Serco, the private contractor hired by the Australian government to run immigration detention facilities, has come under renewed criticism following reports claiming that refugees are receiving insufficient care. In early May, a fiery group of protestors lined the front of Serco’s headquarters in central Melbourne. The rally was the latest in a series of protests […]
29 July 2011 This week, the ACT Attorney-General, Mr Simon Corbell, launched community consultation and called for submissions on the question of whether the protection of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) should be included in the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT). The consultation process forms part of the ACT government’s response to the research […]
26 July 2011 Yesterday the Australian and Malaysian governments officially signed the agreement to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 United Nation verified refugees. Human rights and refugee advocates have expressed concern that the agreement will not provide protection for those refugees going to Malaysia and is in breach of the […]
22 July 2011 Mandatory detention, the continued detention of children and prolonged detention have led to the most serious breaches of the human rights of refugees in Australia, the Australian Human Rights Commission President, Catherine Branson QC said yesterday, at a public lecture in Sydney. Australia’s strict immigration regime continues to breach international obligations particularly […]
20 July 2011 This week the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee (SARC) has been holding public hearings into the review of the Victorian Human Rights Charter, with the Victorian Human Rights Commission and the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) telling the parliamentary committee that Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 […]
Thanks to our friends at Voiceworks we’re pleased to present the following article by Bridget Chappell, a young Australian writer, on the criminalisation of sex work in Iraqi Kurdistan. As Chappell points out in her piece, one of the major arguments put forward to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was widespread human rights […]
So what’s all the fuss with marriage equality? In Australia, the “gay marriage” issue has continued to saturate media and political debate. For some, marriage serves an inherent religious or procreative purpose, for others it is a basic human right that should be open to all couples. Since 2008, de facto recognition has operated to […]
11 July 2011 This month marks a year since the release of Lex Wotton, a respected Palm Island Aboriginal leader, who was jailed for his role in a protest following the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee. As part of his parole conditions Wotton is under a gag order, which prevents him from speaking to […]
The year 2048 will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and what will we have to show for it? J. Kirk Boyd provides an answer in his book 2048: Humanity’s Agreement to Live Together, in which he proposes the drafting and implementation of an International Convention on Human Rights, supported […]
5 July 2011 In their submission to the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee Inquiry (SARC) and review of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) has revealed the important role that the Charter plays in safeguarding and protecting human rights. The Charter, which came into effect on […]
23 June 2011 A new parliamentary report tabled in Parliament, Doing Time-Time for Doing: Indigenous Youth in the criminal justice system has highlighted the over representation of young Indigenous people in the criminal justice system with statistics showing that Indigenous youth are 28 times more likely to be incarcerated than other youth in Australia. The […]
21 June 2011 On Friday 17 June, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a historic resolution on the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people that “seeks equal rights for everyone regardless of their sexual orientation.” The resolution passed following a tense debate and narrow vote, in which African states accused South Africa of breaking […]
