This submission on the Criminal Law (Raising the Age of Responsibility) Amendment Bill sets out the medical, social and legal rationale for raising the age to at least 14.
Read MoreAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, human rights, legal and advocacy organisations called on the Andrews Government to end human rights abuse in Victorian prisons as part of the Cultural Review of the Adult Custodial Corrections System.
Read MoreThe Change the Record coalition, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service welcome the decision of the Tasmanian Government to establish the Tasmanian National Preventive Mechanism under standalone legislation.
In this submission we set out a number of ongoing concerns however with provisions in the draft Bill in respect of the NPM’s operational independence, and suggest additional amendments aimed at ensuring the NPM is OPCAT compliant and can effectively fulfil its functions.
Read MoreThe Andrews government should use an inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system as the catalyst to finally end mass imprisonment, the Human Rights Law Centre argued in its evidence.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre and the National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum provided a joint submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into a legislative instrument which would amend the criteria for the discriminatory and punitive ParentsNext program, but do nothing to address the fundamental flaws in the program or its impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Read MoreOn the eve of the Tasmanian election, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service and the Human Rights Law Centre called on the Tasmanian government to raise the age in response to a survey being undertaken by the Commissioner for Children and Young People to help inform an advice they are preparing to the Government on the issue.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre, the Change the Record coalition and the Caxton Legal Centre call for the Queensland Parliament to reject the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, and instead substantially increase investment in services that support marginalised young people and their families.
Read MoreThe Australian Government must take action to provide a decent and dignified standard of living to people who are forced to turn to our social safety net in times of need, the Human Rights Law Centre has told a Senate committee inquiry into the proposed increase to Jobseeker and other support payments of just $3.57 per day.
Read MoreTwo of Australia’s leading human rights organisations - the Human Rights Law Centre and Amnesty International Australia - are calling on the Gutwein Government to prohibit the routine strip searching of children. The Tasmanian Government is currently considering laws that the two national organisations say miss the mark when it comes to the need to protect children from harm and prohibit routine strip searches.
Read MoreIn its submission to a Senate inquiry, the Human Rights Law Centre has called on Parliament to reject the permanent expansion of the Cashless Debit Card scheme into the Northern Territory.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has made a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The destruction has rightly attracted international condemnation, and calls for a thorough examination of Rio Tinto’s actions and the broader legal and political framework that allowed this to happen.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre - along with the Asian Australian Alliance, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Get Up!, the Anti Defamation Commission and the Victorian Trades Hall Council - have made a joint supplementary submission to Victorian Government’s Inquiry into Anti-Vilification Protections.
Read MoreIf the Victorian Government is serious about reducing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the youth legal system, the approach to youth offending must be culturally safe and reflect current research and knowledge of adolescent development and neuroscience. Aboriginal community input and the evidence should inform the goals, design and implementation of Victoria’s youth justice law and policy framework.
Read MoreA proposed law that would allow the Morrison Government to force a new form of income control onto thousands of people in the Northern Territory should be rejected, the Human Rights Law Centre has told a Senate Committee.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has made a submission to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
Read MoreThe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission invited the Human Rights Law Centre to make a submission on how to end racially discriminatory laws that lead to the over-imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls.
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