The recent death of a Sydney man after being tasered by police is tragic, made even more so because it is only the latest example of inappropriate and often outrageous use of these stun guns by some police officers. Governments and police services need to justify how it is in the interests of the community that police carry such devices.
Read MoreThis week, world leaders attended a United Nations summit to mark the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Declaration – a framework of measures designed to reduce extreme poverty, which was adopted by all 189 member states of the UN.The Millennium Development Goals, introduced with such ambition ten years ago, have been the focus of the global effort to improve the lives of billions of people around the world. They have achieved an extraordinary level of consensus and support. Nearly every government around the world, as well as business, financial institutions, UN agencies, donors, non-government organisations and individuals have committed to the goals in various ways.
Read MoreThe reality, according to a 2009 VicHealth survey, is that nearly one in 10 of us do not believe that people of all races are equal or that inter-racial marriage should be supported. In the same survey, 37 per cent of respondents felt Australia was weakened by people of different ethnic origins ''sticking to their old ways''.
Read MoreEmily Howie, director (advocacy and strategic litigation) at the Human Rights Law Centre, argues that Australia must stop denying it has a racism problem.
Read MoreOn 6 August 2010, in an historic decision, the High Court struck down legislation which resulted in the early close of the electoral rolls and denied over 100,000 Australians the right to vote. The decision was a landmark victory for representative democracy, political participation and accountable government.
Read MoreIn August 2010, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reviewed Australia’s compliance with its international legal obligations to respect, protect and promote the human right to equality and freedom from racial discrimination. An NGO coalition, comprising the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, the National Association of Community Legal Centres and the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action, briefed the committee in Geneva, presented a major NGO Report, and provided the following Fact Sheets on Australia's compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination:
Read MoreThe unusual result of the recent British general election appears to have saved the country’s Human Rights Act from immediate extinction. The Conservative Party had been clear about its intention to repeal the Act if elected into government. Passed in 1998 at the very start of Labour’s long tenure in office, the Act requires legislation to be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and equips the courts to re-interpret legislation to achieve this end. But it does not allow the judges to strike down laws on the model of the US constitution or any of the many analogous European systems.
Read MoreOf the myriad issues inadequately covered in the 2010 Federal Election campaign, the issues as to Australian values and identity, and how these values shape the way we understand our role and responsibility in the world, must figure high. In the leaders' debate, for example, the only discussion of Australian foreign policy and our place in the world arose in the context of the 'Timor Solution' and the war in Afghanistan. This is not the way things should be. With real leadership, elections present an opportunity to tap into admirable but often latent aspects of national identity, a concept explored by Canadian political scientist Alison Brysk in her new book, Global Good Samaritans: Human Rights as Foreign Policy.
Read MoreThe United Nations human rights treaty bodies constitute a cornerstone of the international human rights supervision system. The first of the ‘committees’ commenced its work in 1970. By now, there are 9 of them with a total of 145 elected members. We are just a handful of ratifications away from the creation of the 10th committee under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Read MoreRachel Ball, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, argues that the major parties exploit prejudice to cast a small asylum seeker problem as a big crisis.
Read MoreLast month, the Rudd Government released a new ‘Human Rights Framework’ for Australia. Most commentary on this Framework has focused on the Government’s failure to commit to a Human Rights Act. This attention is warranted.
Read MoreHuman rights education and parliamentary engagement with human rights will be enhanced under a new ‘Human Rights Framework’ for Australia, announced by the Attorney-General on 21 April 2010 in response to the recommendations of the National Human Rights Consultation. However, the Rudd Government’s failure to commit to a comprehensive, national Human Rights Act — a key recommendation of the Consultation which was supported by over 87% of a record 35,000 public submissions — is a missed opportunity to strengthen Australia’s democracy and build a fairer, more inclusive community.
Read MoreNext February, Australia’s human rights performance will be under the spotlight at the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Australian delegation, likely led by the Attorney-General, will be questioned about what Australia does and why it does it. The Government will receive bouquets and brickbats – and a long list of recommendations about what it should do better and how.
Read MoreGoogle’s recent announcement that it will not tolerate censorship of its search engine in China raises significant issues as to the relationship of business and human rights; a relationship in which regulation has not kept pace with practice or public expectations. In his landmark 2008 report the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, Harvard professor John Ruggie, noted that the globalisation of business activity has not been matched by a globalisation of business regulation.
Read MoreIt is almost two years since the Rudd Government issued its historic Apology to the Stolen Generations. Polling immediately prior to the Apology indicated that it remained a contentious and potentially divisive issue, with 55 per cent of Australians supporting the Government’s decision to say sorry and 36 per cent opposed. Polling conducted in the days after the Apology, however, told a different story; one of the unifying power of bold leadership and of the deep resonance of Australian values such as dignity, respect and fairness.
Read More‘It’s not our role to tell countries what to do. These are internal affairs of the state.’ These sound like the words of a Chinese official, yet this is what an Australian diplomat told me on a recent visit to Southeast Asia. Geographically on the fringes of Asia and with a different culture and history, Australia is sensitive to being perceived as a big-mouthed bully in the Asia-Pacific region.
Read MoreRachel Ball, lawyer at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, argues that laws are the key to ending gender discrimination on boards.
Read MoreThe UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Anand Grover, concluded his 12 day mission to Australia on 4 December 2009. The HRLRC convened NGO consultations with the Special Rapporteur in Melbourne (25 Nov) and Sydney (30 Nov) and prepared a major briefing paper on the Right to Health in Australia in advance of the mission. The mission focused on two primary issues: Indigenous health and access to healthcare in detention.
Read MoreWhat’s the difference between a travel company for women and a private club for men? It’s not a joke, but the answer may make you laugh. In Victoria, a travel company that excludes men constitutes unacceptable discrimination. A club that excludes women is fine.
Read MoreA new law introduced to Victorian Parliament by the Brumby Government will give Police the power to search people randomly, including by strip searching children and people with disability, in violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms. A similar law has recently passed the lower house of the State Parliament in Western Australia. The Summary Offences and Control of Weapons Acts Amendment Bill 2009 (Vic) will give police the power to randomly search people who are in a ‘designated area’. If passed, the Bill will enable police to conduct searches of any person in such an area, including children, even in the absence of any reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The Bill also allows police to conduct strip searches in certain circumstances. The power to conduct strip searches extends to the invasive strip searching of children.
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