Civil rights
Media and commentary related to our work protecting and advancing civil rights. This includes police accountability, justice in youth detention, asylum seeker rights, discrimination, access to justice and Raise the Age.
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Building movements for social justice with Dr Kimahli Powell
Dr Kimahli Powell works to protect LGBTQI+ people facing state-sponsored persecution because of their sexual orientation, sex characteristics or gender identity. As CEO of the international NGO Rainbow Railroad, an organisation that helps LGBTQI+ people find safety through emergency relocation and other support, Kimahli gives a voice to the experiences of refugees displaced by homophobia…
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Call to exclude kids from law banning criminal contact
A law meant for disrupting serious crime is disproportionately targeting Indigenous people and continues to be used on children, legal groups say. The Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the NSW Bar Association on Wednesday called on the state parliament to narrow the scope of the consorting law, and ban its…
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Police oversight body calls for overhaul of consorting laws
Consorting laws are being misused and disproportionately target Aboriginal people.
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Paul Ramsay Foundation boosts the Raise the Age campaign
The NSW campaign to Raise the Age has received a significant boost, thanks to a generous commitment of campaigning and financial support from the Paul Ramsay Foundation. Raise the Age is a national campaign to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14 years of age. The NSW campaign involves a…
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2SER: ‘Right to discriminate’ in religious educational institutions
The Federal Government has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to review the exemptions to discrimination law given to religious schools under Commonwealth laws. The exceptions mean that discrimination on certain grounds by religious schools is not unlawful under Federal law where it is ‘in good faith’ and ‘in order to avoid injury to the…
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Concern after Australia misses critical deadline to protect human rights
Leading civil society organisations working with people who have been detained in Australia’s immigration detention system have raised concerns over Australia’s failure to meet the deadline for implementing the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). The groups, which include the Public Interest Advocacy Centre…
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Australia fails to meet anti-torture deadline
Australia has failed to meet a crucial deadline for implementing its international anti-torture treaty obligations, despite receiving an extended timeframe for compliance to January 2023. Australia ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in December 2017. But we are yet to take essential…
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UN urges Australia to improve treatment of people in detention
A report from the UN Committee Against Torture urges government action to improve Australia’s treatment of people in police custody, prisons, youth detention centres and immigration detention. The report follows a UN subcommittee visit to review places of detention in Australia, which was dramatically suspended in October when authorities in NSW and Queensland refused to…
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A Legislative Vacuum: The Healthcare Crisis in Onshore Immigration Detention
Healthcare in Australian immigration detention is in crisis. People in immigration detention continue to be arbitrarily refused medical treatment, leading to the exacerbation and non-diagnosis of many serious conditions. The Australian government is failing to provide access to medical care and treatment despite the fact that it owes a clear common law duty of care to…
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Legal Centres call for all COVID fines to be cancelled, existing fines regime to be reviewed
The NSW Government’s ‘law and order’ response to the pandemic created significant fines debt and damaged community-police relations in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the state, according to a new UNSW Law School report. Click here: UNSW Report The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT), Redfern Legal Centre and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre…