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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

Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Truce Uncertainty and Middle East Tensions Keep Markets on Edge

Global oil prices stabilized on Friday, but Brent crude remained on track for a weekly decline of more than 8% as investors assessed the uncertain future of the U.S.-Iran peace agreement and ongoing geopolitical risks in...

Asian Stocks Surge as Oil Prices Fall and Strong US Dollar Weighs on Markets

Asian stock markets rallied on Friday, with Japan and South Korea reaching record highs as easing tensions in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices lower, reducing global inflation...

US Stock Futures Slip After Wall Street Rally Fueled by US-Iran Deal and Chipmaker Surge

U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday evening, giving back some gains after a strong Wall Street rally driven by optimism surrounding a new U.S.-Iran agreement and a powerful surge in semiconductor stocks....

Canada, British Columbia Launch $5 Billion Infrastructure Partnership to Boost Housing, Transit, and Healthcare

Canada and British Columbia have unveiled a major long-term infrastructure partnership valued at more than $5 billion, aimed at accelerating housing development, expanding healthcare facilities, and improving public...

Japan Inflation Stays Below BOJ Target Despite Rate Hike and Rising Energy Cost Risks

Japans consumer inflation remained subdued in May, highlighting the ongoing impact of government energy subsidies even as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) signals concerns over future price pressures. The latest inflation data was...

Politics

Bolivia Nears End to 50-Day Crisis After Government Reaches Deal With Workers

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz has reached a key agreement with the Bolivian Workers Confederation (COB), marking a significant step toward ending a nationwide crisis that has disrupted the country for nearly 50 days. The...

Trump Says Anthropic No Longer Seen as National Security Threat

U.S. President Donald Trump said he no longer views artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a national security threat, marking a significant shift from his stance just a week earlier. The comments came during an...

UN Clash Erupts as Israel Envoy Confronts UN Officials Over Blacklisting Reports

A tense confrontation unfolded at the United Nations headquarters in New York during an event marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, as Israels ambassador to the U.N., Danny...

Meloni Slams Trump Over G7 Photo Claim as U.S.-Italy Relations Deteriorate

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has strongly rejected claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump that she begged him for a photo during the recent G7 summit, calling the remarks completely made up and expressing...

Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Takes Effect Amid Rising Tensions Over U.S.-Iran Deal

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday following days of intensified fighting in Lebanon that threatened to undermine the recently announced U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending broader Middle East...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

John Jumper Leaves Google DeepMind for Anthropic Amid Intensifying AI Talent Race

John Jumper, the Google DeepMind researcher who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his groundbreaking work on the AlphaFold artificial intelligence system, has announced that he is leaving Google DeepMind to join...

Meta Seeks Legal Shield From Child-Harm Lawsuits Amid KOSA Talks

Meta Platforms is reportedly lobbying U.S. lawmakers to include legal protections for social media companies in the proposed Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a move that could significantly impact thousands of lawsuits...

SpaceX Stock Slides After IPO Rally as Valuation Concerns Grow

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) shares extended their pullback on Thursday after a remarkable post-IPO rally, as investors locked in profits and questioned the companys lofty valuation. The stock, which dropped nearly 10% earlier in...

US Raises Concerns Over Possible ASML EUV Machine Transfer to China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has reportedly raised concerns with Dutch semiconductor equipment giant ASML regarding the possible transfer of one of its advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines to...

Google Gemini Co-Lead Noam Shazeer Leaves for OpenAI Amid AI Talent Race

Noam Shazeer, a vice president of engineering at Google and one of the leaders behind the companys Gemini artificial intelligence models, has announced that he is leaving Google to join OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. The...