Stop the SLAPP
Governments across Australia are being urged to enact comprehensive legislation to stop corporations, wealthy individuals and governments misusing Australia’s legal system, in a new report released by the Human Rights Law Centre.
The Stop the SLAPP report shines a light on the rise of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) being used in Australia by the powerful and the wealthy against human rights defenders, journalists, whistleblowers, activists or civil society groups for their advocacy.
The report recommends:
The Australian Government should enact a Federal Human Rights Act. A Federal Human Rights Act would elaborate and protect our fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, the right to public participation, and the rights of human rights defenders.
All Australian Governments should enact comprehensive anti-SLAPP legislation guided by the principles in this report and the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
The Federal Government should sign and ratify the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, also known as the Aarhus Convention, before its 4th Universal Periodic Review cycle before the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2026.
Image Credit: Greenpeace Australia.