By Tanja Kovac. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. Tanja Kovac, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights are Aussie Rules Program (HRAR), writes about the development of a National Civics and Citizenship Curriculum that is currently underway for Australian schools. […]
By Michelle Sowey. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. Some years ago, in a paper on human rights education, Jim Ife observed: The idea of human rights is far from non-problematic; it is highly contested, and so human rights education needs […]
By Chris Varney. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. “I have never felt like I meant much,” said a 17-year-old in a rural homeless shelter. “The violence in my childhood has led to me having schizophrenia,” said an 18-year-old in […]
The age at which a child can be held responsible for criminal acts and dealt with within the criminal justice system varies enormously around the world. This is partly a reflection of the fact that systems for dealing with young offenders differ significantly. Some countries adopt a welfare-based approach where children are not punished for […]
By Holly Kendall. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. You take a picture of yourself in your underwear and send it to your boyfriend or girlfriend. Your phone beeps. You pick it up. You’ve just been sent pictures of topless girls. […]
By Emma Breheny. This article is part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. Diversion is one of many sentencing options available in Victoria’s criminal justice system. It aims to direct people away from formal involvement with this system in recognition of the fact that this […]
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 […]