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All MALS members and friends are invited to join us at our Annual General Meeting to reflect on the past 12 months and celebrate our achievements in what was one of our most productive and impactful years ever!

MALS members will also elect the MALS Organising Body and Office Bearers for 2024-2025.

This year's AGM also features special guest speaker, Sarah Schwartz! Sarah is a human rights lawyer, Executive Officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, lecturer at the University of Melbourne, former Principal Lawyer of the Wirraway Practice at Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, and a writer focusing on the harms of police and prisons, Aboriginal deaths in custody, police accountability, and rebellious and movement lawyering. Sarah will speak personally about the importance of protecting political space and protest.

Date:
   Thursday 14 November, 2024

Time:
   •  6pm: AGM
   •  7pm: special guest speaker, Sarah Schwartz
   •  Optional: dinner & drinks before & after the meeting

RSVP ESSENTIAL!

Please register your attendance by 5pm Wednesday 13 November.

Feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

fundraising campaign

Can you help us #FundTheFrontline?

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MALS is about to launch a big #FundTheFrontline crowdfunding campaign and we'd love your help!

We're aiming to raise $10,000 so MALS can continue our high-impact frontline human rights protection work. Donations will support MALS by building our capacity to defend civil and political rights in Melbourne and across Victoria.

There are lots of different ways you can help to #FundTheFronltine!

You can support us by:

• boosting our #FundTheFrontline hashtag and messages on social media
• reaching out to friends and family and asking them to donate
• having a conversation with lawyers, barristers, and law firm partners about how they can make a strategic tax-deductible donation to MALS and urging anyone interested to email us at [email protected]
  
• making a donation to help get us started
• starting a regular monthly donation to build our long-term capacity to defend civil and political rights in Victoria.

We're also looking for people join our Fundraising Team to help us run our #FundTheFrontline campaign!

If you'd like to help us with crowdfunding, reaching out to potential donors, writing grant applications, and finding other opportunities to raise funds we'd love to hear from you, no experience required! All MALS members are invited to join our Fundraising Team by filling in this online form.

Not a MALS member yet? No problem! Just submit an online application and we'll get back to you soon.

media

MALS joins 3CR to discuss legal protections and police powers in light of DLF protests

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MALS member Adam Chernok spoke to Jimi and Aurora on 3CR's Done By Law radio program to discuss discuss legal protections for activists and police powers in light of the recent Disrupt Land Forces anti-war protests.  

On the air since 1980 and presented by the Federation of Community Legal Centres and a team of legal and non-legal presenters, Done By Law gives listeners a unique and irreverent take on grassroots social justice and current legal news. Visit them on Facebook or on their website.

research

Lethal in Disguise 2: How Crowd-Control Weapons Impact Health and Human Rights

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Since 2016, Lethal In Disguise, a collaborative project by The International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations and Physicians for Human Rights, has conducted groundbreaking research into the inherent dangers of crowd-control weapons and their impacts when used by state and security forces against protesters.

In an update to their previous research, the project has recently published Lethal in Disguise 2: How Crowd-Control Weapons Impact Health and Human Rights which contains updated weapons descriptions, case studies, fact sheets, and analyses of the mechanisms and effects of kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs), chemical irritants, water cannons, disorientation devices, acoustic weapons, and other devices.

legal rights resource

Police Powers: Your Rights in Victoria

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The Police Powers: Your Rights in Victoria booklet has been updated!

Produced by Victoria Legal Aid and Inner Melbourne Community Legal, this comprehensive booklet provides information about your rights when dealing with police or protective service officers (PSOs) covering a range of topics including:

• practical tips for dealing with police and PSOs
• giving your name and address
• searches
• move on powers
• arrest
• mental illness and psychological distress
• making complaints and where to get help

research

New research project finds Victoria Police engage in racial profiling during searches

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New research from the Centre Against Racial Profiling has found that Victoria Police consistently engage in racial profiling against certain groups of people, despite a ban on racial profiling being implemented in 2015.

The Racial Profiling Data Monitoring Project has found that Victoria Police are 11 times more likely to search First Nations Victorians than those perceived to be white, eight times more likely to search someone perceived to be African, five times more likely for those of Middle-Eastern appearance, and four times more likely for those from a Pasifika background.

The report also found that roughly 17 percent of police reports are missing data on ethnic appearance, which the authors say is of great concern:
"... in 2019, Victoria Police made it mandatory for police to complete that entry in the data... the police are not taking their policies seriously in terms of completing these forms, they're not interested in monitoring racial profiling."

mals membership

Get involved- become a member of MALS!

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MALS defends civil and political rights by training activists, creating and sharing resources on the right to protest in Victoria, training and fielding Legal Observers to monitor and report on police actions, and linking activists with supportive law firms and community legal centres.

Becoming a MALS member means you can contribute to shaping our campaigns, participate in planning and decision-making, and help increase our impact as we protect the right to protest!