Last month the Gillard government appointed Helen Szoke as Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner. She replaces Graeme Innes who will continue to work as Disability Discrimination Commissioner. Helen Szoke was previously the Commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Right Now’s Vince Chadwick spoke to her about her new role. RN: The Race […]
9 September 2011 The constitutional challenge to the Government’s funding of the National School Chaplaincy Program in Williams v Commonwealth and Ors continues as lawyers for the prosecution allege that the Government’s subsidising of chaplains undermines the secularism of Australia’s Constitution. The challenge to the program was launched by Ron Williams, a Queensland parent who […]
9 September 2011 Yesterday, the High Court of Australia handed down an historic decision in the case of Momcilovic v The Queen (2011) reaffirming the importance of the Victorian Human Rights Charter and held that it “protects fundamental human rights and maintains parliamentary sovereignty.” In the case, Vera Momcilovic appealed against her conviction for drug […]
6 September 2011 The United Nations Human Right Committee, in a significant decision, has ruled that Australia has violated international law and the human rights of a non-citizen. In the case Nystrom vs Australia, brought by the Human Rights Law Centre and Brian Walters SC, the Australian government had deported Stefan Nystrom in 2006 following […]
5 September 2011 In Moti v The Queen [2011] the High Court is currently examining whether the Australian Government was complicit in aiding the deportation of former Solomon Islands Attorney-General Julian Moti. Mr Moti, who holds Australian citizenship, was deported by the Solomon Islands Government in December, 2007 to face charges for alleged sexual assault. […]
A recent survey by the Sentencing Advisory Council has found that two thirds of respondents felt that judges are out of touch with society. In response, the Victorian Attorney-General has claimed that the survey is “further evidence that many Victorians are dissatisfied with the sentences that offenders receive”. The Victorian Government has conducted its own survey on sentencing […]
31 August 2011 Today the High Court ruled that the Malaysia Solution was invalid. In a 6-1 judgment, the Court held invalid the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship’s declaration of Malaysia as a country to which asylum seekers who entered Australia at Christmas Island can be taken for processing of their asylum claims. Chief Justice Robert […]
25 August 2011 Increases in Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, child abuse and chronic disease highlight the widening of the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, according to a new report released by the Productivity Commission. The latest report entitled Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011 shows improvement in only 13 of the 46 […]
On Wednesday 20 July, the Monash University Alumni Speaker Series presented a panel entitled “Mission Accomplished? The death of Osama Bin Laden and what it means for global terrorism”. The panel was conducted from 6 pm to 8 pm at BMW Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne. Professor Greg Barton led the discussion, with panellists Associate Professor […]
UPDATE: 9 August 2011 Yesterday the High Court extended an order preventing the deportation of asylum seekers to Malaysia until there is a hearing before the full bench to consider whether the government’s policy is lawful. Lawyers representing the 42 asylum seekers told the court that the Malaysia deal should be ruled invalid and that […]
Australia signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008, the same day it was open for signature. The treaty, which was drafted in the wake of the 2006 Lebanon war, seeks to “put at end for all time to the suffering and casualties caused by cluster munitions”. Australia is one of 109 countries […]
On Friday 22 July 2011, Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Annual Conference was held in Melbourne. US Consul General Michael Thurston addressed the topic ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and the Right to Connect’. Following the speech RightNow editor Vince Chadwick spoke with Michael Thurston at the US Consulate. RN: What is the ‘right […]
