Law Report

Episod

• A bushfire starts on your property and spreads to your neighbours - are you liable for their losses? 02.06.2026 29min

  A court has found that a South Australian farmer was responsible for setting fire to a pile of vegetation that was left smouldering and reignited six months later, causing a devastating bushfire.
• Trump's war on journalists: libel or lawfare? 26.05.2026 29min

  There's been a wave of defamation suits from within the Trump administration targeting the US news media. Is it legitimate litigation or lawfare?
• America's Erin Patterson? The Kouri Richins poisoning case 19.05.2026 29min

  In a case that's transfixed the US, a woman who wrote a children's book about grief following her husband's death has been sentenced to life in prison for his murder.
• Does EMDR therapy taint a witness's recollection? 12.05.2026 29min

  Imagine you are a victim of crime and need therapy to help deal with a traumatic memory. Would you go ahead if it meant that your case might not be prosecuted because the treatment could deem your evidence unreliable or inadmissible in court?
• What does an election look like when there are no financial ground rules? 05.05.2026 29min

  There are no political donation laws in Victoria following a High Court decision that overturned legislation in place for nearly a decade.
• Scam victims want compensation as HSBC settles ASIC action 28.04.2026 29min

  The Law Report speaks to victims who are calling for the banking giant to compensate them, and asks, how effective are Australian laws in dealing with sophisticated scams? 
• Why was Ben Roberts-Smith granted bail on war crimes charges? 21.04.2026 29min

  Australia's most decorated living soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail after being charged with five counts of the war crime of murder. Why was he granted bail? And why did the judge find there were exceptional circumstances and bail did not impose any unacceptable risks?  
• Euthanasia: How Australia's approach compares to other countries 14.04.2026 29min

  In countries where voluntary assisted dying is allowed, there are very different legal frameworks. A high-profile case in Spain raises questions of whether the procedure should only be allowed if there is a terminal illness. Should the medical criteria also include mental distress? And how does mental illness impact on the idea of agency and choice?  
• A cultural approach to reducing Indigenous reoffending 07.04.2026 29min

  Indigenous incarceration rates are off the scale in Australia. For the last four years, the District Court of New South Wales has been trialling the Walama sentencing list, a program aimed at reducing recidivism.
• How accurate is facial recognition software? 31.03.2026 28min

  The Law Report is asking some big picture questions about the pros and cons of facial recognition software use by police and retailers.
• High Court says government can't use ankle bracelets, curfews to monitor former immigration detainees 24.03.2026 29min

  Should the Federal Government have powers to restrict the movement of former immigration detainees in the community?
• Are suppression orders out of control in Victoria? 17.03.2026 29min

  How accurate is a recent report that claims Victorian courts issue more suppression orders than in any other Australian jurisdiction? 
• Should an offender's disadvantage have an impact on their sentence? 10.03.2026 29min

  What arguments and information should courts be hearing when they are sentencing an offender? In April, a tool to assist defence lawyers and judges will go national.
• Law Report Special: Star Casino executive directors breached their obligations under the Corporations Act 05.03.2026

  Matthias Bekier, former managing director of Star Entertainment, the company which operates Sydney’s Star Casino and Paula Martin, Star Entertainment’s former legal counsel both failed to address money laundering risks and criminal associations between 2017 and 2019. That’s the finding of Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court, who at the same time dismissed similar cases against a number of Star Entertainment’s non-executive directors. What does this finding mean for both executive and non-executive directors? Guest:  Anthony Whealy, former NSW Supreme Court judge, Chair of the Centre for Public Integrity and a Former New South Wales Court of Appeals Judge, he’s also a former assistant commissioner to the NSW ICAC. (Independent Commission Against Corruption) To hear more in-depth expert coverage of the important legal stories and cases of the week, search for The Law Report podcast on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.
• Claims chasers in natural disaster zones 03.03.2026 29min

  The Law Report is shining a light on claims or disaster chasers who approach people whose homes have been damaged by a severe weather event.
• Fifty years of 'no-fault' divorce in Australia 24.02.2026 29min

  Two former family law judges sit down with Damien Carrick to revisit a time before no-fault divorce, when unhappy spouses often employed private detectives to prove adultery. 
• Is the right to protest being undermined in Australia? 17.02.2026 29min

  Queensland has introduced a bill to ban the slogans "from the river to the sea" and "globalise the intifada". Western Australia wants to give police the power to refuse a protest permit if a public event is deemed likely to promote hate. It comes after New South Wales imposed tight restrictions on the Sydney protest against the visit of Israel's president Isaac Herzog.
• British AG Richard Hermer on Gaza, Israel, Greenland, and upholding the rule of law; Political donations buy access 10.02.2026 29min

  The Law Report speaks to Richard Hermer, attorney general for England and Wales, who was in Australia recently with a message centred on upholding the rule of law. And why do individuals and corporations donate to political parties? 
• How useful is AI in creating better legal outcomes and processes? 03.02.2026 28min

  Can artificial intelligence reveal the assumptions judges make? Or help lawyers and litigants to identify appeal arguments? 
• What's in Australia's new hate crime and gun control laws? 27.01.2026 29min

  In the wake of the Bondi mass shooting, the federal government has passed two significant pieces of legislation that it says are aimed at preventing future attacks.