The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the passing of new abortion laws in Western Australia. Abortion by doctors has now been decriminalised and replaced by health-focused laws in each state and territory of Australia.
Read More
The Western Australian Parliament has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the health and equality of women and all people who experience pregnancy by reforming the state’s outdated abortion laws.
Read More
Western Australia has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the health and equality of women and all people who experience pregnancy by reforming the state’s outdated abortion laws, the Human Rights Law Centre have told the McGowan Government in a submission to inform the government's drafting of new abortion laws.
Read More
More than 15 months after being passed by Parliament, the Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021 is now law in South Australia.
Read More
The US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that recognised abortion as a constitutional right, is a devastating blow to the lives of women in America and highlights the need for vigilance in Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre warned today.
Read More
New laws that promote reproductive choice and freedom by removing unnecessary legal barriers to abortion in the Northern Territory have been welcomed by the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read More
The safety and privacy of people seeking reproductive healthcare will now be protected in law across Australia after the Western Australian Parliament passed legislation to create safe access zones around abortion service
Read More
The Human Rights Law Centre is calling for the safety and dignity of people seeking abortion care to finally be protected in Western Australia, with the Public Health Amendment (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2021 due to be debated in the WA Legislative Council today.
Read More
Safe access zones are now one step closer to becoming law in Western Australia after members of the WA Legislative Assembly voted in favour of the Public Health Amendment (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2021 on Thursday.
Read More
The dignity of people seeking reproductive health care is a step closer to being protected in Western Australia, with the reintroduction of safe access zone laws into the WA Parliament.
Read More
After a long campaign by reproductive rights advocates, abortion will finally be decriminalised in South Australia. The Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020 was passed by the South Australian upper house today and will remove many barriers to accessing abortion care in South Australia.
Read More
The Human Rights Law Centre has welcomed the South Australian Parliament’s commitment to people’s health and equality with the passing of long overdue abortion laws that decriminalise abortion, with the Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020 passing the Parliament’s lower house by 29 votes to 15 early this morning.
Read More
Fair Agenda and the Human Rights Law Centre have slammed proposed amendments to the South Australian Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020, saying they will undermine compassionate and accessible healthcare.
Read More
32 health, legal and community organisations have joined together to launch an open letter calling on members of parliament to be on the right side of history, and vote in support of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2020, due to be debated next week.
Read More
Australia’s human rights performance was in the spotlight tonight as the Australian Government appeared before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for its major human rights review that happens every four to five years.
Australia’s human rights performance will be in the spotlight tonight as the Australian Government appears before the Human Rights Council in Geneva for its major human rights review that happens every four to five years.
South Australia and Western Australia, the only two Australian states yet to fully modernise their abortion laws, have taken crucial steps this year to shore up reproductive rights.
Read More
In a historic week for reproductive rights in Australia, the two states yet to modernise their abortion laws – South Australia and Western Australia – both took important steps to increase women’s access to reproductive healthcare and bring their laws into the 21st Century.
Read More
South Australian MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of creating safe access zones around abortion clinics, with the Health Care (Safe Access) Amendment Bill passing the lower house of the SA Parliament today.
Read More
Silent prayer outside abortion clinics can be particularly harmful to women trying to access healthcare. The objects of the Health Care (Safe Access) Amendment Bill 2020 would be completely undermined by an amendment that authorises silent prayer within a health access zone, by allowing anti-abortion activists to invade the privacy and threaten the wellbeing of patients seeking abortion care.
Read More
The Human Rights Law Centre has told the Senate Committee tasked with investigating the Federal Government's response to COVID-19 that human rights must be at the centre of the Government’s actions, both now and into the future.
Read More
The safety and dignity of women seeking reproductive health services is a step closer to being protected in South Australia.
Read More
New powers in the COVID-19 Emergency Response Bill 2020, which passed South Australia’s Parliament last night, should be used urgently to ensure women can access abortion without being unnecessarily exposed to increased risk of COVID-19 infection.
Read More
The Andrews Government must take a stand against rising hate in the Victorian community, say a coalition of Union, civil society, faith-based and human rights groups who will give evidence on Wednesday to a Parliamentary Inquiry considering proposed changes to Victoria’s anti-vilification laws.
Read More
As International Women’s Day nears, the UN has heard that Australia is set to undermine people’s healthcare, while giving religious bodies unprecedented privileges to discriminate with laws that will make it harder for women to access contraception and abortion.
Read More
The safety and dignity of women seeking reproductive health services is a step closer to being protected in Western Australia, with the Government today committing to introduce laws to end the harassment of women at the doors of abortion clinics.
Read More
Women’s rights and legal experts have warned that the Morrison Government’s latest version of the Religious Discrmimination Bill threatens to erode decades of progress on reproductive healthcare access.
Read More
People’s healthcare will be undermined, while religious bodies are given unprecedented privileges to discriminate in the revised Religious Discrimination Bill, the Human Rights Law Centre has warned in a submission to the Attorney-General’s Department.
Read More
The Morrison Government’s amendments to the Religious Discrimination Bill have made the bill worse overall, the Human Rights Law Centre has warned.
Read More
Today as we celebrate Human Rights Day, we are delighted to launch our Annual Report for 2019.
Read More
The South Australian Government should demonstrate a commitment to women’s health and equality and decriminalise abortion, the Human Rights Law Centre said today in response to a report critical of the state’s outdated abortion laws.
Read More
South Australia’s Parliament should pass sensible and proportionate safe access zone laws, which are needed to promote the safety and privacy of women accessing abortion healthcare.
Read More
The Morrison Government must ensure that the rights of doctors to freedom of religion do not unfairly trump the rights of people to non-discriminatory health care, the Human Rights Law Centre said in its submission on the Religious Discrimination Bill.
Read More
NSW Parliament has passed historic laws today decriminalising abortion. Women in NSW will finally have the freedom to decide what is right for their bodies without fear of criminal prosecution.
Read More
Laws that promote the safety, dignity and privacy of women accessing reproductive healthcare could soon be a reality in South Australia.
Read More
The Australian Government has used its voice at the UN Human Rights Council to raise concerns of serious human rights abuses committed by Saudi authorities.
Read More
The NSW Parliament must listen to the people of New South Wales and pass the bill to decriminalise abortion without further delay.
Read More
The Morrison Government’s proposed Religious Discrimination Bill fails to strike a fair balance between freedom of religion and the rights of other people, the Human Rights Law Centre has warned.
Read More
The decision by the Berejiklian Government to delay voting on the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill in the Legislative Council displays a lack of respect for NSW women, the Human Rights Law Centre has said.
Read More
The New South Wales Parliament has a historic opportunity to bring its 119 year old abortion laws into the 21st Century this week.
Read More
Where implemented, bans on sex-selective abortions inhibit women’s timely access to healthcare. Such a ban in NSW would undermine women’s health and autonomy, while doing nothing about the societal attitudes and structures that see women discriminated against in many facets of their lives.
Read More
The NSW Legislative Council must remove abortion from the Crimes Act by passing the Reproductive Healthcare Reform Bill 2019 without further amendment or delay, the Human Rights Law Centre has told a parliamentary inquiry.
Read More
The passage of the NSW Reproductive Healthcare Reform Bill through the Legislative Assembly is a long awaited step towards decriminalisation of abortion in NSW.
Read More
Parliament must reject the proposed amendments to the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill, which seek to make it harder for women to access reproductive healthcare than it already is under current law in NSW.
Read More
The bill currently being debated to decriminalize abortion in NSW allows for a medical practitioner to perform an abortion after 22 weeks gestation where they have consulted with another medical practitioner and both consider the abortion appropriate in all the circumstances. It has been suggested that the bill should be amended to reduce the gestation period to 20 weeks. This briefing note explains why that would undermine the reproductive health outcomes of women.
Read More
More than 70 health, legal, community and women’s organisations have joined together today to launch an open letter calling on members of parliament to be on the right side of history, and vote in support of the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 that will be brought before parliament this week.
Read More
The New South Wales Parliament has a historic opportunity to bring its 119 year old abortion laws into the 21st Century.
Read More
The New South Wales Parliament should demonstrate its commitment to women’s health and equality by passing a bill to modernise the state’s archaic abortion laws.
Read More
This week the United Nations heard a scathing statement about a discriminatory Federal Government parenting scheme that targets Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and single mothers.
Read More
Developments in technology should not come at the cost of our human rights, the Human Rights Law Centre has told the United Nations’ independent expert on poverty.
Read More
Western Australia and South Australia must decriminalise abortion and put in place laws that promote safe access to reproductive healthcare, the Human Rights Law Centre said in submissions to separate reviews in South Australia and Western Australia.
Read More
The NSW ProChoice Alliance today launched its NSW abortion decriminalisation campaign in Sydney as peak legal, health and community organisations signalled a commitment to have abortion removed from the NSW Crimes Act and regulated like any other health procedure.
Read More
People in prison in Western Australia were subjected to close to 1 million strip searches over the past 5 years, a shocking report by the Independent Inspector of Custodial Services has found.
Read More
Today, in a landmark decision, the High Court confirmed that women have the right to safely and privately access reproductive healthcare without being accosted and intimidated. Sensible laws that prohibit harassment outside abortion clinics are here to stay.
Read More
Laws that promote the safety, dignity and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare have been upheld by the High Court of Australia.
Read More
Today at 10:15am the High Court of Australia will issue its judgment in response to a challenge to Victoria and Tasmania’s safe access zone laws.
Read More
In response to the Report of the Senate Inquiry into ParentsNext, including its trial and subsequent broader rollout, a broad coalition of service providers, human rights bodies, peak bodies, researchers and advocates today calls time on ParentsNext.
Read More
The Morrison Government cannot delay scrapping its discriminatory ParentsNext program, with a Senate Inquiry finding that the program is causing “anxiety, distress and harm” for many parents, including for women escaping violence.
Read More
The Morrison Government has failed to sign on to an International Women’s Day statement at the United Nations calling for access to safe abortions, comprehensive sexuality education and sexual reproductive health.
Read More
On International Women’s Day the UN will hear that the Australian Government is penalising single mothers with babies as young as six months through a punitive program that is making life harder for parents.
Read More
The safety, wellbeing and dignity of women seeking reproductive health care in Western Australia will be at risk over the next 40 days, as anti-abortionists commence a 40 day picket for Lent.
Read More
Doctors, lawyers, healthcare groups and domestic violence services joined community organisations today to deliver an open letter calling for the NSW Parliament to recognise the right to safe and legal abortion access in the state.
Read More
A bill tabled in the South Australian Parliament today would promote the right of all South Australians to control their bodies by removing abortion from the state’s criminal statute books. (Photo credit: Sharise Birse)
Read More
Queensland women will finally have the freedom to decide what is right for their bodies with the Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 coming into force today.
Read More
Queensland women will finally have the freedom to decide what is right for their bodies with the passing of the Termination of Pregnancy Bill in the Queensland Parliament last night.
Read More
Laws that protect the dignity, safety and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare should be upheld, the High Court will hear in a case set to begin in Canberra tomorrow.
Read More
The Queensland Parliament should demonstrate its commitment to women’s health and equality by passing a bill to modernise the state’s woefully outdated abortion laws the Human Right Law Centre said in a submission to a parliamentary committee today.
Read More
Laws that protect the dignity, safety and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare should be upheld, the Human Rights Law Centre has argued in submissions accepted this week by the High Court.
Read More
The Queensland Parliament should demonstrate its commitment to women’s health and equality by passing a bill that would update the state’s woefully outdated abortion laws.
Read More
The Queensland Parliament has the historic opportunity to bring its woefully outdated abortion laws into the 21st Century with the Queensland Premier today proposing welcome new laws to remove abortion from the criminal code.
Read More
The Australian Government will face intense scrutiny of its treatment of women and girls in next week at the United Nations.
Read More
Northern Territory women have had 12 months of better quality healthcare since abortion laws were reformed last year, however the Northern Territory Government is yet to finish the job.
Read More
Australian governments should respect a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body by removing abortion from criminal laws the Human Rights Law Centre told the UN Human Rights Council in a statement delivered in Geneva overnight.
Read More
Australian governments should end the routine strip searching of women in prison the Human Rights Law Centre has told the UN Human Rights Council in a statement delivered in Geneva overnight.
Read More
For the first time in 15 years, women attending the Surry Hill’s reproductive health clinic did so today without being harassed, intimidated or filmed.
Read More
The Turnbull Government’s second session as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN body responsible for protecting the rights and dignity of people all over the world, will begin in Geneva tomorrow.
Read More
Women in NSW will no longer be forced to run a gauntlet of abuse and harassment just to see their doctor after the NSW Parliament today passed a bill to create safe access zones around abortion clinics.
Read More
Laws that protect the dignity, safety and privacy of women seeking reproductive healthcare should be upheld the Human Rights Law Centre has argued in a submission to the High Court today.
Read More
The importance of a woman's right to safely and privately access reproductive health services has been recognised by the NSW Legislative Council with the passing of a bill that would guarantee safe access zones around abortion clinics.
Read More
The safety, wellbeing and dignity of women seeking reproductive health services is a step closer to being protected in New South Wales through a bill that would guarantee safe access zones around abortion clinics.
Read More
After a week of intense negotiations, the Western Australian Government has avoided urgent Supreme Court action by allowing a newborn Aboriginal baby to remain with her mother.
Read More
In a submission to the Queensland Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into abortion laws, the Human Rights Law Centre has called for the decriminalisation of abortion and for new laws that respect women’s right to choose what happens to their bodies.
Read More
Women in Victorian prisons are being regularly and routinely subjected to degrading strip-searches and the Government should end the practice. Speaking at the launch of a new report, the HRLC's Ruth Barson said being forced to remove every last item of clothing again and again, strips women of dignity and of hope.
Read More
The Queensland Government should demonstrate a commitment to women’s health and refer abortion to the state’s Law Reform Commission, a coalition of legal, medical and community groups said.
Read More
Today Penny Sharpe MLC introduced a bill into the New South Wales parliament to protect the privacy, safety and dignity of women accessing reproductive health services.
“For too long, women in NSW have had to run the gauntlet of intimidation and abuse just to see their doctor. It’s difficult to understand how this behaviour has been allowed to continue for so long,” said Ms Howie.
Read More
Queensland MPs must urgently support abortion law reform to make Queensland law relevant to current clinical practice and community values, the Human Rights Law Centre said today.
Read More
The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the Termination of Pregnancy Law Reform Bill tabled in the Northern Territory Parliament today but argues that it doesn’t go far enough to truly modernise the Territory’s abortion laws and respect women as competent decision-makers.
Read More
The Northern Territory Government should demonstrate its commitment to women’s health and equality by modernising the Territory’s outdated abortion laws said the Human Rights Law Centre today in a submission to the Northern Territory Government’s discussion paper on abortion law reform.
Read MoreQueensland has an historic opportunity to bring its abortion laws into line with clinical practice and common sense, the Human Rights Law Centre told Queensland parliament this week.
Read MoreThe Victorian Parliament has passed a new law to protect the privacy, safety and dignity of women accessing reproductive health services.
Read MoreThe coronial inquest into Ms Dhu’s tragic death in police custody has heard that Ms Dhu was in a violent relationship with her partner, Dion Ruffin, at the time of her arrest. Mr Ruffin was taken into custody together with Ms Dhu and was known to police as someone with a violent criminal history.
Read MoreThe coronial inquest into Ms Dhu’s tragic death in police custody begins in Perth tomorrow morning.
Read MoreAustralia’s treatment of asylum seekers received unprecedented condemnation from the international community as the Government appeared before the Human Rights Council in Geneva overnight for its major four yearly human rights review in a process known as the ‘Universal Periodic Review’.
Read MoreThe Victorian Parliament should pass a new bill to protect the privacy, safety and dignity of women accessing reproductive health services, the Human Rights Law Centre told the Victorian Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee yesterday.
Read MoreThe United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued an urgent call to the governments of Australia and Nauru to find a decent solution for 'Abyan' - a refugee being held on Nauru who is 15 weeks pregnant after reportedly being raped on Nauru in July. The UN has spoken directly with Abyan.
Read MoreThere are some immediate, simple steps, new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull can take to improve human rights in Australia. Our Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser outlines five priorities.
Read MoreEqual opportunity laws should proactively tackle discrimination and promote equality, according to a large coalition of community organisations and legal experts.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the news that the Victorian Government will back the creation of safe access zones to ensure women can safely and privately access health services without being harassed or intimidated.
Read MoreA Melbourne abortion clinic is looking to Spring Street to create safe access zones after the Supreme Court of Victoria this morning found that whilst the Melbourne City Council had made mistakes in the way it dealt with the clinic, it would not be compelled to take action to prevent women being harassed and intimidated as they entered the clinic.
Read MoreThe High Court will sit in Canberra on 7-8 October to consider the lawfulness of the Australian Government’s role in offshore detention on Nauru, in a case brought by a group of people seeking asylum.
Read MoreA proposed law designed to ensure women can safely and privately access abortion services in Victoria has been welcomed by the Human Rights Law Centre.
Read MoreA legal bid to ensure safe access for patients and staff at an East Melbourne fertility clinic will be heard before the Supreme Court today.
Read MoreProperly paid parental leave isn't a 'rort' - it's a human right, writes the HRLC's Rachel Ball.
Read MoreThe Government’s budget proposal to reduce parental leave payments is a retrograde step that will further entrench women’s inequality.
Read MoreAustralia’s steadily deteriorating human rights performance has been highlighted in a major report compiled by nearly 200 organisations around Australia. It will be presented to the United Nation’s peak human rights body in the lead up to a major review of Australia that takes place every four years.
Read MoreAlmost six months since Julieka Dhu’s tragic death in police custody, her family still have no answers as to how she died.
Read MoreThe United Nations Committee Against Torture has overnight condemned Australia’s asylum seeker policies and expressed serious concerns at the rates of violence against women and indigenous imprisonment.
Read MoreAustralia’s asylum seeker policies and counter-terror laws came under heavy scrutiny overnight at the United Nations in Geneva when Government officials were questioned by the UN Committee Against Torture.
Read MoreAustralia’s form is bad and getting worse when it comes to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, the United Nations will hear tomorrow.
Read MoreThe Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures last week showing that Australia now imprisons 18 per cent more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women than it did 12 months ago.
Read MoreA new report highlights various ways in which Australia's co-operation with Sri Lanka’s military puts asylum seekers at risk. The report includes a DFAT cable obtained under Freedom of Information laws that reveals the Australia Federal Police declined to interview a man claiming to have been severely tortured after being sent back to Sri Lanka by Australia.
Read MoreThe Melbourne City Council is facing legal action over its failure to ensure safe access medical services at an East Melbourne health clinic.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre today rejected comments by Lord Mayor Robert Doyle who claimed the Melbourne City Council felt “impotent” to act against anti-abortion protestors who for decades have beset the East Melbourne Fertility Control Clinic. Cr Doyle welcomed new laws allowing police to move on protesters and said they would help remove the protestors from the front of the clinic.
Read MoreGender stereotyping and discrimination undermine women’s rights to equality before the law and a fair trial, particularly in the case of sexual offences.
Read MoreIn July, the Commonwealth Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Julie Collins MP, and the Victorian Minister for Community Services, the Hon Mary Wooldridge MP, launched a new organisation, the Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children. The Foundation has been set up to raise awareness and engage the community to prevent violence against women and their children. Natasha Stott Despoja AM has been appointed as Chair of the Foundation.
Read MoreTasmania’s move to decriminalise abortion has been welcomed by the Human Rights Law Centre in a submission to a Parliamentary Committee reviewing the proposed laws.
Read MoreThe Tasmanian Government is calling for submissions regarding the proposal to decriminalise abortion through the introduction of the Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill 2013.
Read MoreThe UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women have expressed serious concerns that cuts to payments to single parents may be a violation of Australia’s international human rights obligations.
Read MoreViolence against women costs Victoria at least $3.4 billion a year, so it makes economic sense to spend more money on assisting victims and preventing violence from happening, writes the Federation of Community Legal Centres' Dr Chris Atmore.
Read MoreThe Criminal Code Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2012 (WA) has been introduced as a private member’s Bill into the parliament of Western Australia.
Read MoreThe Criminal Code Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2012 (WA) has been introduced as a private member’s Bill into the parliament of Western Australia. The Bill proposes to amend Western Australia’s unlawful assault causing death law to provide for a maximum imprisonment of 20 years for an unlawful assault causing death offence in circumstances of aggravation.
Read MoreThe US State Department has highlighted violence against women and children, Indigenous disadvantage and the prolonged detention of asylum seekers as “principal problem areas” in Australia in its annual report on the state of human rights around the world.
Read MoreThe Victorian Government is set to develop a three year Action Plan to address the issue of violence against women and their children.
The plan, to be consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, will affirm that violence against women constitutes a violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of women.
Read MoreThe United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, has concluded her country visit to Australia.
Read MoreThe UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has released its Concluding Observations following a review of Australia’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Committee comments on a number of positive developments in Australia and welcomes the enactment of the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010, the ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW and measures adopted to combat trafficking and support victims of trafficking. The Committee acknowledges the progress made in promoting women in leadership positions and notes that two of Australia’s highest public offices are occupied by women.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read More