Stop the SLAPP shines a light on the rise of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) being used in Australia by the powerful and the wealthy.
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The Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Albanese Government to combat misinformation which is poisoning Australia's democracy as part of a new report: Rights-First: Principles for Digital Platform Regulation.
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The Human Rights Law Centre's Whistleblower Project has turned one. Find out about our first year of impact protecting and empowering whistleblowers.
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With the rising influence of fossil fuel industries over Australian politics, the Human Rights Law Centre has produced the Climate and Environmental Whistleblowing Information Guide, a practical resource to support any person to raise concerns about climate and environmental wrongdoing in Australia.
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Our right to protest is under threat. That’s why we are launching our new report Protest in Peril.
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The Protest in Peril report analyses and compiles every single bill across Australia over the last two decades which has impacted upon the right to protest, and has found the right to protest is being steadily eroded in Australia.
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The South Australian Court of Appeal rejected an appeal brought by tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle. Richard had spoken up about unethical debt recovery practices at the tax office. He has since been vindicated by several independent reviews. The outcome lays bare how our weak laws are failing whistleblowers. There is no public interest in prosecuting people speaking out against injustice and wrongdoing.
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David McBride was given a sentence of five years and eight months, with a non-parole period of two years and three months for leaking documents to the ABC which exposed war crimes in Afghanistan.
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The Human Rights Law Centre Whistleblower Project supported scientists, doctors, nurses and ecologists to speak out against a proposed petrochemical hub for processing gas planned for Darwin Harbour.
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Governments must not give into their demands for profit at the expense of our planet, and our right to speak up. This is why we have released our Declaration of Our Right to Protest. The Declaration calls for governments across Australia to adhere to international standards and human rights law to protect protest rights.
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The right to protest in Australia is under significant and sustained attacks by governments and increasingly, the fossil fuel industry. The Human Rights Law Centre is calling for governments across Australia to better protect protest rights, by releasing the “Declaration of Our Right to Protest”.
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In Australia, as we’re seeing across the globe, disinformation is being used as a powerful weapon by far-right groups to gain public support for regressive movements that want to wind back human rights.
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This new report by Reset Australia, summarises a policy roundtable about the need for effective legislative and regulatory interventions on misinformation and disinformation in the context of the proposed Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation Bill (the Bill).
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David McBride sought to expose grave wrongdoing committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. In November 2023, David went on trial in the Supreme Court in Canberra for blowing the whistle.
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Disinformation is being used as a powerful weapon to gain public support for regressive movements that want to wind-back human rights. The Human Rights Law Centre is pushing for laws to prevent social media companies from amplifying lies and disinformation designed to distort important political debate.
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Two years ago yesterday, the ACT Court of Appeal handed down a landmark judgment in defence of truth and transparency in our democracy. There's one problem: to this day it remains secret.
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Former army lawyer David McBride will soon face trial accused of leaking classified defence information. What does this say about Australia?
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The Project being launched today is a new step in encouraging and supporting these whistleblowers. It is a major initiative in relation to a matter of considerable public importance.
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Whistleblowers make the public service a better place. We avoid the next robodebt saga by decreasing the cost of courage and ensuring that those who speak up are protected, not punished.
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What would we not know were it but for brave whistleblowers speaking up? And what do we not know right now because the cost of courage in Australia is too high? These are the questions that keep me awake at night, and they are the reasons the Human Rights Law Centre is this week launching the Whistleblower Project, a new initiative to protect and empower Australian whistleblowers.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has launched the Whistleblower Project, a new initiative to support people who speak out in the public interest.
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SA’s proposed anti-protest laws in the Summary Offences (obstruction of Public Places) Amendment 2023 will undermine the ability of everyone in South Australia to exercise their right to peacefully protest.
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Disinformation is used to create division and to polarise our communities for political or financial gain. The Human Rights Law Centre advocates for legal reforms to prevent its spread and penalties for politicians who deliberately mislead the public.
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Protection for journalists’ sources is a vital component of press freedom. Together, the media and their sources bring transparency and accountability. Without whistleblowing, public interest journalism is often not possible; and wrongdoing remains hidden. Which is why it is absolutely crucial for press freedom in Australia that whistleblowers are protected, not punished.
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Australians should not be punished for speaking the truth. When courageous whistleblowers speak up about human rights violations, government misfeasance or corporate misdeeds, we can demand action.
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Whistleblowers are vital actors in our democracy, upholding our right to know. Without them – and the public interest journalism they make possible – corruption and human rights abuses go unaddressed. In recent weeks, Senator David Pocock and members of parliament Zoe Daniel and Andrew Wilkie have all given voice to whistleblowers.
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The freedom to protest is fundamental to our democracy, but for years, protest rights across Australia have been under a sustained attack. The Human Rights Law Centre is fighting attacks on our right to protest through advocacy and strategic litigation.
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This report from the Migrant Justice Institute and the Human Rights Law Centre proposes new whistleblower protections to enable migrant workers to address exploitation.
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A new report exposes the failure of the Federal parliament in the 2019 –22 term to fulfil its promise to properly consider human rights before voting on legislation. 60% of legislation with human rights concerns was made into law with no review completed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.
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Big corporations shouldn’t be allowed to manipulate politicians to put their profits ahead of our wellbeing. The Human Rights Law Centre advocates for changes to laws and policies to end the cycle of corporate influence in our political system.
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The Australian parliament must reform public and private sector whistleblowing law and establish a whistleblower protection authority, according to this report by Griffith University, the Human Rights Law Centre and Transparency International Australia.
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Every day these other prosecutions remain alive, democracy in Australia suffers. The cases send a chilling message to prospective whistleblowers: don’t speak out or you will pay the price.
Read MoreWhistleblowers make our democracy stronger, but too often, people are afraid to come forward when they witness wrongdoing for fear of reprisal. The Human Rights Law Centre pushes for stronger whistleblower protections through advocacy and strategic litigation.
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Every day these other prosecutions remain alive, democracy in Australia suffers. The cases send a chilling message to prospective whistleblowers: don’t speak out or you will pay the price.
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It was hard to watch the bureaucratic machine perpetrating injustice – Mark Dreyfus must now intervene in the other two cases
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At the election, Australians told its leaders two things: we want decisive action to help stop the climate crisis, and greater integrity in our political system. With the most progressive Parliament seen in decades, there is now a once-in-a-generation opportunity to achieve both.
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Truth and honest public debate are vital during an election campaign. But experience in Australia and around the world shows that elections are precisely when some candidates and media platforms choose to spread disinformation for their own financial and political gain.
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On the first day of March this year, Scott Morrison declared his commitment to democratic principles. ‘My government will never be backward when it comes to standing up for Australia’s national interests and standing up for liberal democracy in today’s world,’ the prime minister told reporters.
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