Queensland’s proposed Human Rights Act should be improved with some simple amendments, the parliamentary committee reviewing the Palaszczuk Government’s legislation has been told today.
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Federal laws should be amended to protect students and staff from discrimination, the Human Rights Law Centre said today in its submission to the Senate committee reviewing laws that allow faith-based schools to discriminate against LGBTIQ people.
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To mark the anniversary of the release of the Royal Commission into Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory’s final report, the Change the Record Coalition including human rights organisations is calling on the NT Gunner Government to raise the age of criminal responsibility and get children out of harmful youth prisons.
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At the same time as children and their families are being medically evacuated from Nauru, it’s been reported today that Canstruct, a Queensland company, is set to make in the order of $150 million in earnings from the Australian Government for running the Nauru detention centre.
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This week marks one year since Australians overwhelmingly voted ‘Yes’ to the question of whether LGBTI Australians can marry the person they love.
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The NT Government has introduced new laws that will help heal the harm caused by discriminatory laws against LGBTI people. NT’s expungement laws, which come into effect today, and the introduction of legislation to reform outdated birth certificate laws are two steps towards achieving justice and equality for all.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the electoral funding bill that is to come before the Senate today, which is vastly different from the initial proposal that would have stifled vital public advocacy by charities.
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In an open letter to Attorney-General Christian Porter, leading legal academics and antidiscrimination law practitioners have strongly criticised aspects of the proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA) designed to deal with discrimination by religious schools against LGBT students.
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Don Dale is ablaze almost one year since the Royal Commission recommended it be closed. While the Northern Territory Government accepted all 226 recommendations from the Royal Commission, Shahleena Musk, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said that the Gunner Government has been all words, yet little action.
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The Australia Government is today challenging the Federal Court’s power to order urgent medical evacuations of acutely unwell men, women and children from Manus and Nauru.
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Despite reports today that all children and their families will finally be evacuated from Nauru and amidst mounting public pressure to end offshore detention, it’s also been reported that Canstruct has had its contract to run the Nauru detention centre renewed.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has submitted a report to the United Nations Child Rights Committee showing that Australian governments are failing to protect the rights of vulnerable children. Australia is due to front the Child Rights Committee in Geneva in February, where the Government’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be measured. The HRLC’s report, ‘Justice for Children’, will inform the assessment of Australia.
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The Human Rights Law Centre cautiously welcomed reports today that all children and their families will finally be evacuated from Nauru but warned that the evacuations must happen immediately.
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The Palaszczuk Government will today table in Parliament its long-awaited human rights legislation to protect fundamental rights for all Queenslanders like the right to education, privacy, freedom of speech and the protection of children.
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"With this prosecution, the Government is trying to send a message to all public servants that if they dare to speak up about corruption or wrongdoing, the government will come down on them like a tonne of bricks. For a healthy democracy, we want people speaking up when they see something wrong," said Hugh de Kretser.
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A major report confirms that religious conversion therapy and related practices are pervasive in many faith communities in Australia and causing real harm to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.
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The Human Rights Law Centre believes in a future where human rights are universally understood, upheld and protected. We secure law and policy change that eliminates inequality, abuse and injustice and builds a society grounded in decency, compassion and respect.
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The leaked copy of the Morrison Government’s bill to protect students from discrimination has raised concerns and a push for more consultation with the community.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has been working with the Equality Campaign and LGBTI community organisations to advocate for the removal of outdated exemptions from anti-discrimination laws which allow religious schools to expel LGBT students and fire LGBT teachers.
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LGBTI groups, parents of trans and gender diverse children, teachers, leaders and allies are in Canberra to call on parliament to amend outdated anti-discrimination laws to ensure all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are treated with fairness and equality.
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The decision from Australia’s Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against five Myanmar military officers responsible for human rights violations committed by units under their command has been welcomed by the Australian Council for International Development and the Human Rights Law Centre.
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Legal experts and human rights advocates today condemned Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s refusal to resolve the urgent medical emergency for children on Nauru when he ruled out negotiating with Labor and the crossbench.
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The Western Australian Government has an historic opportunity to do away with outdated and unnecessary laws that prevent trans and gender diverse people from being recognised as who they are, according to a submission by Transfolk of WA together with the Human Rights Law Centre.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed changes recommended by a Parliamentary Committee into proposed national electoral laws, which are a further step towards rolling back proposed legislation that would have stifled vital public advocacy by charities.
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Queensland women will finally have the freedom to decide what is right for their bodies with the passing of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill in the Queensland Parliament last night.
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People in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities struggling under the Australian Government’s racially discriminatory remote work-for-the-dole program would be left with less money to survive if a Bill before Parliament passes.
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Today 47 organisations and leaders called on the Morrison Government to amend outdated anti-discrimination laws to ensure all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people are treated with fairness and equality.
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63 mothers, fathers and children permanently separated between Australia and indefinite offshore detention on Manus and Nauru have taken their case for family reunion to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has welcomed the Australian Government’s new strategy for the abolition of the death penalty, but warned that further action is needed to avoid the risk of another tragedy like the deaths of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
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Every person deserves the right to be who they are. LGBT people are not wrong or broken, and religious conversion therapies that try to ‘cure’ them are harmful.
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From today transgender Victorians will be able to stay married to the person they love when they change their birth certificate to reflect who they are. The Andrews Government eliminated an anomaly in Victoria’s birth certificate laws that requires anyone wishing to change their gender to be unmarried.
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Today the Sydney Morning Herald released the 20 recommendations from the Religious Freedom Review headed by Phillip Ruddock, leaving LGBTI advocates and human rights experts concerned about future discrimination for LGBTI people.
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Laws that protect the dignity, safety and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare should be upheld, the High Court will hear in a case set to begin in Canberra tomorrow.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed new changes to proposed electoral laws that had originally threatened to shut charities out of public policy debates, yet called for further improvements in a submission to a Parliamentary inquiry.
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Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities struggling under the Australian Government’s racially discriminatory remote work for the dole program would be worse off under a proposed new penalty system, a Senate Committee inquiry has been told.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed new changes to proposed electoral laws that threatened to shut charities out of public debates about laws and policies.
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The Australian Government should immediately end its engagement with Myanmar’s military and impose sanctions on abusive military generals, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Australian Council for International Development said in a joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council overnight.
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“As the Australian Government sits here on this Council, professing its commitment to human rights, it is indefinitely imprisoning 102 children in its offshore refugee camp on Nauru,” Daniel Webb told the UN Human Rights Council.
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The Australian Government should not be allowed to pick and choose what detention facilities can be scrutinised under the UN anti-torture treaty, the Human Rights Law Centre said in a submission to the Human Rights Commission.
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A dark chapter in Australia’s history has closed for gay, lesbian and bisexual Australians, their friends and families. Today the Western Australian Parliament joined all states and territories in passing laws to allow people charged under unjust homosexual laws to have the convictions removed from their criminal records.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has launched a report calling for stronger protections from hate speech and hate crime in Victoria. End the Hate: Responding to prejudice motivated speech and violence against the LGBTI Community reveals how current laws and policies are failing to protect LGBTI people from hate crime and hate conduct and outlines how the tide can be turned with 23 recommendations for reform.
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The Australian Government should immediately end military ties with Myanmar, Australia’s foremost international human rights and development organisations jointly said today. They called on the Australian government to impose targeted sanctions on military commanders responsible for atrocities committed against ethnic Rohingya, and to press for an international mechanism to assist future prosecutions.
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The new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has used her maiden speech at the UN Human Rights Council to condemn the Australian Government’s indefinite offshore detention regime.
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The Andrews Government has pushed divisive anti-association laws through the lower house of Parliament today. The laws will give police excessive powers to issue ‘anti-association notices’, telling people – including children as young as 14 – who they can and can’t be friends with or spend time with.
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The Queensland Parliament should demonstrate its commitment to women’s health and equality by passing a bill to modernise the state’s woefully outdated abortion laws the Human Right Law Centre said in a submission to a parliamentary committee today.
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Laws that protect the dignity, safety and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare should be upheld, the Human Rights Law Centre has argued in submissions accepted this week by the High Court.
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Ten faith-based family violence services have made a public pledge to provide inclusive and non-discriminatory services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender diverse and intersex (LGBTI) people in Victoria. Anna Brown, Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, welcomed the pledge and its significance.
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Australian governments must put in place life-saving Custody Notification Services in every state and territory to address one of the most significant human rights issues in Australia – the preventable deaths in custody of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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The Government’s new modern slavery legislation will not be effective in combating forced labour unless stronger compliance measures are implemented, the Human Rights Law Centre said today.
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The Queensland Parliament should demonstrate its commitment to women’s health and equality by passing a bill that would update the state’s woefully outdated abortion laws.
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New laws proposed by the Department of Home Affairs would create a massive database of photos of millions of ordinary Australians, including children, from passports, state and territory drivers’ licences and more.
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The Human Rights Law Centre believes in a future where human rights are universally understood, upheld and protected. We secure law and policy change that eliminates inequality, abuse and injustice and builds a society grounded in decency, compassion and respect. We are currently recruiting for two people to join our diverse team who have a strong, shared commitment to creating a better, fairer Australia.
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Human rights lawyers are calling on WA Corrective Services Minister, Francis Logan, to categorically prohibit solitary confinement for children, in the wake of a report by the Independent Inspector of Custodial Services into alleged ill-treatment at the notorious Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre.
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A new nationwide campaign “My ID, My Identity” is calling on states and territories to support trans and gender diverse people to be recognised as who they are. Currently in some states, people can only change the gender on their birth certificate if they are unmarried, if they’ve had invasive surgery on their reproductive organs and are over 18.
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“The Australian government’s refugee policies have been internationally condemned as putting lives at risk. Businesses, including airlines, that actively facilitate and profit from this system are complicit in abuse and risk exposing themselves to serious reputational liability.”
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Young people, who are most likely to feel the long-term effects of today’s political decisions, should be allowed to vote from the age of 16, the Human Right Law Centre said today in a submission to the Australian Parliament’s electoral committee.
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Stronger oversight and compliance measures are needed to ensure the Australian Government’s modern slavery legislation is effective in combating forced labour, the Human Rights Law Centre told a Senate Inquiry today.
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The Queensland Coroner has found that the death of Hamid Khazaei, a 24 year old man indefinitely detained by the Australian Government on Manus Island, was “preventable” and that if he was evacuated to Australia for medical treatment sooner he would have survived.
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This week marks the two year anniversary since the horrific images of child abuse in Don Dale youth prison were beamed across the nation, leading to the Northern Territory Royal Commission.
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Ethan and his mum Sarah outside South Australian Parliament to support the passage of birth certificate reforms.
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The Australian Government has been urged to improve its track record on women’s rights overnight by an expert UN Committee on women’s rights.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women made its criticism after a robust review earlier this month to assess Australia’s progress on ending discrimination against women.
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The Victorian Government will today introduce chilling new laws to restrict the ability of Victorians to freely spend time together.
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People in Queensland who have convictions for historic consensual same-sex activity can now apply to have their criminals records removed through the LGBTI Legal Service.
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Thursday 19 July will mark five years of limbo and suffering for over 1650 men, women and children indefinitely imprisoned in the Turnbull Government’s refugee camps on Manus Island and Nauru.
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The Queensland Parliament has the historic opportunity to bring its woefully outdated abortion laws into the 21st Century with the Queensland Premier today proposing welcome new laws to remove abortion from the criminal code.
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The UN’s expert committee on discrimination against women has raised a series of concerns about the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer women and girls in Australia.
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Overnight, the UN expert on racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia delivered a major report condemning the rise of toxic and hate-filled refugee and migration politics around the world. The report makes specific reference to the cynical politics surrounding the treatment of refugees in Australia.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has today asked the High Court to review a decision by the Northern Territory Court of Appeal regarding an Aboriginal man who was charged 28 times for breaching misguided and discriminatory alcohol laws.
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Indigenous advocate, Keenan Mundine, a former youth prisoner and principal consultant of Inside Out Aboriginal Justice Consultancy, has travelled to Geneva to address the UN Human Rights Council about the Turnbull Government’s failure to stop ten year old children being sent to prison.
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The Australian Government will face intense scrutiny of its treatment of women and girls in next week at the United Nations.
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Northern Territory women have had 12 months of better quality healthcare since abortion laws were reformed last year, however the Northern Territory Government is yet to finish the job.
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Attorney-General Christian Porter has approved the criminal prosecution of a former Australian spy and his lawyer for their role revealing that the Australian Government had bugged the East Timorese cabinet room during sensitive negotiations about oil and gas revenue.
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Following the UN Human Rights Chief’s condemnation of Donald Trump’s brutality to children at the US border, the Turnbull Government’s indefinite detention of 134 refugee children has been called out at the UN Human Rights Council overnight.
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Stronger oversight and compliance measures are needed to ensure the Government’s new modern slavery legislation is effective in combating forced labour, the Human Rights Law Centre said today.
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Australian governments should respect a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body by removing abortion from criminal laws the Human Rights Law Centre told the UN Human Rights Council in a statement delivered in Geneva overnight.
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Charities and unions will largely be exempt from the foreign agent register if recommendations from a parliamentary committee’s inquiry into foreign influence are acted on.
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Australian governments should end the routine strip searching of women in prison the Human Rights Law Centre has told the UN Human Rights Council in a statement delivered in Geneva overnight.
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The Trump administration has announced that it will quit the UN Human Rights Council, effective immediately. Daniel Webb, Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, who is in Geneva for the current session of the Human Rights Council, said the move was widely expected by advocates and diplomats and is the latest step in the United States’ retreat from human rights and multilateralism.
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For the first time in 15 years, women attending the Surry Hill’s reproductive health clinic did so today without being harassed, intimidated or filmed.
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The Australian Government has an opportunity to play a critical role in addressing the violence and discrimination lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people face across the globe, the Human Rights Law Centre told the UN Human Rights Council today.
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The Turnbull Government’s second session as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN body responsible for protecting the rights and dignity of people all over the world, will begin in Geneva tomorrow.
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The Queensland Government’s budget, which was handed down this week, features $2.3 million of funding over four years for the state’s Anti-Discrimination Commission to help it administer the Human Rights Act that the Government will soon be introducing.
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Transgender people in Queensland will have the dignity of living their true lives, following a significant birth certificate reform passed by the State Parliament tonight.
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Women in NSW will no longer be forced to run a gauntlet of abuse and harassment just to see their doctor after the NSW Parliament today passed a bill to create safe access zones around abortion clinics.
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Australia has a new espionage and secrecy regime, after the Parliament voted to pass the Turnbull Government’s proposals on Thursday evening. Over the last six months, civil society and lawyers’ groups, including the Human Rights Law Centre, raised serious concerns over impacts on freedom of expression.
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New criminal offences will make it easier to charge and prosecute prejudice motivated threats or incitement of violence, under new laws tabled by New South Wales Parliament this week.
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Transgender people in New South Wales will now be able to stay married to the person they love when they change the gender on their birth certificate, with the Berejiklian Government passing new laws today.
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A legal defence that discriminates against gay and bisexual men may soon be repealed after South Australian Attorney-General Vickie Chapman expressed support for the removal of the so-called ‘gay panic defence’.
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The Northern Territory Supreme Court has today held that the now repealed Alcohol Protection Order (APO) regime was valid and not in breach of the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act.
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The Human Rights Law Centre is deeply committed to the realisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ human rights in Australia, as a vital component of our broader mission to protect and promote human rights in Australia and in Australian activities overseas.
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New laws proposed by the Department of Home Affairs would authorise the creation of a “dragnet database”, compiling images of innocent Australians – including children – from their drivers’ licences, identification cards and passport photos.
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Laws that protect the dignity, safety and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare should be upheld the Human Rights Law Centre has argued in a submission to the High Court today.
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The importance of a woman's right to safely and privately access reproductive health services has been recognised by the NSW Legislative Council with the passing of a bill that would guarantee safe access zones around abortion clinics.
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Transgender Victorians will now be able to stay married to the person they love when they change the gender on their birth certificate with the Andrews Government passing new laws overnight. A similar bill is being introduced in the NSW parliament today.
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He has been denied his liberty, denied his personal security and denied his most fundamental of human rights. But he has defiantly refused to be denied his voice. We were honoured to have Behrouz Boochani deliver our Sydney Human Rights Dinner keynote address from Manus Island.
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The Australian Government has the opportunity to ensure all Australians are treated with fairness and equality with the findings of the Religious Freedom Review presented to the Prime Minister today.
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The Ian Potter Foundation has announced Ruth Barson, Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, a recipient of their annual international study grant.
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The Australian Government has told yet another group of up to 90 refugees and people seeking asylum that they will be evicted from their homes and will be cut off from all income support.
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The safety, wellbeing and dignity of women seeking reproductive health services is a step closer to being protected in New South Wales through a bill that would guarantee safe access zones around abortion clinics.
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The need for fair pay for work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities has finally been acknowledged by the Federal Government but Budget measures outlined for its remote work for the dole scheme fall well-short of realising this in practice.
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Children in the Northern Territory will be better protected from Don Dale-like abuse behind bars with the Gunner Government today passing landmark laws that will prohibit harm to children. The laws will solidify key recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory.
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The Northern Territory Government will today deliver a formal state apology to people convicted under historic laws against homosexual acts. Chief Minister Michael Gunner will issue the apology.
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The growing threat to press freedom posed by laws that fail to properly protect journalists and their sources has been highlighted by a new report by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance.
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After a week of intense negotiations, the Western Australian Government has avoided urgent Supreme Court action by allowing a newborn Aboriginal baby to remain with her mother.
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On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the tragic Rana Plaza factory collapse, twelve prominent Australian organisations have united to call on Australian brands that are lagging behind the rest of the industry to sign the 2018 Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord, developed in the wake of the building collapse that claimed the lives of more than 1100 workers in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013.
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As of today, Australia has adoption equality.
All adult couples have an equal right to adopt children, after the adoption equality bill which passed a month ago in the Northern Territory finally became law today.
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Statistics released this week reveal the Gunner Government is sending more men and women to prison than ever before – a direct result of Chief Minister Gunner’s failure to repeal mandatory sentencing laws.
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A report released by the Independent Inspector of Custodial Services has detailed horrific conditions and treatment in Western Australia’s only youth jail, Banksia Hill. The Inspector has called on the McGowan Government to take urgent action.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed a Parliamentary Committee report which recognises major problems in the Turnbull Government’s foreign donations bill as it applies to third parties (individuals and organisations that do not stand for office).
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From today, the Tasmanian Parliament will provide a way for people convicted under unjust laws against homosexual acts to have these charges removed from their criminal records.
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An avalanche of news stories from people who have experienced excessive force, racist policing or other police misconduct, and tried unsuccessfully to make complaints, provide a shocking glimpse into the failings of Victoria's police complaints system.
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Australian governments must work together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations to address one of the most significant human rights issues in Australia – the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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The Australian Government has joined 44 other nations in delivering a scathing statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council overnight on the rapid deterioration of Cambodia’s human rights situation, expressing "deep concern about the recent serious decline of civil and political rights in Cambodia".
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Today the Northern Territory Attorney-General, Natasha Fyles, introduced a bill to allow people charged under unjust laws against homosexual acts to remove the convictions from their criminal records.
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In a submission to the Queensland Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into abortion laws, the Human Rights Law Centre has called for the decriminalisation of abortion and for new laws that respect women’s right to choose what happens to their bodies.
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Proposed amendments to the Turnbull Government’s secrecy laws are a step in the right direction but don’t go far enough, the Human Rights Law Centre told a parliamentary committee this morning.
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In a statement delivered in the United Nations overnight, the Human Rights Law Centre has called on the UN Human Rights Council to hold the Turnbull Government accountable for the continued suffering of 1800 refugees still languishing on Manus and Nauru after almost five years.
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As the United Nations debates Eritrea’s troubled human rights record, an Australian mining company has taken the extraordinary step of appearing with the Eritrean regime to help it defend its actions.
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New adoption equality laws allowing same-sex couples to adopt children passed the Northern Territory parliament. Until today, the NT was the only remaining Australian state or territory that prevented same-sex and unmarried couples from adopting children. Previously, couples were required to be married for two years before they could adopt.
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"Time and time again we see our Government getting all mealy-mouthed about global humanitarian emergencies when the country in question has some connection with its own refugee policies" - Our Daniel Webb reports from last night's important session of the UN Human Rights Council focusing on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
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In a statement to the United Nations, Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Turnbull Government to hold companies to account for human rights violations overseas.
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Overnight the Australian Government delivered a major 'incoming members pledge' to the UN Human Rights Council, promising to approach it’s three year term on the Council "in a spirit of self-reflection with a view to improving our own human rights situation" and to "make progress in the promotion, protection and realisation of human rights", "including through implementation of [UN] recommendations and resolutions."
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A damning Victorian Parliamentary report into youth justice released yesterday shows the Andrews Government is harming children in its care by forcing them into solitary confinement.Ruth Barson, Director of Legal Advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said that starving a child of human contact is one of the most damaging things we can do and the Government should prohibit it outright.
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Today the Queensland Government introduced a bill that will allow people to stay married to the person they love when they change the gender marker on their birth certificate, removing an unnecessary and unfair hurdle preventing trans people from living their true lives.
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In response to serious concerns about the harshness and breadth of the Government’s proposed secrecy laws, the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Christian Porter, has unveiled amendments to improve the protections available to journalists who publish potentially sensitive government information.
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The Turnbull Government is trying to pass laws that will lock charities and community groups out of public policy debates. We need your help to push back.
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One day after the Northern Territory Government gave an in principle promise to raise the age of criminal responsibility, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has released data painting a diabolical picture of punitive and out-of-date youth justice systems across Australia.
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The Turnbull Government’s anti-democratic slide has been criticised at the United Nations Human Rights Council overnight, with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders delivering a major report on Australian democracy.
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The Northern Territory today became the first government to commit to raising the age at which children can be charged and sent to prison.
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The Turnbull Government will tonight begin Australia’s first ever session as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN body responsible for protecting the rights and dignity of people all over the world.
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Outdated laws allowing religious organisations to discriminate against single mothers, pregnant women or LGBTI people should be repealed, the Human Rights Law Centre today told the Religious Freedom Review’s Expert Panel.
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The closure of the NT's notorious Don Dale youth prison couldn’t come soon enough, but the Turnbull Government needs to help fund the creation of safe, home-like facilities built for children to replace it.
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"Last year Australians voted for equality and fairness, not new forms of discrimination. There is no price to be paid for equality, we reject outright that religious freedom is now under threat simply because two people who love each other can marry," said Anna Brown.
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Queenslanders are one step closer to having their human rights protected in law, following confirmation from the Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath that the Queensland Government is moving ahead with establishing a Human Rights Act.
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After nearly five years of fear, violence and limbo, 22 refugees yesterday left Nauru to fly to safety in the United States as part of the US refugee resettlement deal. However, over 1800 people - including 150 children - are still languishing in desperate and dangerous conditions across Manus and Nauru.
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The Federal Government has completely failed to lead in its response to the Northern Territory Royal Commission’s report on how to fix failing youth justice and child protection systems.Shahleena Musk, a Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the Federal Government was trying to wash its hands of responsibility at the very time it needed to show leadership to fix broken youth justice systems across Australia.
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Australian Governments must prohibit the solitary confinement of children in detention and closely regulate practices that can result in the forced isolation or segregation of a child. So what is solitary confinement?
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Today the International Commission of Jurists, Victoria announced Daniel Webb, Director of Legal Advocacy with the Human Rights Law Centre, as the winner of the 2018 John Gibson Award for his work defending the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum.
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The Northern Territory Government has an historic opportunity to overhaul outdated discrimination laws so that all Territorians are equally respected for who they are, said the Human Rights Law Centre in its submission to the NT Department of Justice review of the Anti-Discrimination Act 2015 (NT).
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The Australian Government’s proposed legislation to overhaul Australia’s secrecy laws is excessive and poorly designed, the Human Rights Law Centre has told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
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“Charities have enormous expertise to contribute to public debates. Whether it’s running a homeless shelter or a community health service – charities are uniquely placed to understand how government policies impact on the people and communities they serve. The Government should be encouraging charities to participate in public discussions, not making it harder for them,” said Hugh de Kretser.
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After nearly five years of fear and violence on Manus Island approximately 40 men are today flying to safety to the United States as part of the US resettlement deal. For the people left behind, in the Australian Government’s offshore detention centres, hope is running out.
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We currently have two roles available in the Human Rights Law Centre's (HRLC) Asylum Seeker and Refugee Rights Unit.
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