Police officers have been caught on camera beating and kicking a suspect, and threatening to sever his ear.

A hidden camera installed by the Office of Police Integrity filmed members of the now-disbanded armed offender's squad interrogating a suspect.

The video of the two-hour interrogation shows the suspect being beaten with a telephone after asking to make a call, slapped repeatedly about the face and kicked while being held on the ground.

At one stage, the suspect is struck four times in time with the words "Fucking - armed - robbery - squad."

The video shows detectives telling the suspect to decide whether to be "all friendly and co-operative" or whether he will do it the "fucking hard, hard, hard way". When he doesn't answer, the suspect is pushed to the floor and one of the officers says "welcome to the armed robbery squad."

One officer repeatedly hits the suspect, whose ear was bleeding, before telling him: "That ear's coming off by the end of the day."

(Source: The Age)

 

The Victorian State government's anti-police corruption system has largely failed to produce results after two years, according to a new investigation.

The investigation by the Age newspaper found that Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon has been unable to sack a single suspected corrupt officer. Dozens of officers earmarked for possible sacking remain on duty.

(Source: The Age)

 

Prime Minister John Howard says Australians should not 'overreact' to videos by Australian soldiers serving in Iraq, including one in which a soldier holds a gun to the head of a man in Arab dress.

The videos, which were filmed by soldiers in Iraq from 2003 to 2005, include one showing a serviceman holding a gun to the head of a man in Arab dress. Another features a soldier demonstrating his quick-draw prowess.

Mr Howard said that "I don't think we should overreact to this", because "soldiers throughout the ages have let off a bit of steam when they're working in stressful environments."

(Source: The Australian)

 

A toilet infested with termites, leaking roofs and run-down portable classrooms are some of the problems revealed by an audit of Melbourne schools.

The Australian Education Union audit of 10 primary and secondary schools in the Mount Waverely electorate has revealed that they are run-down, under-staffed and under-resourced.

Union state president Mary Bluett said that "some of these schools were built in the 1960s and were only meant to last 25 years and they have been patched up ever since."

The State government dismissed the audit as "just an AEU stunt."

(Source: The Leader)

 

A British postman has been suspended, and may lose his job, for giving people advice on how to receive less junk mail.

Roger Annies, 48, wrote and delivered leaflets to people on his round explaining how to block letters offering loans, credit cards and other 'services'.

Each year, Britain's Royal Mail delivers more than three billion unaddressed promotional letters.

Mr Annies was suspended on full pay pending a disciplinary inquiry into an "alleged misconduct issue".

The postman's leaflet read: "Royal Mail plans to increase your advertising mail. This will mean a lot more unwanted post."

"If you complete the slip below and send it to the Royal Mail delivery office you should not get any of the above-mentioned unwanted advertising."

The Royal Mail issued a statement which justified its policies on the grounds that "if we do not deliver this mail then rival companies will."

(Source: news.com.au)

 

Children as young as five have been assaulted, starved and improperly restrained after being placed in protective care in Western Australia; and a baby died after the state gave custody back to a woman whose boyfriend was a convicted child abuser.

Western Australia's Ombudsman, Deirdre O'Donnell, revealed the embattled Department for Community Development had failed to investigate properly allegations of serious abuse.

In response to the findings, West Australian Community Development Minister David Templeman would only confirm that two DCD staff had been removed and another was still being investigated. He refused to elaborate on the nature of the criminal charges.

Ms O'Donnell noted the department had still not reviewed its hostel system in 2003 when the allegations were raised, despite being warned in a 2001 report that it had "lost the capacity to deal effectively with the high-risk children and young persons in its residential care." DCD hostels house some of the state's most troubled youngsters, many of whom have serious behavioural problems and a history of neglect and abuse.

The report details claims by caseworkers and other staff about the "detention centre" culture of the hostels.

The news comes soon after state Coroner Alastair Hope handed down his findings into the death of baby Wade Scale, who died in a bath after being heavily sedated.

The DCD gave the 11-month-old back to his drug-addicted mother and her convicted baby-basher de facto husband just weeks before the toddler died.

Yesterday's report revealed a whistleblower was fobbed off by the DCD in 2003 with claims about insufficient evidence and told that "systems are not necessarily perfect".

The Ombudsman's office became involved after the whistleblower complained about the department's inaction.

After investigating, Ms O'Donnell not only found serious flaws but called on the department to apologise to the informant for the anxiety caused by its "inadequate" investigation.

In New South Wales, calculations based on DOCS's annual statistics show almost half of all initial assessments deemed by DOCS Helpline workers to be worthy of further investigation were never followed up. The ACT Government has been similarly criticised over the deaths of five children in state care.

(Source: news.com.au)

 

Child abuse and neglect have reached critical proportions in Australia, according to a children's charity.

The National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (NAPCAN Foundation) says every indicator of the problem has worsened each year for the past six years.

CEO Adam Blakester said that after studying a number of indicators including reports made to state government departments and the number of children in out-of-school care, Mr Blakester said there was no doubt abuse and neglect was on the rise.

Mr Blakester said it was frightening to realise there had been a quarter of a million reports of child abuse in the past decade and at least 40,000 cases of child abuse substantiated.

(Source: news.com.au)

 

In 1983, women earned an average of 82.3 cents for every dollar earned by the average male.

In 2006, the figure is 84.4 cents.

(Source: The Age)