Submission: Monitoring of Places of Detention in the Northern Territory
Proposed legislation in the Northern Territory which will enable independent experts to visit places of detention will play an important role in preventing ill-treatment, says the HRLC. In a submission to the NT Government, the HRLC has welcomed the draft legislation but recommended a number of changes to ensure full compliance with Australia’s international obligations.
“The independent monitoring and oversight of places of detention is essential to promote humane treatment in all places of detention,” says the HRLC’s Ben Schokman. “This is not only in the interests of all people deprived of their liberty but also in the interests of the broader community.”
The Monitoring of Places of Detention (Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture) (National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013 seeks to implement part of the obligations contained in the Optional Protocol on the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was signed by Australia on 19 May 2009. The object of the Bill is to facilitate visits by the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture to all places of detention in the Northern Territory.
The HRLC’s submission focuses on ensuring unfettered access to all places of detention and access to documents and information, as well ensuring that the language of the Bill is clear and drafted in a way that will achieve the purpose of the Optional Protocol.
A copy of the HRLC’s submission is available here.
Further information on the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) 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, Cammeraygal, Darug, Wadawurrung, Turrbal and Jagera 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.
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