Law Report

Angela Rintoul, a University of Melbourne researcher on gambling and suicide, discusses the landmark finding linking online betting to Kyle Hudson’s death and calls for stronger regulation. Lawyer Tony Taouk explains what punters can do when bookmakers withhold winnings, how “professional” gambler labels are applied, and why account terms can leave successful bettors exposed.

Maria Gassoni, a Bathurst community activist, Mililma May, a First Nations organiser from Darwin, Paddy Gibson, a Sydney campaigner, and Anastasia Radievska, a protest rights advocate, examine Australia’s maze of protest rules. They discuss permits, council resistance, privatised public spaces, $20 million insurance demands, costly traffic control and whether these barriers undermine democratic participation.

Sarah Fulton, a Queensland Human Rights Commission lawyer, discusses the High Court ruling allowing a prisoner to freeze her eggs. About Time founder Joseph Friedman examines healthcare inequalities behind bars, including mental health delays, medication access, exercise restrictions, mother-and-baby arrangements and the absence of needle-based harm reduction. They explore dignity, rehabilitation and prisoners’ rights beyond punishment.

Former Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry, political strategist Alex Fine, and political communication scholar Andrea Carson examine misinformation’s threat to democracy. They explore accidental falsehoods versus deliberate disinformation, why people share content they know is false, election manipulation, attacks on courts, AI-generated political messaging, and the challenges of regulating digital platforms.

When OpenAI agents gained unauthorised access to the Medicare data portal, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was extremely concerned about the privacy breach. But are there any legal consequences? Could OpenAI be prosecuted for the hack? Could it be liable in a civil action?As the technology develops at breakneck speed, the Law Report discusses what guardrails are necessary to keep people and data safe in the age of AI and social media.

Tony Toke, a Sydney lawyer focused on commercial and civil litigation, and Melissa Stilinovic, a researcher into technological harms and digital extremism, examine the legal risks of smart glasses in public spaces. They discuss covert recording, privacy gaps, school and beach bans, consent, and platform accountability. Toke also explores why an unpaid $50,000 gambling debt became unenforceable after a court found an unlicensed bookmaking arrangement.

The Victorian government has pledged to implement a raft of reforms around domestic and family violence if it is re-elected in November.One promise is to introduce a new manslaughter offence in cases where a person is found to have taken their own life due to family violence.So, is it currently possible to convict a person of murder or manslaughter if they goad or encourage their partner to die by suicide?This has happened in Britain and the United States.And right now, Adelaide woman Jacinta Ann Drust is facing charges of murder and unlawful killing over the death of her boyfriend Antonio Cavaiuolo.Ms Drust has pleaded not guilty to the charges. She denies the allegations and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Michael Burns, a Sydney employment lawyer; Tess Hardy, a University of Melbourne labour law scholar; and Greg Baker, a Macquarie computing academic, discuss AI’s growing role in workplace disputes. Baker recounts using AI to win a landmark Fair Work Commission case. They explore AI-fuelled claims, access to justice, disclosure rules, hallucinated authorities, hopeless cases and why human legal judgment still matters.

An elderly man goes into respite care and meets a nurse he's never known before. Within days she's bought him a will kit and had a document drawn up that leaves everything to her. He dies weeks later. Was that his clear settled wish, or something else entirely? Proving the difference is where it gets hard. And messy.When it comes to wills, how big an issue are fraud and undue influence? And what sorts of questions arise over how a will is made?Melbourne lawyer and elder financial abuse specialist James Dimond takes us inside these disputes, from a will signed by pressured witnesses to a father who cut out his son after his daughter convinced him her brother was a dangerous criminal, and the legal idea courts call "poisoning of the mind".The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body explores what happens when wills go wrong.A reminder, this conversation does not represent or replace legal advice.

A frozen fish packet. An unsent text. A tractor fender. Courts have accepted all of these as valid wills.You want to write a will and make sure that your assets go to those who you think deserve your generosity.So, how can you make sure the will is binding? Does it need to be a formal document, printed out and signed with a pen? Or can a valid will be a word document, an email or text message? Can it be written on a frozen fish packet or the wall in your home?Wills expert Professor Pru Vines of UNSW walks through the strangest cases courts have accepted, including a British man who left his entire estate to charity on fish and mince pie packaging, a dying Canadian farmer who scratched his wishes into a tractor after it rolled on him, an unsent phone text upheld in Queensland, and a woman who recorded her will on a smartphone while chastising her children.The Law Report's special series Over My Dead Body looks at how courts decide whether an unconventional or irregular will is or isn't valid.A warning, this conversation makes multiple references to suicide, so take care when listening.It also does not represent or replace legal advice.