Andrews government can end the mass-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Yoorrook hearings
In the Yoorrook Justice Commision hearings convened by the first formal truth-telling process into injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria, the Human Rights Law Centre will endorse the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service’s call for the Andrews government to move towards a zero-prison population and for longer term transformation change of the criminal legal system.
There is a long overdue need for transformational change, alongside urgent action to address the mass imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now, including:
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Overhauling discriminatory bail laws which are resulting in unsentenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people being locked up in pre-trial detention at alarming rates.
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Ending the status quo of police investigating themselves and dodging accountability for misconduct and discriminatory policing.
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Stopping the pipeline of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children into prisons by raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years old.
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Properly supporting self-determined alternatives being led by Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people, communities and organisations.
The Human Rights Law Centre’s submission to Yoorrook is available here.
Submission to 2025-26 Federal Budget consultation
The Human Rights Law Centre has put forward recommendations to the 2025-26 federal budget submissions across a range of issues, including campaigning for an Australian Human Rights Act, migration justice, prisoners’ rights, whistleblower protection and modern slavery.
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Submission to Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 review
The Human Rights Law Centre is calling for stronger safeguards for the right to privacy and warned that these powers enable the AFP and ACIC to undertake significant invasions of privacy, encroach on the right to privacy, and threaten to have a chilling effect on the work of journalists and their sources.
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Submission to Inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities
In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into antisemitism on Australian university campuses, the Human Rights Law Centre has called for reforms that uphold Australia's commitment to international human rights standards, fostering a society that respects equality, freedom, and justice for all.
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Acknowledgement of Country
The Human Rights Law Centre acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, including the lands of the Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Gadigal, Ngunnawal, Darug and Wadawurrung people where we work from.
We pay our respect to Elders past and present. This land always was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
WARNING: This site contains images or names of people who have passed away.