Policing of the anti-lockdown protests
Our analysis and concerns arising from the policing of protest events in Melbourne between Saturday 18 and Sunday 26 September 2021
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A brief & incomplete history of Legal Observing
Independent citizen monitoring of police has a long history. For several decades now, community activists, legal workers and movement lawyers have actively opposed police brutality using various means to directly observe, record, and monitor police behaviour. Today’s legal observer projects have learnt from and built upon these important grassroots initiatives. We all owe a great debt to these activists and organisors who have gone before us.
Statement regarding #BlackLivesMatter
The barrage of condemnation, threats, political and legal repression faced by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) this past week, is astounding. We at Melbourne Activist Legal Support, along with our supporting community legal centres and firms, have nothing but admiration for the integrity, strength, and diligence shown by all the organisers of the Melbourne rally, and the many smaller regional events and those held around the country.
Statement of Concern: Policing of Invasion Day, 2019
On Saturday 26 January 2019 Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) fielded a team of ten (10) trained Legal Observers at the Invasion Day march that took place in Melbourne’s Central Business District. The march, which was organised by the group Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance, began with speakers at Victoria’s Parliament House on Spring Street, proceeded…
Policing the Black Lives Matter Rally, Melbourne, 17th July 2016
The police presence at the Black Lives Matter (BLM) rally on Sunday 17 July, 2016 was notable for its sheer size and scale.* Everyone at the event would have noticed the long lines of police arrayed around the initial rally gathering point at the State Library forecourt and the various PORT – Public Order Response Team…