Everyone deserves to work in freedom and dignity.   In December, we made important progress towards stopping Australian companies from profiting from forced labour in their supply chains.

On 29 November 2024, the Australian Government passed a suite of harsh new migration laws which threaten refugee and migrant communities across Australia. These laws single people out for punishment and harsh treatment based purely on visa status, with no regard for the lives that people have built in Australia. 

Migration restrictions always serve dual purposes: to exclude and repel some, while ensuring the unequal inclusion of the vast majority.

The right to protest, free speech and academic freedom are central tenets of a functioning democracy.

The equitable briefing policy was developed in consultation with a range of stakeholders across the legal profession. As a human rights organisation, we have a responsibility to help address the fact that the legal profession does not currently reflect the community it serves. Working with counsel who bring diverse perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds benefits both our clients and the profession as a whole.

Tasmania’s whistleblowers cannot safely go to the media or parliamentarians. The result is a silencing of public interest stories, while fraud, misconduct and corruption remain hidden.

People calling out racism have usually faced more repercussions than those spreading fear, hatred and division

Whistleblowers are critical to addressing the climate and biodiversity crises.

Migration restrictions always serve dual purposes: to exclude and repel some, while ensuring the unequal inclusion of the vast majority.

Transparency is essential for a healthy democracy. But from failing whistleblower protections to a broken freedom of information system and police raids on media companies, transparency is under threat in Australia.

In 2021, in response to a human rights complaint brought by 170 local community members, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre, Rio Tinto agreed to fund an independent human rights and environmental impact assessment of the Panguna mine. Communities in Bougainville have just received the draft results from the investigation, which focused on the most serious areas of concern.

Instead of reining in social media giants, the government’s new law is letting them police themselves. We know what happens when we ask the fox to guard the henhouse.