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 […]
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 […]
