| |
|
|
Focus Areas - ESC Rights
On 3 June 2010, the UN Special Rapportuer on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, Anand Grover, released his final report following a mission to Australia in November and December 2009.
The report focuses on the standard of living and quality of health care and health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait [...]
On 28 May 2010, the Centre made a Submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding implementation of the 2009 Concluding Observations on Australia by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The Centre’s submission outlines practical steps and measures, including legislative, administrative and financial measures, for the Australian Government to improve the [...]
Director of Housing v Sudi [2010] VCAT 328 (31 March 2010)
Justice Bell, sitting as President of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, has held that the Director of Housing acted unlawfully under s 38(1) of the Charter in seeking, without adequate justification, to evict a refugee family from social housing in breach of their right [...]
In January 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre made a Submission to the Victorian Legislative Council Family and Community Development Committee’s inquiry into the adequacy and future directions of public housing in Victoria.
The Centre submits that the future direction of public housing requires a holistic rights-based approach from government, based on the legislative entrenchment [...]
On 8 October 2009 the National Human Rights Consultation Committee recommended that Australia enact a Human Rights Act. However, although the Consultation clearly demonstrated the right to adequate housing, health care and education are the ‘rights that matter most’ to Australians, the Committee further recommended that, if an Australian Human Rights Act enshrines social and [...]
A major report by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth, tabled on 26 November 2009, recommends the enactment of new homelessness legislation which enshrines ‘the right of all Australians to adequate housing’. The report, Housing the Homeless, contains 15 recommendations aimed at preventing and addressing homelessness in Australia.
According [...]
In November 2008, the Centre was granted leave to appear as amicus curiae in a matter concerning the meaning of ‘public authority’ under the Victorian Charter. This is a question of great significance, as it is public authorities who are bound to act compatibly with and give proper consideration to human rights. The issue arose [...]
In September 2009, the HRLRC prepared a Briefing Paper on Health and Human Rights in Australia for the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Anand Grover, in advance of his country mission to Australia in November and December 2009.
The Briefing Paper considers a range of issues regarding realisation of the right to health [...]
On 28 August 2009, the Centre made a Submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth inquiry into proposed homelessness legislation for Australia.
Homelessness is a human rights issue and is both a cause and a consequence of poverty and other human rights violations. Therefore, the Centre submitted that the [...]
In September 2009 the Optional Protocol to the ICSECR opens for signature. The Optional Protocol to the ICESCR establishes three important mechanisms for bringing violations of economic, social and cultural rights before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, namely an individual communication mechanism, an inter-state complaint mechanism and an inquiry procedure.
On 1 [...]
UN Committee Calls on Australia to Invest in Human Rights in Landmark Report
Historic First as Treaty Body Calls on Australia to Address Climate Change and Increase Foreign Aid
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has urged Australia to make human rights a priority at a time when the global financial crisis threatens the [...]
The UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights will review Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Geneva on 5 and 6 May 2009.
On 4 May 2009, a non-government delegation, comprising representatives from the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Kingsford Legal Centre, will brief the [...]
On 8 May 2008 the Minister for Health announced a review of the Mental Health Act 1986 (Vic). In December 2008 a Consultation Paper designed to stimulate discussion and raise key issues was released.
This submission by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Dignity, Equality, Freedom and Respect: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Mental Health [Word] [PDF], focuses [...]
In late 2008, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights called for submissions on its draft General Comment 20 on Non-Discrimination.
The draft General Comment examines the various obligations contained in article 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It also analyses the prohibited grounds of discrimination and makes comments [...]
In May 2008, the Victorian Government Department of Human Services commenced a broad review of mental health services.
People with mental illness in Victoria experience discrimination within society and the health care system which causes significant social disadvantage. The review aims to shift focus from a response based on illness and acute intervention to one emphasising [...]
On 13 March 2008, the Centre wrote to the Attorney General, the Hon Rob McClelland MP, calling on the Australian Government to strongly support the negotiation and adoption of an effective, comprehensive complaints and inquiries mechanism for the ICESCR. Click here for a copy of the letter.
The UN Working Group on the Optional Protocol to the [...]
Report to and Request for Action from UN Special Rapporteurs
From 31 July to 16 August 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing conducted an official country visit to Australia. In his Preliminary Observations regarding implementation of the right to adequate housing, the Special Rapporteur noted that there is a ‘serious, hidden [...]
On 30 November 2006, the HRLRC ran a workshop with Malcolm Langford of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions on ‘Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Advocacy, Litigation and Implementation Strategies’.
Click here for a copy of Malcolm Langford’s presentation.
|
|
|
|
