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Should Australia's police-imposed public area banning powers be subject to independent oversight and review?

Clare Farmer
Published in: Drug and alcohol review (2019)
The Victorian Parliament dismissed the option of an independent post-hoc appeal process for police-imposed bans. The discretionary nature of police bans, the absence of meaningful oversight and the attendant potential for their misuse point to the need for the legislation covering police bans to be revised to introduce an independent process of review. This issue extends beyond Victoria, as six of the eight Australian jurisdictions do not permit any independent review of a police decision to impose a public area ban.
Keyphrases
  • healthcare
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