The Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes will today give evidence to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the first formal truth-telling process into injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria, where she is expected to be questioned about the over imprisonment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

Australians overwhelmingly believe that whistleblowers make Australia a better place and should be protected, not prosecuted, finds new research by The Australia Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre. 

The Human Rights Law Centre, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and Migrant Workers Centre has appeared before the Joint Standing Committee on Migration calling for Australia’s migration laws to centre the rights of people over punitive politics and economic profit.

The Andrews government has today announced its intention to raise the age of criminal responsibility to only 12 years old. The Government’s commitment to consider raising the age to 14 by 2027 is too little, too late, and risks exposing an entire generation of children to the quicksand of the criminal legal system.

An open letter signed by 126 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, health, legal, community and human rights organisations today reiterated calls to Attorneys-General to stop jailing 10 year old kids and raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years old, with no exception.

Raising the age to 14 is the absolute bare minimum reform the Andrews Government must make. Anything less than 14 will continue to be an abject failure by the Andrews Government to uphold the human rights of children and young people in Victoria.

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the long overdue publication of Witness J’s sentencing remarks by ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum after years of secrecy.  

As more people and their personal data fall victim to increased data harvesting in Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Federal Government to embrace bold proposed reforms to better protect people’s right to privacy.

The Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Albanese Government to address the root causes of systemic family visa delays and finally end the deliberate separation of refugee families, after a new report found the Department of Home Affairs failed to prevent family visa applications being stalled or delayed.

60 Victorian organisations in the Aboriginal, legal, health, faith, youth and human rights sectors, including the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, VACCHO, Jesuit Social Services and Human Rights Law Centre, have in a joint letter called on Premier Daniel Andrews and Attorney-General Jacyln Symes to commit to raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14, no younger, and with no exceptions. 

A coalition of human rights organisations and academics has today released a new research report revealing the results of a detailed survey of nearly 90 business groups on the impact of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act.

The Human Rights Law Centre today urged the Attorney-General to discontinue the prosecution of tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle and fix whistleblower protection laws, after Boyle’s whistleblowing defence was dismissed by the South Australian District Court.