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Focus Areas - Other
The legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights applies to all arms of government – legislative, executive and judicial – and directly engages the parliament.
Notwithstanding Australia’s international legal obligations, however, the Commonwealth has not established formal domestic mechanisms to ensure comprehensive parliamentary scrutiny of human rights.
On 5 March 2010, therefore, the Centre made [...]
In the course of the recent periodic review of Australia by the UN Human Rights Committee, one of the independent experts called on Australia to grasp its opportunity – and fulfil its obligation – to become a ‘AAA’ human rights state.
This paper, entitled ‘Australia, Human Rights and Foreign Policy’ (2009) 34(4) Alternative Law Journal 218, responds [...]
On 3 December 2009, the Centre made a Submission in response to the Australian Government’s Green Paper on electoral reform.
The submission argues that Australia’s electoral system should reflect and implement Australia’s international human rights obligations, in particular by protecting and promoting the right to vote, freedom of expression, the right to participate in public affairs [...]
On 10 December 2009, the Centre released a paper entitled Human Rights Leadership: Initiatives to Promote Human Rights at Home and Abroad. The paper, which was provided to the Federal Government in September, proposes 20 initiatives which Australia could take to strengthen a range of normative, preventative and remedial mechanisms to protect human rights at [...]
On 20 November 2009, the HRLRC made a submission in relation to implementation of the Human Rights Committee’s Concluding Observations on Australia’s compliance with the ICCPR. The Attorney-General’s Department sought input from civil society on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations made in March this year.
The HRLRC’s submission provides a number of recommendations on steps [...]
The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee is conducting an inquiry into the Migration Amendment (Complementary Protection) Bill 2009.
Complementary protection is the protection owed by a State that falls outside the scope of the Refugee Convention. Complementary protection obligations are found in the non-refoulement provisions of various human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on [...]
In July 2009, the Australian Government released exposure draft legislation on proposed reforms to Australia’s extradition and mutual assistance in criminal matters laws.
In August 2009, the Centre made a Submission to the Attorney-General’s Department regarding the proposed reforms. The submission considers the compatibility of proposed amendments to the Extradition Act 1988 (Cth) and the Mutual Assistance [...]
On 27 July 2009, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the Public Interest Law Clearing House made a Joint Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration in relation to the National Security Legislation Monitor Bill 2009. The Bill establishes the National Security Legislation Monitor to review the operation, effectiveness and [...]
In July 2009, the HRLRC prepared a Briefing Paper on Key Human Rights Issues in Australia for Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, in advance of her visit to Australia in July-August 2009.
The Briefing Paper considers a range of contemporary human rights issues in Australia, including:
the current legal and political context [...]
On 1 July 2009, the Centre made a submission to the Standing Committee on Procedure Inquiry into the effectiveness of House Committees, entitled Human Rights and Parliamentary Scrutiny.
The submission focuses on the second and fourth of the Committee’s Terms of Reference namely, ‘the type of work being undertaken by committees’ and ‘the powers and operations [...]
The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with Blake Dawson, has made a Submission to the Henry Review of Australia’s Tax System. The submission requests that the Review Panel recommend amending the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) to introduce a deductible gift recipient category for human rights organisations.
Currently, the common law definition of [...]
Compliance with obligations arising under both international and domestic human rights laws requires effective monitoring systems.
Currently, Australia is subject to periodic review by UN treaty bodies established under each of the ICCPR, ICESCR, CAT, CRPD, CEDAW and CERD. These reviews provide an opportunity for a comprehensive analysis of the state of human rights in Australia [...]
The UN Human Rights Committee will review the state of human rights in Australia in March 2009 in New York.
On 16 and 23 March, the Committee will be briefed by a coalition of leading Australian human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Amnesty International. On [...]
On 5 February 2009, the Senate ordered the review of Australia’s judicial system, the role of judges and access to justice.
The Human Rights Law Resource Centre’s Submission to the Access to Justice Inquiry analyses and discusses the Terms of Reference with particular reference to the right to a fair hearing, as enshrined in art 14 of [...]
In line with the Australian Government’s commitment to reclaim its ‘reputation as a leader in the international protection of human rights’, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, the Joint Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is conducting an inquiry on human rights mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific.
The Centre has made a Submission on Australia’s Role [...]
During its 92nd and 93rd sessions held in March and July 2008 respectively, the Human Rights Committee initiated the drafting of a new General Comment on States parties’ obligations under the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Committee has sought comments on the Draft General Comment from interested parties, [...]
In September 2008, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with the National Association of Community Legal Centres and Kingsford Legal Centre, submitted a major NGO report to the Human Rights Committee regarding Australia.
The report, Freedom, Respect, Equality, Dignity: Action – NGO Submission to the Human Rights Committee [PDF] [Word], was compiled with the assistance of substantial contributions [...]
On 21 August 2007, the UN Human Rights Committee released General Comment No 32 on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial under art 14 of the ICCPR.
General Comment No 32 will be an important source of guidance on the interpretation and application of s 24 of the Victorian [...]
The Human Rights Law Resource Centre acts for Stefan Nystrom, Britt Nystrom and Annette Turner.
Stefan Nystrom was born in 1973 and, until very recently, had lived permanently in Australia since he was 27 days old. He is a Swedish citizen but has no relevant ties to Sweden or any State other than Australia.
On 22 December [...]
On 8 February 2007, the HRLRC made a submission to the inquiry by Federal Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties into the recently signed security treaty with Indonesia. Known as the ‘Lombok Treaty’ and tabled on 6 December 2006, the Treaty provides a framework for security cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, including provisions on defence, [...]
This submission by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre Ltd to the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee considers the issue of corporate social responsibility in a human rights framework.
The submission contends that corporations have the potential and capacity to, on the one hand, contribute significantly to, and on the other hand, derogate significantly from, human rights in local, [...]
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