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Submissions - Equality Rights
A high-level UN committee has found that Australia needs to take urgent measures to address racism and racial discrimination, disadvantage and inequality.
On 27 August 2010, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination released its Concluding Observations following a review of Australia’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial [...]
In August 2010, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewed Australia’s compliance with its international legal obligations to respect, protect and promote the human right to equality and freedom from racial discrimination.
An NGO coalition, comprising the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and the Foundation for [...]
On 3 August 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre provided an oral briefing and short Briefing Paper to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination regarding the enhancement of NGO engagement with UN human rights treaty bodies and strategies to promote the use and implementation of treaty body recommendations on the ground.
Respect for human rights is the foundation of a community that is fair, just, cohesive and inclusive. The promotion and protection of human rights should be a key priority for the next Australian Government.
On the international stage, Australia has a proud bipartisan history in the development of human rights laws and institutions. At home, the [...]
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 [...]
Australia is scheduled to be reviewed by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in relation to its compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in Geneva in August 2010.
In July 2010, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, together with the National Association of Community Legal [...]
Policy Brief on Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: Australia’s Role and Responsibilities (28 June 2010)
As the Federal Government prepares its response to the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, ‘Human Rights and the Asia-Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges’, this policy brief on ‘Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: Australia’s Role and Responsibilities’ [...]
The Endorsement Draft of the NGO Shadow Report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is now available.
The report has been prepared over the last 5 months in consultation with a broad range of community organisations and NGOs in Australia and we hope that it will also be supported by even wider range [...]
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 [...]
On 9 March, the Equal Opportunity Bill 2010 was introduced into Victorian Parliament. The proposed legislative reforms include the establishment of new mechanisms designed to respond to systemic discrimination and promote substantive equality.
The reforms respond to a major review of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 conducted by Julian Gardner in 2007-2008 which found that Victoria’s [...]
The Australian Human Rights Commission has issued Draft Guidelines to provide practical assistance to Parliament and the Government in designing and implementing income management measures that protect human rights and are consistent with the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. The HRLRC has made a submission providing feedback on the Draft Guidelines, which welcomes the Commission’s development of [...]
The Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee is conducting an inquiry into legislation currently before Parliament that seeks to reinstate the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and expand income management to apply across the whole of Australia.
The Centre has made a submission to the Inquiry that considers the human rights principles and standards that [...]
The Joint Standing Committee on Migration is conducting an inquiry into the health requirements undertaken for Australian visa processing. The current rules prevent many individuals and families from accessing visas because the applicant or a member of their family has a disability.
The Centre made a submission to the inquiry arguing that that decisions to grant [...]
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Attorney General and Minister Macklin, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre has strongly urged the Rudd Government to immediately reinstate the operation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) to apply to all measures of the Northern Territory Intervention. The letter has been endorsed by more than [...]
In a submission to the Indigenous Affairs Minister, the Hon Jenny Macklin MP, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre has strongly urged the Minister not to exercise her discretionary power to compulsorily acquire Aboriginal town camps in Alice Springs.
In August this year, the Minister wrote to Alice Springs town camp residents giving notice of her proposal to [...]
Earlier this year the Federal Minister for the Status of Women announced a Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace and Agency (EOWA) and its underlying legislation (EOWW Act).
The review comes at a time when indicators show a decline in women’s workplace equality. Currently, only 8.3% of Board Directorships are held by [...]
In August 2009, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre made a Submission to the Alice Springs Town Council in relation to the draft Alice Springs (Management of Public Places) Bylaws 2009.
The HRLRC considers that the following provisions contained within the Proposed Bylaws raise serious human rights concerns for persons in the Alice Springs community:
the provision relating [...]
On 24 June 2009, the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009 was lodged in the Senate by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. The Bill seeks to amend the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) so that:
same-sex partners are able to marry; and
same-sex marriages legally entered into in other jurisdictions are recognised in Australia.
The Senate voted to send the Bill [...]
On 21 August 2009, the Centre made a short Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for its consideration in the drafting of a General Recommendation on the issue of ’special measures’, as provided in articles 1(4) and 2(2) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial [...]
On 10 July 2009, the Centre and the Public Interest Law Clearing House made a joint submission to the Victorian Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee Inquiry into Exceptions and Exemptions under the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic), entitled Eliminating Discrimination and Ensuring Substantive Equality.
Permanent Exceptions
PILCH and the HRLRC submit that the permanent exceptions to [...]
The Victorian parliamentary Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into whether any amendments should be made to the permanent exceptions in the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic).
The Act prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of protected attributes, including age, religious belief or activity, sex, race, sexual orientation, political belief, impairment [...]
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 24 April 2009, the Human Rights Law Resource Centre made a submission to the National Human Rights Consultation entitled Engage, Educate, Empower: Measures to Promote and Protect Human Rights [PDF] [Word].
The Engage, Educate, Empower submission considers a range of measures to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in Australia and responds primarily to the [...]
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 [...]
The Victorian Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, recently announced that it was working on a national model Bill for a spent convictions scheme and invited the HRLRC to make a submission in relation to a draft Bill. The purpose of a spent convictions scheme is broadly to limit the [...]
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 [...]
On 15 September 2008, the Centre made a Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Same-Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws–General Law Reform) Bill 2008.
The purpose of the Bill is to eliminate discrimination against same-sex couples and the children of same-sex relationships in 68 Commonwealth laws. The Centre congratulates the [...]
On 26 June 2008, the Senate referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee the matter of the effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA) in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality.
The Centre’s submission focuses on the extent to which the SDA implements the non-discrimination obligations contained in international human rights law.
The recommendations [...]
In August 2008, the Centre made a Submission to the Northern Territory Emergency Response Review Board in relation to the practical implications of the Northern Territory Emergency Response legislative package and related implementation measures.
The submission identifies particular human rights issues arising from the NTER and recommends that a human rights approach be taken in the [...]
In November 2007, the Attorney-General initiated an independent review to make recommendations in relation to particular aspects of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic).
As part of the Review, the Reviewer, Julian Gardner, prepared a Discussion Paper which outlines the key questions to be considered by the Review. The Discussion Paper invited responses to a series [...]
On 10 August 2007, the Centre made a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee Inquiry into the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 and Related Bills.
The submission focuses on the potential impact of the proposed legislation on Australia’s international human rights obligations, incuding in relation to the rights to non-discrimination, adequate [...]
In June 2006, the HRLRC made a submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s inquiry into discrimination in access to financial and work-related benefits and entitlements for same-sex couples.
The HRLRC submission considered a range of domestic legislation conferring such benefits and entitlements in the light of international human rights jurisprudence, and expressed concern [...]
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