A legal challenge against Minister Peter Dutton and the Department of Home Affairs on behalf of a person in immigration detention relating to COVID-19 has been filed in the High Court by the Human Rights Law Centre.

Today the High Court unanimously ruled that the warrant relied on by the Australian Federal Police to raid the home of News Corporation journalist Annika Smethurst was invalid, and the raid was therefore unlawful. However laws that criminalise public interest reporting remain in place, leaving journalists and whistleblowers exposed to police investigation and prosecution.

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.

In a landmark decision, the Coroner in the inquest into Tanya Day's death in police custody has referred Victoria Police officers to the Director of Public Prosecutions for criminal investigation, saying that she believes “an indictable offence may have been committed”.

Today, the Coroner in the inquest into our mum’s death referred two police officers for criminal investigation. This isn’t the end of the road, but it is the beginning of justice for our mum. This is a historic day for Aboriginal people in this country, and a bitter-sweet day for our family. 

More than 200 not-for-profit and community organisations have backed a major report calling on the Australian Government to strengthen its commitment to human rights in its laws, policies and practices.

The Human Rights Law Centre welcomed the Senate’s vote today to establish a cross-party Senate Select Committee to provide democratic oversight and scrutiny of the Morrison Government’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Human rights and privacy experts have called on Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt to explain privacy and surveillance issues arising from the Federal Government’s recently launched Coronavirus Australia app. The app has been downloaded over 500,000 times in Australia, yet there is little publicly available information about what data is being collected from people and how that private information is being used and kept safe.

The Coroner investigating the death in police custody of Yorta Yorta woman, Tanya Day, will hand down her findings on 9 April 2020. The findings will be delivered via video link, five months after the coronial inquest concluded, and over two years since Tanya’s death.

We are proud to join the Migrant Workers Centre and more than 120 other civil society, faith, business, union and migrant organisations across Australia to call on the Morrison Government to urgently expand its wage subsidy JobKeeper scheme.

The Human Rights Law Centre is calling for strong safeguards as governments grant police new, sweeping powers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A coalition of human rights lawyers have today called on the Morrison Government to act urgently to ensure the safety of the women and men held in its care in onshore immigration detention centers.