By Lydia Jebakumar. This piece is part of our September focus on Women’s Rights. See all of this month’s articles here. “Oh my darling, you have to be stronger than razor wire. I try, Mum. I try.” “Detention is the deliberate policy of the Australian Parliament, repeatedly affirmed. In default of a constitutional basis for invalidation, it […]
Police accused of racial profiling Concerns are mounting over African and Muslim communities being unfairly targeted by police in street patrols. Tamar Hopkins, a lawyer from the Flemington and Kensington Legal Centre in Melbourne’s inner-west, says that the police may actually be breaking the law themselves if they are in fact racial profiling. Sydney based […]
Paris Aristotle AM is the Director of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc (also known as Foundation House), a position he has held since helped found the organisation in 1987. He was recently a member of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, and spoke at a Castan Centre event with The Age’s Michael Gordon […]
Australia’s Anti-Racism Strategy is launched Led by the Australian Human Rights Commission, Australia’s National Anti- Racism Strategy, Racism, it stops with me, was launched last week calling on all Australians to say no to racism. The strategy “sets out a three year plan for Government to work with community partners to combat racism across schools […]
Offshore processing bill passes Senate The Senate has passed legislation which allows the offshore processing of asylum seekers who come to Australia by boat. The Government has said it is looking at getting the processing centres up and running on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island within a month. Gavin Marshall, a factional colleague […]
Samaya Chanthaphavong spoke to Christine Assange about government transparency, human rights and the possible extradition of her son, Julian Assange, to the United States of America. Right Now: Julian is seeking political asylum in Ecuador. Can you please explain to our readers why you think the Australian consular or governmental support has abandoned him, and […]
4 August 2012 Native Title win in Queensland The Federal Court of Australia has recognised the Djungan people’s native title rights 17 years after the first claim was lodged. Jim Archer lodged the first of four claims with his brothers in 1995. The Archers have lived on the land their whole lives. “We decided to […]
By Malihe. This article is a part of our July focus on the rights of children and youth. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. One of the rights outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is that children and youth have the right to be heard, and to be taken […]
Government fails on child rights The Australian Human Rights Commission has found that Australia’s treatment of suspected people smugglers who said that they were children has breached international human rights law in a report released on Friday. The report An age of uncertainty reveal that between 2008 and 2011 Australian authorities gave little consideration to […]
14 July 2012 Vulnerable young women subject to trafficking in Queensland mining towns According to the The Age, vulnerable young women from Southeast Asia are being trafficked for sex in booming mining towns in Queensland. Mount Isa police district Inspector Paul Biggin has said that women and girls who can speak minimal or no English, […]
By Dana Affleck In Kuwait today, there are at least 106,000 Bidoon living in a state of “without”. Bidoon, who are also referred to as Bidun, Bedoon and Bedoun (distinct from Bedouins who are a nomads), are a social group of Kuwaiti residents whose status is currently described by Kuwaiti officials as “illegal residents”; they […]
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 […]