In Australia, we rarely hear about Bangladesh. Even when we do we are told that half the population lives on less than $1 a day and the low-lying land makes it susceptible to rising sea levels. Extreme poverty and disaster distance it from our daily lives. Desai’s photos attempt to remind his Australian viewers of […]
A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report alleges that Australia’s aid agency AusAID partly funds drug rehabilitation centres in Vietnam that have committed human rights violations. The report claims drug users admitted voluntarily by family members, or involuntarily after being detained by police or authorities, are subjected to forced labour, inhumane and degrading treatment, and […]
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. […]
On Friday 22 July 2011, Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Annual Conference was held in Melbourne. Dr Alex Wodak AM, President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney addressed the topic “A Human Rights Approach to Drugs”. Following […]
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 […]
Tomorrow, the challenge to the Malaysia Solution will be heard before the Full Bench of the High Court amidst claims that asylum seekers registered with the United Nations in Kuala Lumpur are in danger of being refouled to China. Take a moment to read this thoughtful piece by Julian Burnside on Australia’s culture of forgetting. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]