Shockwaves of the war in Gaza: Rights to speech, protest and information must be guaranteed globally to fight antisemitism and islamophobia.
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In light of an imminent military operation by the Israeli Defense Force in Rafah and the ongoing assault on Gaza, the Human Rights Law Centre has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister Penny Wong, Minister Richard Marles and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC with an urgent call for the Australian Government to use all efforts to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people.
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In the wake of interim orders made by the International Court of Justice on 26 January 2024, the Human Rights Law Centre calls for the Australian Government to use all efforts to prevent genocide against the Palestinian people, including by supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
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The undersigned organisations, human rights groups, and defenders are calling for the Indonesian Government to end its judicial harassment against prominent human rights defenders, Fatia Maulidiyanti and Haris Azhar as well as to further protect all human rights defenders in the country.
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The Human Rights Law Centre, the Australian Human Rights Institute (UNSW Sydney) and Amnesty International Australia welcomed the introduction of a proposed law that would help ensure the Australian Human Rights Commission is independent and effective.
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The Morrison government must ensure the Australian Human Rights Commission is independent and effective, following revelations that the Commission’s “A status” may be downgraded.
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Today marks one year since the release of the Brereton Report into war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. Human rights groups from Afghanistan and Australia have joined forces to reiterate the need for accountability and redress.
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INCLO members support the 6 organisations that have been designated as “terrorist groups” under Israel’s anti-terrorism law and call for the Israeli government to immediately reverse its decision and remove them from the list of terrorist organisations.
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The Human Rights Law Centre criticised the lack of an open, merit-based process for the appointment of Australia’s newest Human Rights Commissioner. It called on the Morrison government to commit to public, independent merit-based selection processes for Australian Human Rights Commission appointments.
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The 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.
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Afghan and Australian human rights organisations have welcomed the release of the report of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan (IGADF) Inquiry, led by Justice Paul Brereton, into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan and have called on the Australian Government to now move swiftly to implement its recommendations and establish a proper redress mechanism for victims.
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Today, over 20 Afghan, Australian and international human rights and legal organisations wrote to the Assistant Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, Major General Justice Paul Brereton, urging him to commit to releasing the report of the Inquiry into allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
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The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has made bi-partisan recommendations for the scaling back of Australia’s controversial metadata retention regime.
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The Human Rights Law Centre’s Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser today gave evidence to the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry covering his personal experience of hotel quarantine and outlining the human rights obligations for the Victorian Government under Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights.
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The 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.
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The Human Rights Law Centre today responded to misguided claims made over the weekend that the requirement to wear masks in public in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire breached human rights.
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The 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.
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Queensland’s Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee has given the thumbs up to the creation of a Human Rights Act. The Committee tabled its report last night and a final vote will take place in the Parliament in the coming months.
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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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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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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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The Victorian Government must address the underlying causes of damaging incidents in youth justice centres including staffing and lockdowns, the Human Rights Law Centre has said in a submission to a Victorian Parliamentary inquiry
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“We are seeing a clear and worrying wave of state-based laws that restrict the ability of Australians to stand together and speak out on issues that they care deeply about. The government may disagree with protesters' views on a particular issue, but shutting down peaceful assemblies only serves to weaken our democracy,” said HRLC's Emily Howie.
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“All the data shows that these laws are being overwhelmingly used against Aboriginal people. Twenty-six years ago the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody made clear that locking someone up should only ever be a last resort and that police should be required to consider safer options,” said HRLC's Adrianne Walters.
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“The push to weaken the laws by some has run aground. It’s hard to imagine what those pushing for change want people to be able to say that they currently can’t. Any move to weaken the law itself would have sent a green light to racism,” said the Human Rights Law Centre’s Director of Legal Advocacy, Adrianne Walters.
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In a recent Victorian decision, a mother and daughter, Betty and Maria Matsoukatidou, won an important Supreme Court Human Rights Charter case on the fair hearing and equality obligations owed by courts to self-represented litigants, and in particular those with learning disabilities.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes Commonwealth Attorney-General George Brandis' announcement today that Australia would ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and other mistreatment (OPCAT) by the end of the year.
Read MoreIn October 2016, Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk announced at state conference her cabinet’s commitment to introduce a Human Rights Act in Queensland. If passed, Queensland will become the third Australian jurisdiction to protect and promote human rights in law. The announcement comes of the back of a community campaign for human rights protection in Queensland.
Read MoreThe secrecy provisions of the 2015 Border Force Act have compromised Australians’ basic democratic rights and damaged Australia’s international standing, the Human Rights Law Centre told the United Nations overnight in a statement to the Human Rights Council.
Read MoreThe Victorian Government today announced support in full or in part for 45 of the 52 recommendations made through the independent Human Rights Charter Review.
Read MoreYesterday Queensland’s Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee released a report recommending that Queensland introduce a Human Rights Act.
Read MoreToday the Commonwealth Attorney-General George Brandis announced the appointment of Mr Edward Santow as Human Rights Commissioner, the Hon Dr Kay Patterson as Age Discrimination Commissioner and Mr Alastair McEwin as Disability Discrimination Commissioner.
Read MoreA Human Rights Act would be a force for good in protecting the rights of all Queenslanders and would deliver significant benefits, the Human Rights Law Centre has told the Queensland Parliament’s Human Rights Inquiry.
Read MoreAs governments can bestow rights, equally they can take them away. We must not be complacent, writes the HRLC's Emily Howie.
Read MoreThe Australian Government’s response overnight at the UN in Geneva to a major review of its human rights record has failed to address the serious concerns raised by the international community.
Read MoreThe Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, yesterday met with Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur and expressed concern over the detention conditions in Australia’s offshore processing centres and encouraged the Prime Minister to reconsider Operation Sovereign Borders.
Read MoreAustralia’s human rights performance will face intense scrutiny next week as the Government appears before the Human Rights Council in Geneva for its major four yearly human rights review. At the "Universal Periodic Review" (UPR) other countries will have the opportunity to question Australia about its human rights record and make a series of recommendations for improvement.
Read MoreThe United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued an urgent call to the governments of Australia and Nauru to find a decent solution for 'Abyan' - a refugee being held on Nauru who is 15 weeks pregnant after reportedly being raped on Nauru in July. The UN has spoken directly with Abyan.
Read MoreAs the UN celebrates it's 70th birthday, the HRLC's Anna Brown looks at Australia’s involvement in the success and also the need to confront the current weakness of our leadership on human rights.
Read MoreJoin us for a panel discussion in Melbourne about Australia's foreign policy ambitions and failures with Tim Costello, Andrew Hudson and Emily Howie.
Read MoreAustralia’s treatment of prisoners falls short of new international standards adopted by the United Nations General Assembly last week.
Read MoreIn the lead up to Australia’s review by the UN Human Rights Council, the HRLC and other NGOs along with the Australian Human Rights Commission visited Geneva to brief UN member states on the human rights situation in Australia and key issues that should be considered as part of the review.
Read MoreAustralia has been accused of seeking to weaken criticism of Cambodia’s appalling human rights record during negotiations on an important resolution at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Read MorePeople should be free to meet with United Nations investigators without fear of being sent to prison, writes the HRLC's Daniel Webb.
Read MoreThe HRLC has joined with Human Rights Watch to produce a report detailing how Australia can “lift its game” on human rights at home and abroad in order to strengthen its bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Read MoreVictoria’s Charter of Human Rights would be made more effective, practical and accessible through a range of recommendations made in a report following a review of the Charter’s first eight years of operation.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre is proud to support the push for a Human Rights Act in Queensland.
Read MoreA group of leading community and legal organisations has today urged the Victorian Government to change Victoria’s Human Rights Charter to ensure it is more accessible, more effective and simpler to use.
Read MoreLecturer in the Faculty of Law at Monash University, Sangeetha Pillai, examines the problems with the three significant expansions to the current grounds for citizenship loss contained in new laws proposed by the Government.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has urged changes to make Victoria’s Human Rights Charter more accessible, more effective and simpler to enforce in its submission to the eight year review of the Charter.
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The Victorian Attorney-General recently announced the 8-year review of the Victorian Charter. The review is a significant opportunity to strengthen the legal protection and practical realisation of human rights in Victoria. This page provides information and resources about the review, making a submission, and the HRLC's key recommendations for reform.
Read MoreThe United Nations’ peak human rights body will tonight be urged to question Australia on its increasingly regressive approach to human rights in the lead up to a major review.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre welcomed today’s announcement by the Victorian Government that Michael Brett Young will lead the 8 year review of Victoria’s Human Rights Charter. Read More
Confirmation that the Attorney-General sought the resignation of the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission reveals the depths of the Government’s willingness to undermine Australia’s independent human rights watchdog, said the Human Rights Law Centre. “This is a blatant political attack to punish the Commission for doing its job reporting on the harm being inflicted on children in detention,” said the HRLC’s Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser. Read More
Australia should repeal excessive restrictions on the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, according to a new report to be considered by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Read MoreToday’s announcement that the Australian Government will slash the Australian Human Rights Commission’s funding by around 30% over the next three years has been denounced by the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreThe United Nations Committee Against Torture has overnight condemned Australia’s asylum seeker policies and expressed serious concerns at the rates of violence against women and indigenous imprisonment.
Read MoreAustralia’s asylum seeker policies and counter-terror laws came under heavy scrutiny overnight at the United Nations in Geneva when Government officials were questioned by the UN Committee Against Torture.
Read MoreAustralia’s form is bad and getting worse when it comes to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, the United Nations will hear tomorrow.
Read MoreAnti-protest laws proposed by the Tasmanian Government - even following amendments – will breach international human rights law, the Human Rights Law Centre has today warned.
Read MoreAustralia is scheduled to be reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review of Australia ('UPR') in 2015. This is an opportunity for non-government organisations (‘NGOs’) across Australia to prepare a joint NGO submission to the UPR.
Read MoreIn its rush to expel – via a sub-standard screening process – Sri Lankans who arrive in Australia by boat, Australia places those people at risk of torture, rape and ill treatment in Sri Lankan custody.
Read MoreThe United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a landmark resolution on combating violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The HRLC’s Directory of Advocacy, Anna Brown, was present in Geneva and worked together with advocates on the passage of resolution.
Read MoreThe United Nation’s Human Rights Council – the world’s peak human rights body – has been alerted to Australia’s rapidly increasing imprisonment rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Read MoreIn his maiden speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, will condemned Australia for violating the human rights of asylum seekers.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has joined with 12 other NGOs to urgently call for greater accountability for police misconduct in Victoria in the wake of a UN Human Rights Committee finding in favour of Ms Corinna Horvath who was brutally assaulted by police in 1996 and is yet to receive adequate compensation for her injuries.
Read MoreThe HRLC has taken a range of urgent steps to prevent Sri Lankan asylum seekers being handed over to the very regime they claim to be fleeing.
Read MoreAustralia’s unlawful and increasingly punitive treatment of asylum seekers has once again been condemned on the world stage. Overnight a statement prepared by the Human Rights Law Centre was delivered to the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, the world’s peak human rights body.
Read MoreIn a joint open letter sent to Attorney-General George Brandis today, over 120 Aboriginal, ethnic, community, union, legal, religious and human rights organisations urged the Federal Government to abandon its controversial proposal to roll back racial vilification protections.
Read MoreThe Australian Government should not proceed with proposed changes to racial vilification laws, the Human Rights Law Centre has recommended in its submission to the public consultation process on proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act.
Read MoreNoble defences of unlimited free speech make for good debate, but a poor society. The hardest cases help us find the boundaries of acceptable speech, write Rachel Ball and Anna Brown.
Read MoreIn an extremely unprincipled foreign policy decisions, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, has aligned Australia with countries known for their obstructionist approach at the UN with her comments expressing disappointment with the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to initiate an independent investigations into war crimes and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
Read MoreThe United Nations Human Rights Council should pass resolution 25/1 to establish an international investigation into alleged war crimes committed in the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war, according to a statement jointly delivered to the UN in Geneva today by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreAustralia has one last opportunity this week to publicly support a US-led initiative at the United Nations to end impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the final phases of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009.
Read MoreAustralia’s unlawful and increasingly harsh and punitive treatment of asylum seekers arriving by boat will once again be brought the attention of the world’s peak human rights body this evening when the Human Rights Law Centre addresses the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Read MoreA new report highlights various ways in which Australia's co-operation with Sri Lanka’s military puts asylum seekers at risk. The report includes a DFAT cable obtained under Freedom of Information laws that reveals the Australia Federal Police declined to interview a man claiming to have been severely tortured after being sent back to Sri Lanka by Australia.
Read MoreAustralia must review its offshore processing arrangements with PNG and Nauru to ensure the basic rights of asylum seekers are being respected, says the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. Ms Pillay has released the opening statement on her 2013 Annual Report, discussing issues of worldwide human rights concern.
Read MoreR. P. B. v the Philippines, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Views: Communication No 34/2011, 57th sess, UN Doc CEDAW/C/57/D/34/2011 (23 May 2011)
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has found that the Philippines breached the rights of a mute and hearing impaired girl to non-discrimination under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in the investigation and trial of her alleged rape. The Philippines had, in investigating the crime and in the trial, failed to provide a free interpreter and had used stereotypes and gender-based myths, disregarding the victim’s specific situation as a girl who is both mute and hearing impaired. The Committee noted that the obligations of the State include the obligation to consider the specific situation of the complainant, being her age and disability.
Read MoreA new complaints mechanism under the UN Convention on Rights of Child is about to take effect. On 14 January 2014, Costa Rica became the tenth state to ratify the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure, meaning that three months’ time, on 14 April 2014, the complaints mechanism will come into force.
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From 20-28 November 2013, Australia joined 121 other States Parties, members of civil society and other stakeholders in The Hague for the 12th annual Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). As the governing and legislative body of the ICC, the ASP discusses and decides on issues central to the Court's operations. The main topics of debate set for the 12th session were cooperation and the impact of the Rome Statute system on victims; however, at the request of the African Union, a special segment was held on the indictment of sitting heads of State and government and its consequences for peace, stability, and reconciliation.
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Urgent action from the United Nations has been requested in an attempt to prevent the Queensland Government from passing draconian youth justice laws. The reforms include removing the principle that the detention of juveniles be a measure of last resort.
Read MoreProposed new ‘move-on’ powers for police in Victoria will unreasonably limit human rights and are susceptible to misuse. The Human Rights Law Centre’s Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser, said protest rights and free speech are particularly threatened, but the proposed laws may also have an impact on young people and the homeless.
Read MoreThe Australian Government should scrap discriminatory laws that prevent persons “of unsound mind” from voting, the Human Rights Law Centre has said in a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission.
Read MoreFreedom of speech is a right which throws up particular challenges as we seek to maintain, and indeed strengthen, social cohesion in contemporary Australia. It throws up those challenges because the balance between freedom of speech and other fundamental human rights needs always to be responsive to present circumstances.
Read MoreThe Parliamentary Committee that conducted an inquiry into NSW racial vilification laws tabled its Final Report on 3 December 2013. The Law and Justice Committee of the NSW Legislative Council was charged with a review of section 20D of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW), which sets out the criminal offence for serious racial vilification. The Human Rights Law Centre made a submission to the inquiry earlier this year.
Read MoreOn behalf of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, the Commission’s President, has welcomed the appointment of the Commission’s seventh Commissioner, Mr Tim Wilson.
Read MoreA new report by the HRLC's Rachel Ball considers the benefits and challenges of storytelling in human rights and social justice advocacy. The report, ‘When I Tell My Story, I’m in Charge: Ethical and Effective Storytelling in Advocacy’, sets out a range of approaches, techniques and examples to inform community legal centres in their advocacy efforts for systemic change.
Read MoreIf we don't stand against war crimes and crimes against humanity resulting in the death of 40,000 people, what do we stand for? asks the HRLC's Emily Howie
Read MoreAustralia must publicly acknowledge and condemn the human rights and rule of law crisis in Sri Lanka particularly given the escalation of international condemnation of Sri Lanka’s human rights record ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) in Colombo.
Read MoreThe Department of Justice has conducted an extensive review of sexual offences in Victoria and has prepared a consultation paper which identifies and analyses the main problems with sexual offence laws.
Read MoreThe NSW Government is seeking to restrict the defence of provocation under a new Bill released for discussion on 17 October 2013.
Read MoreThe Senate Committee on Community Affairs has released a report following an inquiry into the forced sterilisation on intersex infants. The practice of surgery on intersex infants raises serious human rights concerns, given that the surgery is not undertaken with consent and is irreversible.
Read MoreThe report on the findings of the sixth Scanlon Foundation Mapping Social Cohesion Survey, conducted in 2013, has recently been published. This report builds on the knowledge gained through the five earlier Scanlon Foundation surveys conducted in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion provides an overview in the five core domains of social cohesion: belonging, worth, social justice, participation, and acceptance and rejection.
Read MoreThe Asian Human Rights Commission and Human Rights and Peace for Papua launched a report on the human rights abuses that took place in the central highlands of Papua, Indonesia between 1977–1978.The report discusses violations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and aims at truth-building. The report, which was concluded after three years of research by the AHRC, reveals the death of over 4,000 indigenous Papuans, including minors, as a result of operations conducted by the Indonesian military in the area.
Read MoreProposed legislation for the G20 in Queensland would infringe fundamental human rights and stifle legitimate protest, the Human Rights Law Centre has told the Queensland parliament’s Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee.
Read MoreOn 26 September 2013, the Tasmanian parliament passed the Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill 2012 (Tas) that introduced new protections against discrimination and offensive conduct and also improved the capacity of the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner to deal with complaints.
Read MoreAustralia is violating the fundamental human rights of people seeking its protection, the UN Human Rights Council will hear this evening.
Read MoreIf citizens are to have rights worth having, they can only be guaranteed by constitutional entrenchment or by the Parliament scrutinising legislation and the Courts continuing to apply the principle of legality, writes Federal Court judge, Steven Rares.
Read MorePublic housing tenants in Victoria are once again able to engage with the political process following legal advocacy by the Human Rights Law Centre which highlighted that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are protected by Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights.
Read MoreAustralia recently announced its intention to seek election to the UN Human Rights Council in 2018. The Council is the UN’s peak human rights body. It is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them. The Council comprises 47 UN Member States, which are elected by the UN General Assembly.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre and the International Service for Human Rights have published a Guide for Human Rights Defenders on Domestic Implementation of UN Human Rights Recommendations. The Guide is intended to assist NGOs with national level strategies to ensure that UN recommendations are properly recognised and implemented.
Read MoreIn 2011, the Federal Government introduced a criminal offence of failing to inform Centrelink within 14 days about a change in personal circumstances that could affect an entitlement to welfare payments.
Read MoreThe Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR) entered into force on 10 May 2013, three months after its tenth ratification.
Read MoreOn 16 April, Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark introduced a bill to abolish suspended sentences for all crimes.
Read MoreThe Australian Human Rights Commission’s Professor Gillian Triggs takes heart from signs that the new Joint Committee on Human Rights has consolidated its scrutiny function
Read MoreIn late March 2013 the UN Human Rights Council passed a US-backed resolution calling on Sri Lanka to honour the commitments it has previously made to investigate widespread allegations of war crimes during the last months of the civil war in May 2009. The resolution also raised formal concerns about continuing enforced disappearances, human rights abuses and other threats to the rule of law in Sri Lanka including the recent impeachment of the Chief Justice.
Read MoreHuman Rights Watch's Executive Director Kenneth Roth in conversation with the ABC's Waleed Aly discussing major human rights problems across the globe and Australia’s new seat on the UN Security Council.
Read MoreIn a case about free speech and protest rights, the Federal Court has today found that council by-laws regarding advertising and camping do not infringe human rights, but some of the ways in which they were used by the City of Melbourne against a group of peaceful protesters in a public space were unlawful.
Read MoreThe Victorian Government’s proposal to increase application fees and other charges for particular cases heard at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal may compromise the ability of ordinary Victorians to access the efficient and inexpensive justice the Tribunal seeks to provide.
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The HRLC welcomes the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 as a culmination of many years of research, discussion and advocacy around the need to strengthen, modernise and streamline federal anti-discrimination laws. While there are aspects of the HRAD Bill that could be strengthened, the HRLC considers that the Bill improves protections against unfair treatment and makes anti-discrimination laws more effective, accessible and cost-efficient.
Read MoreDPP v Leys & Leys [2012] VSCA 304 (12 December 2012)
On 16 January 2012, community correction orders (CCO) were introduced as a sentencing option under the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). CCOs replaced a number of separate sentencing orders such as intensive correction orders and community-based orders.
Read MoreForeign Minister Bob Carr announced on Human Rights Day that Australia will join a global initiative to promote human rights while ensuring the security of mining projects.
Read More“Trafficking in persons is a global phenomenon which crosses borders, markets and industries,” said United Nations Special Rapporteur Joy Ngozi Ezeilo while urging business enterprises around the world to refrain from using trafficked labour, and prevent and monitor the use of such labour by its suppliers.
Read MoreThe Federal Government is slashing funding for human rights education and rule of law initiatives for short-term political gain.
Read MoreThe Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, has told the Parliamentary Friends of Seniors and Ageing that she believes there needs to be more protection of older people around the world. Reporting on her recent presentation at the UN’s Open Ended Working Group on Older People, Commissioner Ryan told MP’s at parliament House in Canberra that she has been convinced by the case put forward by those UN member States calling for the drafting of a new convention.
Read MoreThe 21st session of the Human Rights Council saw some worrying signs of regression, with, however, some notable bright spots. The session saw a number of significant thematic developments. The issue of reprisals had a high profile with the Council’s first ever panel discussion dedicated to the problem. As there will be no resolution on the issue until September 2013, the challenge now is to ensure that action is not shelved, and that concrete steps are taken in the meantime to protect against and respond to reprisals.
Read MoreAn Indonesian fisherman has filed the first international case against Australia’s people smuggling legislation, claiming the laws violate international law. The fisherman is represented by senior law students from the University of New South Wales’ Human Rights Clinic. Due to mandatory sentencing, fisherman Mr Nasir is serving a five-year jail term in an Australian prison – a significantly longer sentence than he would otherwise have received for being a cook on an asylum seeker boat, according to the Queensland Supreme Court.
Read MoreA project to upgrade and connect Cambodia’s debilitated railways – which received $26 million of funding from AusAID – has caused significant harm to many of the 4000 families it is displacing. The Human Rights Law Centre has assisted a Cambodian NGO, Equitable Cambodia, and the New York-based, Inclusive Development International to submit a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Read MoreProtection from threats to national security and the protection and promotion of human rights are complementary goals according to two recent submissions that the Human Rights Law Centre has made on aspects of Australia’s counter-terrorism laws.
Read MoreFamilies resettled by the AusAID-funded Cambodian railway rehabilitation project have filed a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging that they have suffered serious violations of their human rights as a result of resettlement under the project.
Read MoreThe High Court of Australia has welcomed a new member to its bench – Commonwealth Solicitor General Stephen Gageler SC. Gageler was recently before the High Court arguing the Commonwealth’s case for the plain packaging of cigarettes, a case he won before his new colleagues. Gageler also lead the Commonwealth’s notable loss last year before the High Court in the Malaysia Solution case.
Read MoreThe Criminal Code Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2012 (WA) has been introduced as a private member’s Bill into the parliament of Western Australia.
Read MoreThe Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Heads of Government must press Sri Lanka to strengthen respect for human rights and the rule of law, according to a coalition of leading human rights organisations from around the world.
Read MoreOn 5 September 2012, the Australian Government signed a Defence Cooperation Agreement with Indonesia. The agreement raises potentially significant human rights issues. The HRLC has been advised by the Defence Minister’s office that the agreement is confidential and not available publicly.
Read MoreThe Australian Government is considering whether Australia should join the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, an extractives sector initiative that addresses human rights risks associated with the security of companies' operations.
Read MorePrime Minister Gillard should use today’s meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to advocate for an end to the effective ban that prevents the international media reporting from West Papua, a leading human rights group has said.
Read MoreVictoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities continues to make a real, practical difference in the lives of Victorians, according to the fifth Charter report tabled in Parliament on 19 June. Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Acting Commissioner Karen Toohey said that Rights in focus: 2011 report on the operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities highlighted the way the Charter is helping Victorians to realise their rights and to resolve everyday issues that can have a profound effect on their quality of life.
Read MoreProfessor Gillian Triggs, the Dean of Sydney Law School, has been appointed as the new President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. She will replace the Hon Catherine Branson QC, who will step down as President in July 2012. Professor Triggs is a leading international law expert and is highly regarded as an administrator and strategist. The Human Rights Law Centre congratulates Professor Triggs on her appointment to this important position and looks forward to working closely and collaboratively with her to promote and protect human rights in Australia.
Read MoreAmnesty International has called on Indonesian authorities to ensure a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into reports of unnecessary and excessive use of force including the use of firearms by security forces in Wamena, Papua province.
Read MoreLegislation to establish a National Children’s Commissioner within the Australian Human Rights Commission has been introduced into Parliament by the Gillard Government. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the position would result in better outcomes for children.
Read MoreAmnesty International has released its annual report documenting the state of human rights. The state of the world’s human rights, was released this month and consists of five regional overviews and a country-by-country survey of 155 individual countries and territories.
Read MoreThe establishment of a National Children’s Commissioner will help to promote and protect the human rights of children and young people and ensure that the best interests of children are taken into account in the development of national law and policy. Welcoming the Attorney-General’s announcement that the Government will appoint a Children’s Commissioner to sit within the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Law Centre said that the position will assist to safeguard the rights of children and young people who are vulnerable and disadvantaged.
Read MoreThe Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, mandated by the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, has recently been established.
Read MoreThe Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth) took effect in January 2012. Among other things, the Act requires that all Bills introduced to either house of Parliament be accompanied by a Statement of Compatibility, setting out an assessment of whether the Bill is compatible with human rights.
Read MoreAmnesty International has called on Australia to urgently reform its policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers, following a 12-day tour of Australian immigration detention facilities conducted by an international delegation. Amnesty’s refugee spokesperson, Dr Graham Thom, said the despair and isolation witnessed by the delegation was “symptomatic of an untenable system for people waiting for their claims to be processed”.
Read MoreHuman Rights Watch’s World Report 2012 summarises human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide in 2011. I
Read MoreVictoria’s Charter of Human Rights will be retained following the tabling of a Baillieu Government statement on its future in parliament today. “The decision to retain the Charter is a victory for evidence-based policy, accountable government and a fair go for all Victorians,” said Phil Lynch, Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreA collection of case studies that illustrate the many benefits delivered by Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities has been published by the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC). The HRLC’s Ben Schokman said the 101 case studies – taken from the various submissions made to the Victorian Government’s 2011 Review of the Charter – paint an overwhelming picture of an effective and efficient Charter that delivers tangible benefits to all Victorians.
Read MoreThe report of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Committee, which was established to investigate events during February 2002 to May 2009, was released to the public on 16 December 2011. The report has garnered criticism from international human rights bodies and the Australian government for failing to deal comprehensively with human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch said the report “disregards the worst abuses by government forces, rehashes longstanding recommendations, and fails to advance accountability for victims of Sri Lanka’s civil armed conflict”.
Read MoreAustralia has moved a step closer to ensuring independent monitoring, inspection and oversight of places of detention. The Commonwealth Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, and the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Craig Emerson, today tabled a National Interest Analysis on Australia's ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Read MoreThe Tasmanian Government’s decision to shelve the introduction of a Charter of Human Rights because of budgetary constraints is misconceived and fails to understand the substantial economic and social benefits of human rights protections, according to a leading human rights organisation. The Human Rights Law Centre’s Ben Schokman said a Charter of Human Rights is a cost-effective way to promote human rights and would have significant social and economic benefits.
Read MoreRon Merkel QC has been announced as the winner of the prestigious 2011 Human Rights Medal at the Australian Human Rights Commission’s annual Human Rights Awards in Sydney. Meanwhile, a legal team comprising Allens Arthur Robinson, the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, Debbie Mortimer SC and Richard Niall SC were awarded the Human Rights Law Award for their outstanding legal advocacy for refugees and asylum seekers.
Read MoreThe Victorian Government should strengthen existing protections under the Human Rights Charter in the spirit of Human Rights Week, says the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centres.
A new Federal government report released on 9 December highlights a number of Australian communities whose human rights are threatened.
Read MoreAt a gathering marking 20 years of the ACT’s anti-discrimination laws, the ACT Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, said he wants to widen the territory’s legal recognition of human rights so it includes economic, social and cultural rights. He said he would encourage his cabinet colleagues to make the ACT a leader again on rights legislation.
Read MoreThe passage of important legislation which requires the Federal Parliament to consider international human rights obligations when passing new laws has been warmly welcomed by the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreWhen Mohamad Hassan Sultan and four other boys were innocently watching rubble being removed from a house destroyed in a cluster bomb strike, a truck bumped a tree, dislodging a cluster bomb. It detonated by Mohamad’s feet and blew up into him. He was killed and all his friends were injured. His shoes were blown off with parts of his feet and ankles still in them.
Read MoreThe Victorian Government is currently reviewing the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act. This review could result in the Charter being strengthened and streamlined, weakened, or even repealed. The Government position is being coordinated by the Office of the Premier and the Department of Premier and Cabinet. It is likely that a decision on the future of the Charter will be made within Government by December 2011, with a formal Government position announced in March 2012.
Read MoreOn 20 October 2011, a coalition of leading human rights NGOs, including the Human Rights Law Centre, Human Rights Watch and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, sent an Open Letter to the Commonwealth Heads of Government regarding the need to take urgent action on human rights in Sri Lanka at the forthcoming meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government in Perth. The letter was written as further evidence emerges of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law against Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka's military, including systemic rape, murder and the targeting of hospitals and health care clinics.
Read MoreVictoria will become the first state in the developed, democratic world to substantially weaken the legal protection of human rights if the recommendations of a parliamentary committee on the future of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights are accepted.
Read MoreIn a landmark decision, the High Court of Australia has upheld the validity, operation and importance of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights.
Read MoreIn a landmark decision, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has held that Australia violated the human rights of a permanent resident, and breached its international legal obligations, by cancelling his visa and deporting him to Sweden.
Read Moreon the operation of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, entitled Talking Rights, was tabled in Parliament. Each year, the Commission is required to submit a report to parliament which examines the operation of the Charter, including its interactions with other laws, and any declarations of inconsistent interpretation and override declarations.
Read MoreThe review of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities announced by the Attorney-General, the Hon Robert Clark, today is a significant opportunity to improve the promotion and protection of human rights in Victoria says a leading human rights centre.
Read MoreLoopholes in Australia’s extradition procedures need to be closed to prevent exposing people to human rights violations, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre has recommended. The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has concluded it consultation process for an exposure draft to update the Extradition Act and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.
Read MoreThe HRLRC recently made submissions on the correct approach to the application of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) in the High Court of Australia. The appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria in R v Momcilovic (2010) 265 ALR 751, was heard in Canberra on 8–10 February 2011.
Read MoreThe United Nation’s Independent Expert on the Effects of Foreign Debt and other Related International Financial Obligations on Human Rights, Dr Cephas Lumina, will visit Australia this week to discuss efforts to prevent profiteering by vulture funds. Vulture funds are operated by private investment firms which purchase foreign debt of developing countries at a heavily discounted price and then seek to recover the full amount of debt with significant interest and spurious fees through legal proceedings based in countries such as the US, UK and Australia.
Read MoreOn 10 December 2010, a coalition of over 70 human rights NGOs, community organisations, corporations and religious groups wrote to the new Victorian Attorney-General, the Hon Robert Clark MP, calling on him to strengthen the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act. The signatories wrote that, overall, the Charter has had a positive impact on:
- governmental transparency and accountability;
- legislative and policy development, including by integrating human rights considerations and safeguards into laws and processes; and
- public service delivery and outcomes.
On 2 December 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, wrote to the Hon Robert Clark MP, Attorney-General for Victoria in the new Baillieu Government, setting out ten policies which the Centre considers the Victorian Government should implement as a matter of priority for a stronger, fairer and safer Victoria.
Read MoreOn 20 October 2010, the Tasmanian Government released a ‘Directions Paper’ proposing a Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities for Tasmania. The Government is seeking responses to the paper by 14 January 2011. This is your chance to have your say on the promotion and protection of human rights and to learn from and build on Charters of Rights in Victoria and the ACT.
Read MoreOn 14 September 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre wrote to the Attorney-General, the Hon Rob McClelland, urging that the promotion and protection of human rights be a key aim and instrument of the Gillard Government. The Centre set out ten policies which the Government should commit to and implement as a matter of priority and urgency for a fairer Australia.
Read MoreThe Endorsement Draft of the NGO Shadow Report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is now available.
The report has been prepared over the last 5 months in consultation with a broad range of community organisations and NGOs in Australia and we hope that it will also be supported by even wider range of organisations and individuals. The more support the better. The report will be presented to the UN in August 2010, when Australia formally appears for review.
Read MoreOn 2 June 2010, the Attorney-General introduced the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Bill 2010, a key element of the Government’s new ‘Human Rights Framework’, in the House of Representatives.
Read MoreOn 21 April 2010, the Attorney-General launched the Federal Government’s response to the National Human Rights Consultation, entitled ‘Australia’s Human Rights Framework. The Government’s Framework fails to implement the key recommendation of the National Human Rights Consultation Report – supported by over 87% of a record 35,000 submissions – that Australia enact a federal Human Rights Act.
Read MoreThe UK Equality and Human Rights Commission has just released a major research report on ‘Developing a Bill of Rights for the UK’. The report aims to ‘identify and explore best practice processes for developing a new Bill of Rights for the UK’. The report analyses evidence from related domestic and international experiences (including the ACT, Victoria and Australia) and identifies key principles to underpin the development of a Bill of Rights, regardless of which political party is in power.
Read MoreIn the course of the recent periodic review of Australia by the UN Human Rights Committee, one of the independent experts called on Australia to grasp its opportunity – and fulfil its obligation – to become a ‘AAA’ human rights state. This paper, entitled 'Australia, Human Rights and Foreign Policy' (2009) 34(4) Alternative Law Journal 218, responds to three issues raised by that call.
Read MoreOn 10 December 2009, the Centre released a paper entitled Human Rights Leadership: Initiatives to Promote Human Rights at Home and Abroad. The paper, which was provided to the Federal Government in September, proposes 20 initiatives which Australia could take to strengthen a range of normative, preventative and remedial mechanisms to protect human rights at the local, regional and international levels.
Read MoreOn 8 October 2009 the National Human Rights Consultation Committee recommended that Australia enact a Human Rights Act.
Read MoreCentre Granted Leave to Appear as Amicus Curiae in Victorian Court of Appeal.
On 22 July, the Centre was granted leave to appear and was heard as amicus curiae in the Victorian Court of Appeal in the matter of Momcilovic v R.
The matter concerns the application of the Charter and the interpretation of s 5 of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic), a ‘reverse onus’ provision.
Read MoreCentre Granted Leave to Appear as Amicus Curiae in Right to Life Test Case On 17 June, the Centre was granted leave to appear as amicus curiae in the Victorian Supreme Court in the matter of Chief Commissioner of Police v Bryant (in his capacity as Coroner).
The case concerned a coronial inquest into the death of a cyclist in December 2006 and, in particular, the Coroner's powers and the scope of matters into which the Coroner may inquire pursuant to s 19 of the Coroners Act 1985 (Vic). The Chief Commissioner of Police sought an order in the Supreme Court prohibiting the Coroner from inquiring into certain systems, policies and practices.
Read More10 December 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR recognises that respect for human rights and the rule of law is the foundation of peace, justice, security and human development.
Read MoreThe UN Committee Against Torture has issued its Concluding Observations on Australia following a review of Australia’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment at its 40th Session in Geneva in May 2008. The Human Rights Law Resource Centre prepared a major Report on Australia's Compliance with the Convention against Torture (April 2008) [PDF] to assist the Committee to constructively review and make recommendations regarding Australia.
Read MoreOn 25 July 2007, the Australian Government submitted a report to the United Nations on the performance of its human rights obligations under the two major international human rights treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. A coalition of human rights organisations and community groups, including the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, have broadly condemned the report, criticising the Howard Government's failure to address how the rights contained in the treaties are reflected in the actual political, economic, social and cultural realities in Australia.
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