Law Reform Advocacy
Banning Spit Hoods:
One key project that our Hub is involved in includes our role as a coalition partner to the National Ban Spit Hoods Coalition. Latoya Rule and Alison Whittaker have been involved in establishing the coalition, and this far have worked successfully in bringing two Australian jurisdictions into line with International human rights obligations against torture with legislated bans, and a multitude of advocacy that has seen the operational ban on Spit Hoods across Australia and including a ban by the Australian Federal Police.
Women’s Agenda Feature, July 18, 2023
‘Meet the person putting a stop to Spit Hoods across Australia’
https://womensagenda.com.au/leadership/profiles/meet-the-person-putting-a-stop-to-spit-hoods-across-australia/
NSW Ban Spit hoods - 2024
Photo of Alison Whittaker and Latoya Rule at NSW Parliament
Video: NSW Legislative Council Hansard, 8 February 2024
The Hon. Stephen Lawrence MLC (video @ 19:34):
‘I also acknowledge the presence of Alison and Latoya in the President's gallery. I had the privilege of meeting with them last week and getting some particular insights into the bill and the circumstances that have brought it about. I acknowledge their important work in the National Ban Spit Hoods Coalition, and also their important work at Jumbunna in researching particular issues that relate to coronial inquests and the experience of First Nations people in those inquests.’
Michael West Media (Independent Journalists), February 9, 2024
‘NSW bans spit hoods but still some backing in NT’
and https://michaelwest.com.au/nsw-bans-spit-hoods-but-still-some-backing-in-nt/ https://www.margaretrivermail.com.au/story/8516310/nsw-bans-spit-hoods-but-still-some-backing-in-nt/
Program: Speaking Out Interview with Larissa Behrendt, 1 March 2024
‘The young First Nations advocates making change happen’
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/speakingout/speaking-out/103452804
Photo of Jumbunna Media Release by Latoya Rule
NATIONAL BAN SPIT HOODS MEDIA RELEASE [photo]
David Dungay Jr.:
Photo - Latoya Rule with David Dungay Jr.'s mother Leetona Dungay on the 8th Anniversary of his death, Longbay Prison
Recent Publications
Rule, L and Jarldon, M, ‘Bringing prison abolition from the margins to the centre: Utilising storywork to decentre carceral logic in supervision and beyondʼ in Kelly J and Maddison M (Eds), Marginalised Voices in Criminology: Theory, Criminal Justice, and Contemporary Research (2023).
Public Submissions
Jumbunna’s brief to the Sub-Committee for the Prevention of Torture: on the use of spit hoods
Group photo of Legal Strategies Hub Members - Asia Pacific Coroner's Society Conference - Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Legal Strategies Hub researcher & presenter Latoya with fellow Māori attendees at the 'Construction of the Indigenous Incarcerated Body: Māori & Indigenous Populations and the School to Prison Pipeline' symposium, February 2024.