This report discusses three facets of hate which cause physical, psychological and emotional harm not only to individuals, but to members of the targeted group and other minority communities and damages our community as a whole.
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The UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly. On 3 July, Australia was examined by the Committee about whether it is complying with its obligations. The Human Rights Law Centre presented an overview of the gaps in protections for women and girls to the Committee.
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Each year thousands of strip searches are conducted on women in Victoria’s prisons. Strip searches are invasive, humiliating and, in many cases, re-traumatising. They require women to strip naked in front of two prison officers. The Human Rights Law Centre reviewed six months of recent Victorian strip search register entries obtained through freedom of information laws from the two women’s prisons in Victoria.
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This report to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the CERD Committee) examines Australia’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
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This report to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (the Committee) examines Australia’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Read MoreAustralia is failing to provide a safe and free environment for civil society and to ensure that people are free to speak out and peacefully protest on issues that they care about, said a UN Human Rights expert today. Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, has been in Australia for a two-week official visit, meeting with government, MPs and civil society organisations.
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In 2013 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that no person seeking asylum by boat would ever be resettled in Australia. Four years on, this joint report from the Human Rights Law Centre and GetUp! calls for the end of offshore processing and the immediate evacuation of the men, women and children held in Australia’s detention camps on Manus Island, and in PNG, and the Republic of Nauru.
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Australian governments must act now to safeguard and encourage vibrant debate on matters of public interest. Defending Democracy by the Human Rights Law Centre maps the worrying trend of Australian governments seeking to restrict the free speech of not-for-profit organisations, through practices such as gag clauses in funding agreements and threats to hamstring advocacy groups’ ability to fundraise.
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The Human Rights Law Centre and Change the Record collaborated on this report to address the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.The imprisonment rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women has skyrocketed 148 per cent since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women make up around 34 per cent of the female prison population but only 2 per cent of the adult female population.
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The Human Rights Law Centre report, Safeguarding Democracy, documents the unmistakable trend of governments at national and state level steadily chipping away at free speech, a free press, peaceful assembly, open government and the rule of law - some of the foundations of our democracy.
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Australia should “lift its game” on human rights at home and abroad to strengthen its bid for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, says a report by Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Law Centre.
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This briefing paper is intended to provide background on the Guiding Principles and outline the case for the development of an Australian NAP. It draws on the experience of other states and on the significant work of UN bodies, civil society organisations and National Human Rights Institutions that are working to promote coherent and effective practice in the implementation of the Guiding Principles.
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A new report has found that Australia’s co-operation with Sri Lanka to prevent would-be-refugees from seeking protection is riddled with human rights risks and should be stopped immediately.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has produced a report on the need for legislation to erase the criminal records of homosexual men who were convicted for having consensual sex in the past when it was illegal.
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The UN human rights system comprises several bodies which periodically make recommendations to States to assist them in implementing their international human rights obligations. Whilst these conclusions and recommendations are known by different names - UN treaty bodies produce 'concluding observations and views', Special Procedures issue 'recommendations', and Universal Periodic Review 'outcomes' — they are known collectively as 'UN recommendations'. Effective follow-up by civil society is vital to ensuring that these UN recommendations are implemented and lead to an improvement of the human rights situation on the ground.
This paper considers ways in which NGOs may use follow-up strategies and initiatives to contribute to the implementation of UN recommendations at the national level.
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This 2012 report documents 101 case studies from the first five years of the operation of Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights. They show that the Charter has delivered benefits including greater government accountability, more responsive public services, and a better deal for some of Victoria’s most vulnerable groups, such as people with disability, people with mental illness and people experiencing homelessness.
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Reform of the regulation, training and monitoring of police use of force is necessary to enhance community safety and ensure Victoria Police comply with human rights.
Victoria Police use force, on average, every 2.5 hours. Almost three quarters of these incidents involve the use of capsicum spray. There have been at least 12 people shot dead by Victoria Police in the last decade, while numerous others have died in police custody.
Read the background research paper here [PDF]
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The Human Rights Law Resource Centre, in conjunction with leading Australian law firm Allens Arthur Robinson, has produced a comprehensive report to enable individuals and organisations to participate in the National Human Rights Consultation in an informed and evidence-based way. The report is not intended to be a position paper or submission, but rather to provide information, evidence and background material. The report, entitled The National Human Rights Consultation: Engaging in the Debate, begins by outlining the arguments for and against a Federal Charter of Rights (or Human Rights Act).
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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], was compiled with the assistance of substantial contributions from over 50 NGOs across Australia. It is endorsed, in whole or in part, by over 200 NGOs
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