This article is part of our February theme, which focuses on one of the great silences in the human rights conversation in Australia: Prisoners’ Rights. Read our Editorial for more on this theme. In 2004 the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Legislative Assembly enacted the Human Rights Act, the first Bill of Rights to be passed into […]
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 […]
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 […]
DATE: 15 June 2011 The Victorian Equal Opportunity Amendment Bill passed the Upper House of the Victorian Parliament earlier this morning, following five hours of debate. The changes to the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act introduced by the Bailleu Government was defeated in parliament when Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge missed the vote, the first time […]
DATE: 15 June 2011 A recent Federal Court ruling has highlighted the lack of protection for students who have severe social and behaviourial disabilities. The Walker family sued the Victorian Department of Education for discriminating against their son who suffers from multiple disabilities including Aspergers Syndrome and dyslexia, but the court ruled in favour of […]
DATE: 6 MAY 2011 Yesterday, the Victorian Government introduced amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 in parliament. These changes reduce the ability of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to “respond effectively to systematic discrimination.” The amendments maintain the Commission’s key functions on identifying and addressing discrimination including through education and dispute […]
DATE: 27th of April 2011 The federally funded National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP) is facing a constitutional challenge in the High Court. Ron Williams, a concerned parent from Queensland has brought forward the challenge claiming that the program has created a non-secular pro-Christian culture in the state schools his children attend. Introduced by John Howard in […]