Robyn Blewer

Nov 25, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Robyn Blewer |Rosana Coelho |Deb Turney

Compensation for wrongful conviction should be available to all, assessed in accordance with the damage done due to this greatest injustice. What’s a wrongful conviction worth? In 2019 David Eastman was awarded $7 million in compensation for the 19 years he had spent wrongly imprisoned for murder. For Kathleen Folbigg, the question of compensation remains unanswered – and unfairly uncertain.

Oct 7, 2024 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Robyn Blewer |Paul Gregoire |Ingeborg van Teeseling |Derryn Hinch

This Thursday, World Day Against The Death Penalty, reminds us there are still good reasons to be concerned about this form of punishment. October 10 is World Day Against The Death Penalty. While no one in Australia has been legally executed since 1967, there are good reasons to continue to be concerned about this form of punishment. Well into the 21st century, execution rates around the world are increasing.

Oct 24, 2023 | womensagenda.com.au | Robyn Blewer |a Master

NB: this article refers to a First Nations woman who has passed away. ‘She was determined and articulate and really, really normal. And nice.’This was journalist Natalie Barr’s assessment of Kathleen Folbigg following her recent interview with Folbigg for Channel 7’s Spotlight program. These aren’t really attributes you’d associate with someone who was, for decades, known as Australia’s worst serial killer, and worse still, a serial baby killer. Kathleen Folbigg’s story is still unfolding.

Sep 4, 2023 | thebigsmoke.com.au | Robyn Blewer

A recent amendment allowing for the detention of children in watchhouses expressly overrides the human rights of children in Queensland. Queenslanders may need a reminder that this is 2023 because their government seems to think it is 1823. A quarter of the way through the twenty-first century we have a government that has expressly overridden the human rights of its children. The government action garnering so much attention is an amendment allowing for the detention of children in watchhouses.

Jun 22, 2023 | inqld.com.au | Robyn Blewer

Rear view of themis statue with balance scales in black and white But Kathleen’s is not the only one of its kind in Australian legal history, nor will it be the last. While we await the Hon. Tom Bathurst KC’s final report, to be released in coming weeks, many are asking how this happened, why it took so long to achieve this outcome and how can we be sure cases like Kathleen’s don’t happen again?