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last mo.

Neill-Fraser’s Challenge to Parole Media Ban Deferred to September

The Hobart Supreme Court scheduled the next mention for September 10 after the Parole Board’s counsel said he had no instructions during Tasmania’s caretaker period.

Susan Neill-Fraser was convicted of her partner's murder in 2010, but has maintained her innocence ever since. Picture: Facebook

Overview

  • Susan Neill-Fraser has applied to Tasmania’s Supreme Court to overturn a parole condition that bars her from speaking to media about her innocence or wrongful conviction.
  • The Human Rights Law Centre argues the media ban is “unreasonable” and infringes Australia’s constitutionally implied freedoms of expression and political communication.
  • Parole Board lawyer Simon Gates told Associate Justice Michael Daly he lacked instructions to proceed because Tasmania’s public sector is operating under caretaker conventions.
  • Justice Daly adjourned the administrative hearing to September 10, with a substantive hearing date yet to be set.
  • Neill-Fraser was convicted in 2010 over the 2009 disappearance of Bob Chappell, served about 13 years in custody and was released on parole in 2022 under restrictive conditions.