Denham Sadler

is a freelance writer.

By this author


News May 20, 2023

Exclusive: UN set to sanction Australia over human rights abuses

In an exclusive interview, the vice-chair of a United Nations torture prevention committee warns that Australia is expected to become the first OECD nation to be placed on a non-compliance list for failing to meet basic obligations.

post May 10, 2023

Budget balancing act

post May 09, 2023

Budget back in surplus

post May 08, 2023

Cost of living shapes budget

post May 05, 2023

Parents’ work for welfare scrapped

post May 04, 2023

Aged care pay boost locked in

post May 03, 2023

Rate rise surprise

podcast May 02, 2023

From fatal negligence to a new $33 million contract

Contributor to The Saturday Paper Denham Sadler takes us inside how a contract to look after the health of prisoners was taken away then put into some very similar hands.

post May 02, 2023

JobSeeker boost for over 55s

post May 01, 2023

Billion-dollar builds to be axed

post April 28, 2023

National cabinet seeks health solutions

post April 27, 2023

Migration overhaul proposed

post April 26, 2023

New medicine deal cuts costs

post April 24, 2023

Missiles lead Defence strategy

News April 22, 2023

Controversial prison health contractor back in business

Despite a report recommending the Victorian government return all custodial healthcare to the public sector, it has signed a $33 million deal to outsource men’s services to a controversial US-based private prison operator linked to the former provider.

News October 29, 2022

Consumer leases prey on the vulnerable

Leases on basic household items – at up to three times retail price – prey on financially vulnerable people. A new bill aims to improve the situation, but it doesn’t stop the practice.

News September 24, 2022

Refugees cut off from support

Refugees who are ineligible for other welfare support and in financial hardship have had their Special Benefit payments cut off, due to a technical glitch that stems from a disconnect between government departments.

News August 06, 2022

Victoria’s Indigenous legal service forced to turn away clients

In a move that highlights a critical shortage of funding, Victoria’s only legal service for First Nations communities has been forced to implement a freeze on new clients.

News June 18, 2022

The aged-care crisis in prisons

Despite ample warning that Australia’s jails are facing a rapidly ageing population, little action has been taken to mitigate the complications of dementia and illness.

podcast September 28, 2021

Inside the Covid-19 outbreak in our prisons

Throughout the pandemic health experts and human rights advocates have been warning about the risk of a Covid-19 outbreak in the prison system. Now it’s happened.

News September 25, 2021

Inside the Parklea prison Covid-19 outbreak

Coronavirus has taken hold at Parklea Correctional Centre, with at least 140 inmates infected. Treatment is cursory and prisoners with the virus are largely prevented from contacting family members and even lawyers.

News August 07, 2021

Almost all Covid-19 fines remain unpaid

As Victoria returns to lockdown, new figures show more than 30,000 Covid-19 fines in the state remain unpaid.

News July 03, 2021

Human rights breaches in prisons

Almost four years after Australia ratified the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, humans rights breaches are still being reported in prisons and detention centres.

News June 12, 2021

Delays in vaccinating prisoners

The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to Australian prisons has been delayed despite evidence from around the world that the virus can be a disaster for incarcerated people.

News October 03, 2020

Victoria’s punitive fines system

As Victoria raises its Covid-19 fines to $5000, lawyers say the agency overseeing fines continues to take a hardline approach to debt collection, ignoring the devastating effects this punitive system can have on the vulnerable.

Health December 14, 2019

Thalidomide survivors

A senate inquiry into thalidomide in March called for survivors to be better supported and compensated. Months later the government still has done nothing.

News June 29, 2019

Victoria reviews spent convictions

Plans to introduce spent convictions legislation in Victoria – the only state that doesn’t allow the wiping of minor convictions from a person’s record – stalled earlier this year. Now, Reason Party leader Fiona Patten has put the scheme back on the agenda.

News April 06, 2019

Campaign to keep women out of jail

A new campaign is calling on Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to show his progressive values by drastically reducing the number of women and children in jail.

News March 23, 2019

Wider laws to allow Victoria Police to take DNA samples

Privacy fears surround Victoria’s new DNA laws, which would allow police to take samples from suspects before they are charged with any crime.

News November 24, 2018

More cameras on police coming

Victoria Police are expanding the use of body cameras despite concerns from community and legal groups about a lack of rules over their use and uncertainty about the accessibility of footage to support complaints about police conduct.

News September 01, 2018

Family violence and mandatory sentencing

New mandatory sentencing laws for assaults against emergency workers could see frightened victims of family violence face jail time while their attackers go free.

News September 23, 2017

Syrian marching band helps refugees

A marching band in Melbourne comprising young refugees from Syria is helping its members adjust to their new home, while providing a connection with their community.

News August 19, 2017

Clinton Pryor’s Walk for Justice

Clinton Pryor has walked across Australia to raise awareness of injustice for Indigenous peoples and now approaches Canberra for a planned meeting with the governor-general.

News May 13, 2017

Did Max Castor disappear deliberately?

The father of a Swedish man missing in Victoria since 2004 believes his son vanished by choice. So is Max Castor still alive?

News April 01, 2017

The murder of Fitzroy taxi driver Mohamud Muketar

Almost a year on from the murder of a Melbourne taxi driver, police are no closer to solving the crime and his father no nearer to answers.

News January 28, 2017

Ms Dhu’s family’s fight for prosecutions

Ms Dhu’s family is determined not to let the coronial report into her death disappear from the spotlight without prosecutions.

News December 03, 2016

Melbourne suburb Eltham welcomes refugees

Plans to use part of an aged-care facility in an outer Melbourne suburb as temporary housing for refugees have been welcomed by the local community. But that hasn’t stopped anti-immigration protesters descending.

News August 20, 2016

WA still waits for Indigenous Custody Notification

The first Aboriginal death in custody for 16 years in NSW has highlighted the effectiveness of a Custody Notification Service, which WA has yet to implement.

News June 20, 2015

Cutting the Aboriginal custody helpline

Instead of expanding a successful legal service with proven success reducing Aboriginal deaths in custody, the federal government is cutting its funding.

Science February 07, 2015

Australian hoping to join the Mars One mission

She was fascinated by space as a child. Now Australian woman Dianne McGrath has volunteered to live out life on Mars.