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Focus Areas - Other
The Federal Government’s “Stronger Futures” laws – which are intended to replace the Northern Territory Emergency Response laws – breach international human rights standards and must be reconsidered and redesigned. According to Ben Schokman of the Human Rights Law Centre, the proposed legislation is incompatible with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [...]
The Australian Government’s silence on human rights abuses in the region has once again been put in the spotlight, with the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) and International Lawyers for West Papua (ILWP) urging the Foreign Minister to speak up in defence of basic rights such as freedom of expression and assembly. Criminal trials have [...]
The Australian Government should take a leadership role in promoting and protecting human rights in the troubled Indonesian province of West Papua say two leading human rights organizations in a Joint Letter to the Foreign Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP. Ahead of the 50th anniversary this Friday of the first raising of the West [...]
Fix the Cluster Munition Prohibition Bill or victims won’t have a leg to stand on (15 Nov 2011) When Mohamad Hassan Sultan and four other boys were innocently watching rubble being removed from a house destroyed in a cluster bomb strike, a truck bumped a tree, dislodging a cluster bomb. It detonated by Mohamad’s feet and [...]
A coalition of leading human rights NGOs, coordinated by the Human Rights Law Centre, the Mental Disability Advocacy Center and the Open Society Justice Initiative, has prepared a major statement for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on strengthening access to remedies for violations of international human rights. The Joint NGO [...]
On 20 October 2011, a coalition of leading human rights NGOs, including the Human Rights Law Centre, Human Rights Watch and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, sent an Open Letter to the Commonwealth Heads of Government [PDF] regarding the need to take urgent action on human rights in Sri Lanka at the forthcoming meeting of [...]
In a landmark decision, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has held that Australia violated the human rights of a permanent resident, and breached its international legal obligations, by cancelling his visa and deporting him to Sweden. Stefan Nystrom was deported from Australia on 29 December 2006 after the government cancelled his visa on the [...]
Australian law must be strengthened to prevent Australian officials from directly or indirectly exposing people to serious human rights violations, including torture and the death penalty. The Federal Parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs is currently examining a Bill to amend the Extradition Act and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act. [...]
Australia should consider “overarching human rights framework” for foreign policy, says parliamentary committee A joint parliamentary committee has recommended that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade attach further importance to human rights in its work. On 21 July, the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade published its Review of the DFAT Annual [...]
A coalition of leading international and domestic NGOs has presented a major paper to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on strengthening the UN human rights treaty bodies. The Pretoria Statement – which was prepared by NGOs including Amnesty International, the International Service for Human Rights, the Centre for Human Rights (South [...]
UN human rights bodies are an essential component of the international system for the promotion and protection of human rights, complementing the work of regional and domestic non-government organisations and national human rights institutions. At its 102nd session in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Committee held a dialogue with NGOs and NHRIs as to how [...]
Australia faced a hard sell to defend its human rights record when it appeared before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 8 June 2011. Australia’s delegation delivered its formal response to 145 recommendations made as part of the UN’s Universal Periodic Review process, which reviews the human rights records of all 192 United [...]
Australia was reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 27 January 2011. The UPR is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council which reviews the human rights records of all 192 United Nations Member States. The UPR provides a significant opportunity for the Australian Government to improve the protection and promotion of human rights and to [...]
Human rights should be both a key goal and instrument of Australian foreign policy. As a goal, we should commit ourselves to promoting and protecting freedom, dignity, equality and justice for all as a key foreign policy priority. As an instrument, we should promote human rights to secure the underlying conditions for other goals, such [...]
The Australian Government has a legal obligation to implement key human rights reforms, according to a new submission from the Human Rights Law Centre [submission and annexure]. The submission to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department considers each of 145 recommendations made to Australia by the international community during Australia’s Universal Periodic Review before the UN Human [...]
On 21 March 2011 the UN Special Representative on business and human rights, John Ruggie, released his final report, the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework”. The report is the culmination of six years of work by the Special Representative in the development of norms [...]
Loopholes in Australia’s extradition procedures need to be closed to prevent exposing people to human rights violations, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre has recommended to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.
The HRLRC congratulates the Federal Government on the introduction of the Migration Act Amendment (Complementary Protection) Bill 2011 on 24 February 2011. Complementary protection is the duty owed by a State to not return people to face torture or other serious human rights violations in their country of origin, even if their cases do not [...]
Click here for news on Follow Up and Implementation UPR Video Update No 8 featuring the Attorney-General Thematic Grouping of UPR Recommendations for Advocacy Purposes Outcomes Document – UN Human Rights Council’s Draft Report Monday, 31 January 2011 – Video Update No 7 on adoption of the Draft Report Friday, 28 January 2011 – Video [...]
Monday 7 February 2011 The United Nation’s Independent Expert on the Effects of Foreign Debt and other Related International Financial Obligations on Human Rights, Dr Cephas Lumina, will visit Australia this week to discuss efforts to prevent profiteering by vulture funds. Vulture funds are operated by private investment firms which purchase foreign debt of developing [...]
Media Release: Effective aid delivery requires robust human rights perspective Australia’s aid and development programs would be significantly enhanced if the Australian Government adopted a human rights-based approach to aid and development assistance, claims a leading human rights NGO. The Human Rights Law Resource Centre today made its submission to the Australian Government’s independent review [...]
Australia has been called on to enact a Human Rights Act, recognise same-sex marriage, abolish mandatory immigration detention and entrench Indigenous rights in the Constitution following a major international review before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The review, known as the Universal Periodic Review, is a process which provides all 193 UN countries [...]
The United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary General on Business and Human Rights is currently consulting on draft Guiding Principles that seek to implement the Special Representative’s ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework. The HRLRC has provided the Special Representative with a Submission in relation to the draft Guiding Principles. In short, the HRLRC supports [...]
On 26 October 2010, the Senate referred the Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill 2010 to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report in May 2011. The purpose of the Bill is to establish an independent statutory office of Commonwealth Commissioner for Children and Young People, to advocate at [...]
A large coalition of Australian non-government organisations has written a letter to the Australian Government encouraging it to consider making a number of “voluntary commitments” ahead of the Universal Periodic Review of Australia in January 2011. As part of the UPR process, states are encouraged to make “voluntary commitments”, which are concrete pledges to take [...]
The Australian Government is currently considering a draft text of a third optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which has been circulated by the UN Open-ended Working Group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The draft third OP seeks to establish an individual [...]
On 29 October 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the PILCH Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic made a joint submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Civil Dispute Resolution Bill 2010. The Bill: requires civil litigants to take genuine steps to resolve disputes before legal proceedings are instituted in the [...]
The work, functioning and status of the UN Human Rights Council will be reviewed in 2011. An open-ended working group established by the Council to discuss this review is scheduled for 25 to 29 October 2010. On 20 October 2010, the HRLRC made a Submission to the Working Group on the Review of the UN Human Council [...]
The Human Rights Law Resource Centre has prepared a series of policy papers to inform and advance the human rights agenda in Australia. Each brief identifies a human rights problem or opportunity, discusses the imperative for action, analyses relevant evidence, and makes concrete recommendations for Australia to advance the agenda at the international and national [...]
The work, functioning and status of the UN Human Rights Council will be reviewed in 2011. An open-ended working group established by the Council to discuss this review is scheduled for 25 to 29 October 2010. Coincidentally, Australia will participate in the Council’s Universal Periodic Review process from early- to mid-2011. Both the Council review and [...]
On 3 September 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with the International Service for Human Rights and the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team, provided a Brief on the Pacific Region to Ms Margaret Sekaggya, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, in advance of her visit to Fiji scheduled for 6 [...]
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 [...]
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) [...]
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 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 [...]
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, [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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