Australia has become a defamation hotspot. Are our politicians, whose own attacks in Parliament are protected by privilege, overdoing it? Jason Bosland explains.

Keeping the Bastards Honest: Deborah Glass OBE examines the independence of our 'independent' integrity agencies

Each State and territory has ‘independent’ agencies that are meant to keep governments accountable. But how independent are they really? Deborah Glass OBE, former Victorian Ombudsman and now honorary fellow at Melbourne Law School, has new research on the question. Further reading: * There are invisible strings that the powerful use to keep critics at bay: The Age [https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/there-are-invisible-strings-that-the-powerful-use-to-keep-critics-at-bay-20260219-p5o3oj.html]  Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.

Immigration scammers run riot on Chinese social media. Dr Fan Yang explains.

False scare campaigns and scams are common on Chinese-language media and social media in Australia, particularly targeting people who are anxious about their residency status. Who is behind it, and what can be done to protect our Chinese-language community?   Dr Fan Yang  [https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/810320-fan-yang]is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Melbourne node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society (ADM+S). Her work focuses on technologies and governance, digital ethics, innovative research methods, migration politics, and postcolonial technoscience. Her doctoral thesis, entitled ‘News Manufactories on WeChat’, provided one of the first insights into the internal operation of WeChat in Australia as a content production platform.    Read more of Fan’s work:  * Contextualizing critical disinformation during the 2023 Voice referendum on WeChat: Manipulating knowledge gaps and whitewashing Indigenous rights [https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/contextualizing-critical-disinformation-during-the-2023-voice-referendum-on-wechat-manipulating-knowledge-gaps-and-whitewashing-indigenous-rights/]  Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.

Australia has become a defamation hotspot. Are our politicians, whose own attacks in Parliament are protected by privilege, overdoing it? Jason Bosland explains.

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a biweekly podcast about the law behind the news.  In this episode, Associate Professor Jason Bosland explains what defamation is and why politicians sue over it, updates to Australian defamation law, and why some deserve to succeed in their court cases.  Further reading:  * Melbourne Law School’s Dr Jessica Lake explains what the Higgins v Reynolds ruling tells us about defamation in Australia [https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-the-brittany-higgins-ruling-tells-us-about-defamation-in-australia]    Cases mentioned in this episode:  * Reynolds v Higgins (2025) WASC 345  * [2022] FCA 1235 - Burston v Hanson [https://jade.io/summary/mnc/2022/FCA/1235]  * Palmer v McGowan (No 6) [2022] FCA 927 [https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2022/2022fca0927]  * Greenwich v Latham [2024] FCA 1050 [https://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2024/2024fca1050]  * Hanson-Young v Bauer Media Ltd [2013] NSWSC 1306  Russell v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2023] FCA 38  * Russell v Australian Broadcasting Corporation [2023] FCA 38  Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.

The issue of Aboriginal sovereignty can be heard by the High Court, new research has found. Could this be the next Mabo? Dr Olivia Barr explains.

It has long been a legal truism that the High Court does not have the power to rule on issues of Aboriginal sovereignty, or the right to self-govern. But this idea is based on a legal misunderstanding, argues Associate Professor Olivia Barr.     Further reading from this episode:  * You can read Olivia’s journal article here  [https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/law/unsw-law-journal/2020-2029/2026/Issue%2049(1)%2003%20Barr.pdf] * Read more about the soco-economic benefits of modern treaties in Canada here [https://bctreaty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Deloitte-BCTC-FinalReport.pdf]  * Read more about Victoria’s first statewide treaty here [https://www.treatyvictoria.vic.gov.au/]  * Read the Treaty of Waitangi here [https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/about/the-treaty/maori-and-english-versions]  Cases mentioned in this episode:  * Coe v Commonwealth [1979] HCA 68; (1979) 53 ALJR 403; (1979) 24 ALR 118 (5 April 1979) [https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1979/68.html]  * * Mabo v Queensland (No 2) ("Mabo case") [1992] HCA 23; (1992) 175 CLR 1 (3 June 1992) [https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/HCA/1992/23.html]  Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.

Should doctors be able to refuse care if it offends their conscience? A conversation with Professor Julian Savulescu

This episode contains material some people might find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news. Should doctors be obliged provide all services that are ethically approved by their colleges and legal under the law, or should they have the right to refuse terminations, assisted dying or any other forms of care on the basis of personal conscience? Professor Julian Savulescu FAHMS is the Chen Su Lan Centennial Professor in Medical Ethics at the National University of Singapore, where he directs the Centre for Biomedical Ethics. He is an award-winning ethicist and moral philosopher, trained in neuroscience, medicine, and philosophy. He is Distinguished Visiting Professorial Fellow at Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Melbourne Law School.   Read more about medical ethics here:  * Coelho, Ramona, et al. Unravelling Maid in Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 15 Apr. 2025, www.mqup.ca/Books/U/Unravelling-MAiD-in-Canada2 [https://www.mqup.ca/Books/U/Unravelling-MAiD-in-Canada2].  * Grant, Isabel, et al. "A Conversation on Feminism, Ableism, and Medical Assistance in Dying." Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, vol. 35 no. 1, 2024, p. 31-72. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947747 [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/947747].  Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.