By Marisa McCague, Meredith Fordyce and Kathryn Finemore. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. Recently a mother tried to enroll her child at her local primary school. The Principal took it upon himself to ring the Principal of the local Special […]
By John Tobin. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. For many of you reading this article the answer to this question may well be obvious – of course children’s rights matter. But is this view universally held within Australia or indeed […]
“I think if I didn’t take this job, I’d probably be in prison, or dead. One of the two.” These are the words of an anonymous interviewee in the short documentary, Off The Record. The documentary shares the stories of individuals who have struggled when seeking employment due to their criminal record. In Victoria, there […]
To coincide with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child releasing its five-yearly report on Australia’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Right Now’s July content is dedicated to Children & Youth in Australia. Prior to delivering its report, the UN Committee was briefed on the current situation in […]
By Patrick Parkinson. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. The Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Act 2011 made numerous amendments to the Family Law Act in order to strengthen the focus of the legislation on […]
This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. The Family Law Amendment (Family Violence and other Measures Act) 2011(Cth) which amended the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (‘the FLA’) came into operation on the 7 June 2012. This legislation was largely […]
By Sonia Nair At first glance, global hunger appears to be an insurmountable problem, where the insufficiency of food resources lies at its core. However, the right to food – a relatively young right that protects people’s entitlement to feed themselves with dignity – implies otherwise, and expounds that sufficient food is indeed available. The […]
By Sienna Merope In the last fortnight two asylum seeker boats have sunk on their way to Australia, killing more than 90 people. These tragic deaths and the continuing arrival of boats have, unsurprisingly, re-ignited public debate about how to address the “refugee problem”. What has emerged is a disturbing consensus that Australia has an […]
This article has also appeared on The Conversation. There’s a knock on the door. It’s late, and it has been a wild and stormy night. You wonder who could possibly be outside in this weather. Opening the door you find a young man collapsed on your doorstep, soaked and shivering. He wants to come inside, […]
On Wednesday night, 27 June 2012, a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Migration Act proposed by Independent Member of Parliament Rob Oakeshott passed the Lower House of Parliament after an extended and emotional debate. The drama in the House of Representative is the latest in an ongoing story, brought to a head by the news […]
This article is part of our June theme, which focuses on Indigenous People and their human rights. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. Arinya* is a single mother with four children under the age of nine. Although all her children’s births have been registered, only the eldest two have birth certificates as the Registry […]
Twenty years on from the Mabo decision, and fifty since Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people won the right to vote, Right Now is focusing on Indigenous People and their human rights. Our content for this month attempts to strike a delicate balance between the positive and the negative. On the one hand, a simple […]