The Human Rights Law Centre and the National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum provided a joint submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into a legislative instrument which would amend the criteria for the discriminatory and punitive ParentsNext program, but do nothing to address the fundamental flaws in the program or its impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

On the eve of the Tasmanian election, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service and the Human Rights Law Centre called on the Tasmanian government to raise the age in response to a survey being undertaken by the Commissioner for Children and Young People to help inform an advice they are preparing to the Government on the issue.

The implications of the proposed regulations, which significantly broaden the scope of activities for which charities can be deregistered, will be felt by virtually every one of the 58,000 charities registered in Australia. The proposal is a major overreach and the need for further regulation has not been (and in our view cannot be) properly explained. No obvious benefit will accrue, yet there is a significant cost to charities and, by extension, Australian civil society.

The Human Rights Law Centre, the Change the Record coalition and the Caxton Legal Centre call for the Queensland Parliament to reject the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, and instead substantially increase investment in services that support marginalised young people and their families.

The Australian Government must take action to provide a decent and dignified standard of living to people who are forced to turn to our social safety net in times of need, the Human Rights Law Centre has told a Senate committee inquiry into the proposed increase to Jobseeker and other support payments of just $3.57 per day.

Credible evidence of mass internments, forced labour and other atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang provide an urgent case for action by the Australian Government to ensure businesses are not profiting from these abuses, the Human Rights Law Centre has told a parliamentary committee.

Hands Off Our Charities' overarching concern with this review, and all future amendments to the Electoral Act, is that in seeking to achieve electoral integrity, legislation does not stifle the civil society voices that are vital to the health of our democracy, especially in the absence of any compelling evidence.

The Human Rights Law Centre and the Australian Conservation Foundation gave evidence to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, which is reviewing the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Donation Reform and Other Measures) Bill 2020) (Cth).

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.

Two of Australia’s leading human rights organisations - the Human Rights Law Centre and Amnesty International Australia - are calling on the Gutwein Government to prohibit the routine strip searching of children. The Tasmanian Government is currently considering laws that the two national organisations say miss the mark when it comes to the need to protect children from harm and prohibit routine strip searches.

In its submission to a Senate inquiry, the Human Rights Law Centre has called on Parliament to reject the permanent expansion of the Cashless Debit Card scheme into the Northern Territory.

The Human Rights Law Centre has made a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.The destruction has rightly attracted international condemnation, and calls for a thorough examination of Rio Tinto’s actions and the broader legal and political framework that allowed this to happen.