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Katherine McFarlane

Senior Lecturer, Centre for Law & Justice, Charles Sturt University

Katherine McFarlane holds a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the College of Law, Sydney. She recently completed a PhD in Law at UNSW, examining ‘Care-criminalisation’: the involvement of children in out of home care in the NSW criminal justice system’.

Kath has provided legal and policy advice to a range of clients, including to prisoners via the “The Mulawa Project”, a legal pro bono scheme she established and ran for several years, and as an Official Visitor to NSW prisons. Admitted as a solicitor in NSW in 1996, she worked as a criminal lawyer and was the principal solicitor at the University of Technology’s Community Law and Legal Research Centre from 1998-2000. She has held a variety of policy and research roles in child welfare and criminal justice, across bureaucracy, academia and politics, including as a senior policy officer in the Attorney Generals’ Department, Executive Officer of the NSW Sentencing Council and Executive Officer of the NSW Children’s Court.

Kath was a consultant to the Department of Community Services’ longitudinal study of the outcomes for children in OOHC, and a member both of the NSW CorrectionsHealth Inmate Health Advisory Group and the NSW Department of Justice and Attorney Generals’ Women’s Advisory Council. In 2010, while teaching in Justice Studies at Charles Sturt University (CSU), she was the Chief Investigator for a Government-awarded tender to examine bail practices affecting children and young people.

From 2011 Kath was Chief of Staff to a NSW Minister, running the political office across various portfolios including Planning and Infrastructure, Juvenile Justice, Corrections, Attorney General, Family and Community Services and Social Housing.

She rejoined CSU as a Senior Lecturer in Justice Studies in 2016.

Expunging the criminal records of kids in care does not absolve the state's injustices against them

Jul 31, 2018 15:31 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

In the Victorian parliament last week, legislation was introduced to address a serious historical injustice that saw thousands of vulnerable children in state care treated as criminals. The Victorian government will...

NSW bail laws mean well but are landing homeless kids in prison

Dec 17, 2016 06:00 am UTC| Law

Every year in New South Wales, scores of children are locked up because they dont have a safe place to live. About one-third of them are Indigenous; about half are in the care of the state. Some are fleeing domestic...

Economy

Nigerians throw naira notes around to show love: but it could land you in jail

The legal implication of physically damaging the naira, Nigerias currency, came into focus recently with the prosecution of at least two celebrities by the countrys Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Nigeria has a...

The US is one of the least trade-oriented countries in the world – despite laying the groundwork for today’s globalized system

Given the spate of news about international trade lately, Americans might be surprised to learn that the U.S. isnt very dependent on it. Indeed, looking at trade as a percentage of gross domestic product a metric...

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget

With Jim Chalmerss third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief beyond the tax cuts although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As this weeks consumer price...

Politics

Sudan’s civil war is rooted in its historical favouritism of Arab and Islamic identity

The current civil war in Sudan goes beyond a simple power struggle between two generals. It reflects a deep-rooted crisis within the countrys governing structure thats been present since it gained independence from the...

South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently painted a rosy picture in which the countrys youth democracys children had enormous opportunities for advancement, all thanks to successive post-apartheid governments led...

Sadiq Khan on track for third term as London mayor – but nearly half of Londoners dissatisfied with performance

Polls have consistently shown that the incumbent mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be on track to win a third term in office at the upcoming mayoral elections on May 2. One poll we commissioned as part of our...

The politics stopping the UK from opening a youth mobility scheme with Europe

Earlier this week, it seemed possible that young people in the UK might soon be able to travel freely to work and live in Europe again. The European Commission laid out proposals to open mobility to millions of 18- to...

Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’

Most American workers are hired at will: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the rule is generally stated, either party...

Science

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Technology

Binance CEO Discloses $150 Million Bribe Amidst Tensions with Nigerian Government

Binance, the renowned cryptocurrency exchange, disclosed that Nigerian government authorities demanded a staggering $150 million in bribes to quell legal actions against its executives, igniting a fierce dispute between...

Hong Kong Central Bank Leads Initiative to Explore Asset Tokenization Advancements

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has spearheaded the formation of a specialized community to explore asset tokenization. Partnering with various industry players and regulators, this initiative seeks to drive...

Shiba Inu Lead Shytoshi Kusama Unveils Mysterious 'Evita' Teaser, Sparking Frenzy

Shytoshi Kusama, the elusive figure at the helm of the renowned cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB), has set tongues wagging with a cryptic teaser shared across social media platforms. The enigmatic message features the word...

Amazon Opens Online Shopping for South African Customers

Amazon has finally arrived in South Africa. With its launch in the region, Jeff Bezos e-commerce platform is expected to compete with the leading local online shopping player, Takealot.com. The American e-commerce giant...

Apple Embarks on AI Chip Development for Data Center Capabilities

Apple Inc. is set to transform the tech landscape with its newly developed AI chip, tailored specifically for data center operations. Dubbed Project ACDC, this initiative marks a significant leap in server technology,...