| |
|
|
Focus Areas - Other
In an historic decision, the High Court has struck down legislation which resulted in the early close of the electoral rolls and denied over 100,000 Australians the right to vote.
The decision is a landmark victory for representative democracy, political participation and accountable government.
The case was a constitutional challenge to the validity of changes to the Commonwealth [...]
Of the myriad issues inadequately covered in the 2010 Federal Election campaign, the issues as to Australian values and identity, and how these values shape the way we understand our role and responsibility in the world, must figure high. In the leaders’ debate, for example, the only discussion of Australian foreign policy and our place [...]
On 23 July 2010, the HRLRC and GetUp! announced proposed action in the High Court of Australia to promote and protect voting rights for disadvantaged groups.
The case is a constitutional challenge to the validity of changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 made by the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act [...]
Australia is to be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review process in January 2011.
A coalition of 68 NGOs - coordinated by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Kingsford Legal Centre and the National Association of Community Legal Centres - has submitted a 5 page Report to the UN Human Rights Council on [...]
On 2 April 2009, the UN Human Rights Committee adopted Concluding Observations in respect of Australia’s compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
On 6 July 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre made a Follow-Up Submission on Implementation of the Human Rights Committee’s Concluding Observations on Australia. The submission updates [...]
Australia is to be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review process in January 2011.
A coalition of NGOs has prepared a 5 page report on human rights in Australia, setting out key issues and concrete recommendations. The principal authors of the report are the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Kingsford [...]
The Attorney-General and Minister for Foreign Affairs recently launched Australia’s Framework for Law and Justice in the Pacific. The Framework is a high-level statement of priorities intended to guide Australia’s work in the Pacific law and justice sector.
The Framework commits Australia to help Pacific countries strengthen the rule of law and protect human rights. It [...]
On 27 May 2010, the Centre sent a letter to the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, in relation to the current review of the PNG-Australia Development Cooperation Treaty.
In its letter, the Centre recalled the recent recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade that AusAID ‘adopt a human rights-based approach to the planning [...]
On 3 May 2010, the Australian Parliament’s Human Rights Sub-Committee published a much anticipated report on Australia’s role in promoting and protecting human rights in the Asia-Pacific region, entitled Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: Challenges and Opportunities.
The Committee identified that the ‘Asia-Pacific is a diverse and complex region with a mosaic of human rights challenges’ [...]
The Australian Government has introduced proposed legislation to amend aspects of the counter terror legal regime. On 30 April 2010, the HRLRC and Amnesty International made a joint submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs‘ inquiry into the two bills, namely the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (the NSL Bill) [...]
The HRLRC has made a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department on information to be included in the Australian Government’s report to the Universal Periodic Review. The Australian Government has requested two-page submissions from the public to be provided by 16 April 2010.
The HRLRC’s submission:
addresses positive developments that should be included in the Australian Government’s report; [...]
The Samoan Government has appointed a Commission of Inquiry into the working of Article 11 of the Samoan Constitution, which protects the right to freedom of religion. As it is currently drafted, Article 11 provides that every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and that laws restricting this right are [...]
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, [...]
|
|
|
|
