A legal challenge against the Australian Government, seeking fair and equal access to the age pension for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, will be heard by the Full Federal Court. Proud Wakka Wakka man Uncle Dennis* is bringing the case, where the Federal Government will face court for its failure to close the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people.

The Albanese Government’s announcement that it will provide a pathway to permanent residency for people on temporary protection visas offers hope at last to thousands of people who have built lives in Australia but have been held back by punitive visa rules.

Today the Federal Government abolished Ministerial Direction 80, a policy that has intentionally kept thousands of refugee families apart for a decade. While the policy change marks a necessary first step towards reuniting people with their loved ones, the Human Rights Law Centre calls for further action from the Albanese Government to stop separating families to punish and deter people from seeking safety in Australia.  

The Human Rights Law Centre urges the Albanese Government and Treasurer Jim Chalmers to improve the upcoming Federal Budget for people across the community by placing human rights at the heart of the budget decisions they will be making.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) will release data on 1 February revealing how much political parties and third parties spent in the 2022 Federal election, and the donations used to fund those campaigns.  

The Human Rights Law Centre, Griffith University’s Centre for Governance & Public Policy and Transparency International Australia have called for a comprehensive reform process to ensure stronger protections for Australian whistleblowers, building on initial announcements by the Albanese government about its first steps.

Australia faces a looming international deadline to fully implement the UN’s anti-torture protocol - by 20 January 2023 - but Australian governments are not on track to meet this deadline. 

The Victorian Government has made a formal decision not to give Victorian police any new powers to arrest or lock people up in police cells once public drunkenness is decriminalised in November 2023.

A joint submission by People With Disability Australia (PWDA), Children and Young people with Disability Australia and the Human Rights Law Centre, has outlined the importance of an Australian Charter of Human Rights for people with a disability and the need for human rights to be at the heart of government laws, policies and services. 

The Human Rights Law Centre, the Australian Democracy Network and the Australia Institute today welcomes the federal Greens’ announcement to protect the right to protest. 

Western Australia has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the health and equality of women and all people who experience pregnancy by reforming the state’s outdated abortion laws, the Human Rights Law Centre have told the McGowan Government in a submission to inform the government's drafting of new abortion laws.

The Human Rights Law Centre will today call on the Andrews government to fast track critical reforms that would immediately reduce the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing injustice at the hands of the criminal legal system, in evidence to be heard by the Yoorrook Justice Commission.