This report discusses three facets of hate which cause physical, psychological and emotional harm not only to individuals, but to members of the targeted group and other minority communities and damages our community as a whole.
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We need a game changer - It’s time to put power into the hands of the people, to give us the tools to hold our governments to account, writes Lee Carnie.
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The public vote on marriage equality for LGBTIQ Australians was a bruising time. This anniversary comes with mixed feelings, with wounds that have only just begun to heal for some, and many more psychological scars may last a lifetime.
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A major report confirms that religious conversion therapy and related practices are pervasive in many faith communities in Australia and causing real harm to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.
Preventing Harm, Promoting Justice: Responding to LGBT conversion therapy in Australia calls for action by governments, the health sector and religious communities to better respond to people experiencing conflict between their gender identity or sexual orientation and their beliefs.
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For too many of us in the LGBTIQ community, we know what it feels like to be mistreated because of who we are or who we love.
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Most Australians probably think that now we have marriage equality, LGBTI people's rights are fully respected. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
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Australians said YES. The 61.6% YES margin revealed on 15 November 2017 was bigger than any federal election winner’s 2PP vote. This emphatic success is a cause for great celebration—but what happens next? What does it mean?
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The debate on the consensus cross-party bill has resumed in the Senate. It is very clear that across the parliament our representatives have heard the overwhelming mandate delivered by the postal survey loudly and clearly.
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In August 2017, Senator Dean Smith publicly released the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017. Find out what the Bill means for marriage equality in Australia.
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Over the past month, almost 11 million Australians have responded to the postal survey, mailing in their forms on whether same-sex couples should be able to marry.If the will of the Australian people is reflected in the results, then our nation will be expecting politicians to listen, to act decisively and to get marriage equality done so we can unite around a reform that will bring our country together in a celebration of fairness and equality.
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The postal survey on marriage equality is now underway. New laws have been put in place to try to ensure respectful debate. Here's what you need to know about how they impact on you.
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For the first time, we have a Bill that offers a real opportunity for support across the parliament and an opportunity to realise the hopes and dreams of the many lesbian and gay Australians and their families, friends and colleagues who just want to be treated equally under Australian law and marry the person they love.
Read MoreWhile the nation's eyes have been on federal parliament bickering over the marriage equality plebiscite this week, another critical LGBTI debate began in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
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Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull's announcement of a royal commission into the abuse of children in Northern Territory jails gives an insight into his instincts on human rights.
Read MoreWe shouldn't underestimate the human toll of the 'homosexual conduct' laws. William Leonard from Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria and HRLC's Anna Brown explain how the Victorian Government's State Apology is also about publicly acknowledging and valuing the diversity of sexual expression.
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The HRLC’s Anna Brown contributed an essay on progress on the rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the Oceania region to ILGA's 10th edition of its State-Sponsored Homophobia Report.
Read MoreHuman Rights Law Centre Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser, outlines what 2015 may have in store for human rights in Australia.
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There’s no question that 2014 was a big year for LGBTI equality in Victoria, but there’s still unfinished business on our wish list for 2015 writes the HRLC’s Anna Brown.
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In 1977, long time gay rights activist Jamie Gardiner wrote a brief seeking expungement of homosexual convictions. Last week, he sat in Victoria’s parliament and watched it happen. Here he reflects on his decades long journey from campaigning for the decriminalization of homosexuality in the 1970’s to the challenges that reamin today.
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The HRLC’s Anna Brown reports on her recent advocacy work in Geneva and the passage of the crucially important resolution on sexual orientation and gender identity by the UN Human Rights Council.
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The apology by Victoria Police for their actions at the Tasty raid 20 years ago marks an historical turning point in relations between Victoria Police and the gay and lesbian community, writes the HRLC’s Anna Brown.
Read MoreSue Hackney reflects on the journey to the landmark anti-discrimination decision in Victoria thanks to a group of same-sex attracted young people who took issue with a religious group's refusal to allow them to use a camp site.
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The HRLC's Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser, outlines his human rights priorities and the challenges that lie ahead in 2014.
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The Human Rights Law Centre has produced a report on the need for legislation to erase the criminal records of homosexual men who were convicted for having consensual sex in the past when it was illegal.
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I have been asked to give an assessment of the British Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), now in its eighth year, and to suggest some lessons that Australia might draw from the British experience. Inevitably, the latter leads one to focus on the more negative aspects of our experience, so I want to start with the good stuff before dwelling at greater length on the problems that you might want to avoid.
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In June this year the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (‘HREOC’) published a report called Same-Sex: Same Entitlements. We put federal laws under the human rights microscope and we found that 58 of them breach the right to equality before the law and the right to be protected from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. The discrimination against same-sex couples is there on the statute books in black and white. And the discrimination exists around basic issues of employment entitlements, workers’ compensation, tax, social security, veterans’ entitlements, health care, superannuation, aged care and migration.
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