The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the missing human rights considerations in federal government decisions and policies, the Human Rights Law Centre today told the Federal Government COVID-19 inquiry on behalf of the Charter of Rights campaign, a coalition made up of over 90 organisations.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has welcomed proposed amendments to Victoria’s new pandemic law, which will lead to stronger human rights protections and increased independent oversight of the government’s pandemic response.
Read MoreWith Victoria’s current state of emergency set to expire on 16 December 2021 and unable to be extended, the Victorian Government has introduced a proposed new pandemic law.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre today welcomed the announcement of moves to abolish hotel quarantine in NSW and Victoria for vaccinated people who test negative. Last week, the NSW Government announced the abolition of hotel quarantine from 1 November for vaccinated people. Today, the Victorian Government announced a home quarantine trial from 27 October.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre is calling for the immediate introduction of home quarantine programs in NSW and Victoria for people coming from overseas.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre warns of the human rights risks of mandating vaccines outside of high-risk areas and called for greater focus on supply and voluntary measures.
Read MoreHuman rights lawyers are calling on the Morrison Government to act urgently to ensure the safety of people held in immigration detention centres around Australia, amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
Read MoreThe undersigned members of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO) join the urgent international call for universal, equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in the context of the stark inequality in the global distribution of the vaccines already produced and ordered.
Read MoreThe Australian government’s visa laws are devastating families and keeping parents away from their children for years, a Senate Committee inquiry has been told. The landmark inquiry into the Morrison government’s family migration policies has received evidence from legal experts and people separated from their families, which show a broken system in urgent need of reform.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Morrison Government to abandon its travel bans and facilitate the safe return home of Australians in India as COVID-19 rates escalate in the country.
Read MoreA coalition of refugee organisations has condemned the federal government’s decision to slash support to people seeking asylum in the 2020-21 Budget. This decision, they say, puts over 100, 000 people, including around 16, 000 children, at further risk of homelessness and destitution.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Victorian Government to amend proposed legislation currently before the Victorian Parliament to remove controversial powers to detain people based on what they might do.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre today said that human rights scrutiny of Victoria’s curfew was welcome and required.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has welcomed the compromise reached in the Victorian Parliament to enable the passage of legislation to continue the Victorian Government’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic for a further six months.
Read MoreHuman rights and legal organisations are today calling on Federal Senators to reject new laws that would allow the Morrison Government to stifle criticism of immigration detention, reduce transparency and cut off crucial support for the people detained in immigration detention.
Read MoreWith reports today of nearly 130 young people - some as young as 13 - being locked in their cells indefinitely due to the threat of COVID-19, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal and human rights organisations are calling on the Palaszczuk Government to reduce the number of children locked away in Queensland prisons rather than isolating and harming them.
Read MoreOn 10 August 2020, the Federal Court ordered the Federal Government to stop detaining a 68 year old man at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation, due to the health risks of COVID-19.
Read MorePrivate security contractors have used excessive force against people in Australian immigration detention centres, a damning new report by the independent detention monitoring body has found.
Read MoreIn response to Premier Andrew’s declaration of a state of disaster in Victoria, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal and human rights organisations are calling for strong safeguards to ensure that police powers are exercised fairly and proportionately during the public health crisis.
Read MoreEarlier today, the Federal Court of Australia ordered the Minister for Home Affairs to cease detaining a 68-year-old man with multiple health conditions at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation (MITA), to guard against the serious risk of COVID-19 infection.
Read MoreSeveral members of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee have today found that the Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton has failed to justify the need for sweeping new powers that would undermine transparency in immigration detention.
Read MoreReports that the Federal Government will reopen the Christmas Island Detention Centre highlight the failure of the Minister for Home Affairs to appropriately respond to the threat posed byCOVID-19 in immigration detention.
Read MoreThe Victorian Government is requiring people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire to wear a face covering or mask when leaving their home to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This explainer seeks to debunk claims that the requirement breaches people’s human rights.
Read MorePrime Minister Scott Morrison’s decision to cancel the first August Parliamentary sitting period will hinder the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and risks undermining Australians’ trust in our leadership at a crucial time.
Read MoreWith COVID-19 entering a Victorian prison and youth detention centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal and human rights organisations are demanding the Andrews Government commit to safely reducing the number of people locked away in Victorian prisons.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has told the Senate Committee tasked with investigating the Federal Government's response to COVID-19 that human rights must be at the centre of the Government’s actions, both now and into the future.
Read MoreThe Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APO NT), NT Council of Social Services (NTCOSS) and Human Rights Law Centre have joined hundreds of organisations and individuals around Australia in calling for a permanent increase in Jobseeker and other social security payments.
Read MoreA leading infectious diseases specialist says the Federal Government must take immediate action to protect refugees and people seeking asylum detained in crowded immigration detention facilities, after a staff member at the Mantra hotel in Melbourne - which is currently being used as a makeshift detention centre - tested positive for COVID-19.
Read MoreLegal and human rights groups condemn the heavy-handed, policing response to a public health emergency, rather than the much-needed support communities need to prevent COVID-19 transmission. We stand in solidarity with the 3000 people in hard lockdown.
Read MoreA Senate committee will today hear evidence about new laws that would allow the Morrison Government to stifle criticism of immigration detention, and cut off crucial support for the people detained. In a submission to the inquiry, the Human Rights Law Centre called for Parliament to reject the proposed laws.
Read MoreToday seven legal and human rights groups condemned the approach of many Australian governments to recent Black Lives Matter and refugee rights protests, stating it is inconsistent with our democratic rights and freedoms.
Read MoreThe rise in racially motivated incidents targeting people from Asian backgrounds during the COVID-19 pandemic reinforces the need for the Andrew’s Government to fix Victoria’s anti-hate laws, a Parliamentary committee will be told today.
Read MoreA coalition of civil society organisations, unions and academics has called on the Department of Home Affairs to include union and human rights experts in the newly established Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group to ensure workers’ rights and not just the interests of business are at the centre of the Government’s plan to eradicate modern slavery.
Read MoreAn alliance of civil society and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and senior academics have told the Senate Committee tasked with investigating the Morrison Government's response to COVID-19 that there must be greater oversight of places of detention both during the pandemic and beyond.
Read MoreWe are proud to join leading human rights and corporate accountability organisations from around the world calling on governments, business and investors to ensure responsible business conduct and accountability during the COVID-19 crisis.
Read MoreThe Morrison Government must take action to protect the children, women and men held in its care in immigration detention in Australia and offshore in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, the Human Rights Law Centre has told the Senate Select Committee into COVID-19 in an urgent submission.
Read MoreSix civil society groups are today calling on the NSW State Parliament to immediately reconvene regular sittings, in a way that is safe, so it can debate and address important matters of public concern.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has joined a call from over 180 civil society organisations to extend critical COVID-19 support to temporary visa holders, including refugees and people seeking asylum.
Read MoreIn an important decision, the Supreme Court of Victoria has found that the Victorian Government has prima facie breached their duty to take reasonable care for the health of a person behind bars during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreThe Federal Government should permanently raise social security payments and end the demonisation of those locked out of paid work to ensure that no child or adult in Australia is trapped in poverty.
Read MoreThe Fitzroy Legal Service and Human Rights Law Centre have filed a case in the Supreme Court of Victoria arguing that the Andrews Government must take steps to keep people in prison and the broader community safe from the risks posed by COVID-19.
Read MoreAustralia’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has fallen by five places in the latest annual assessment from Reporters Without Borders to 26th place behind countries such as Ireland, Uruguay, Germany, and Latvia.
Read MoreA legal challenge against Minister Peter Dutton and the Department of Home Affairs on behalf of a person in immigration detention relating to COVID-19 has been filed in the High Court by the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreNew powers in the COVID-19 Emergency Response Bill 2020, which passed South Australia’s Parliament last night, should be used urgently to ensure women can access abortion without being unnecessarily exposed to increased risk of COVID-19 infection.
Read MoreMore than 200 not-for-profit and community organisations have backed a major report calling on the Australian Government to strengthen its commitment to human rights in its laws, policies and practices.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre welcomed the Senate’s vote today to establish a cross-party Senate Select Committee to provide democratic oversight and scrutiny of the Morrison Government’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Read MoreHuman rights and privacy experts have called on Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt to explain privacy and surveillance issues arising from the Federal Government’s recently launched Coronavirus Australia app. The app has been downloaded over 500,000 times in Australia, yet there is little publicly available information about what data is being collected from people and how that private information is being used and kept safe.
Read MoreWe are proud to join the Migrant Workers Centre and more than 120 other civil society, faith, business, union and migrant organisations across Australia to call on the Morrison Government to urgently expand its wage subsidy JobKeeper scheme.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre is calling for strong safeguards as governments grant police new, sweeping powers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreIn this moment of crisis, from our desks at home, we are working across the country to make sure our governments are responding appropriately, fairly and in a way that does not undermine our human rights and democracy for years to come.
Read MoreA coalition of human rights lawyers have today called on the Morrison Government to act urgently to ensure the safety of the women and men held in its care in onshore immigration detention centers.
Read MoreEight legal and civil society groups have today called on the Australian Senate to establish a Select Committee with broad powers to review and report on the Federal Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreIn order to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the Australian Government and health experts have recommended that we use the most effective measure to help ‘flatten the curve’: social distancing. This is, however, impossible in our prisons.
Read MoreIn the midst of the public health emergency that is COVID-19, prisons must not be given a free pass to subject people to harmful and outdated practices like solitary confinement, the Human Rights Law Centre has told the Royal Commision into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
Read MoreAny attempt by the Morrison Government to turn the Northern Territory into a Cashless Debit Card trial site during the COVID-19 pandemic would be irresponsible and potentially deadly.
Read MoreIn the face of so much change and uncertainty, standing up for kindness, dignity and defending human rights – particularly the rights of the most vulnerable in our community – is more important than ever.
Read MoreStarting today, our whole team will be working remotely. We’ve also cancelled all travel and are moving meetings and activities online.
While our physical offices in both Melbourne and Sydney will be closed, our work protecting and promoting human rights continues unabated.
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