lord Jonathan Sumption speaks to the Law Report about Julian Assange's fight against extradition to the US, the arrests of protesters following Queen Elizabeth's death, judicial appointments, and Brexit.