The recent change of government in Australia represents a much-needed opportunity to revitalise Australia’s approach to corporate respect for human rights, including to reorientate the Modern Slavery Act by requiring companies to undertake effective human rights due diligence aimed at preventing harm.
Read MoreEvery 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 MoreIt was hard to watch the bureaucratic machine perpetrating injustice – Mark Dreyfus must now intervene in the other two cases
Read MoreAccess to abortion is a matter of life and health for all people who experience pregnancy.
Read MoreAt 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.
Read MoreHuman rights laws in Victoria, the ACT and Queensland are making concrete improvements to people’s lives, particularly by preventing homelessness and promoting health.
Read MoreTruth 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.
Read MoreOn 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.
Read MoreThe freedom to protest – to gather, to object, to call for change – is an indispensable component of our democracy. Social change has never been inevitable.
Read MoreA new report, Paper Promises? Evaluating the early impact of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, examines statements submitted to the Government's Modern Slavery Register by 102 companies sourcing from four sectors with known risks of modern slavery: garments from China, rubber gloves from Malaysia, seafood from Thailand and fresh produce from Australia.
Read MoreSelling Out: How powerful industries corrupt our democracy exposes how the powerful fossil fuels, gambling and tobacco industries are taking advantage of Australia’s weak integrity laws and distorting our democratic processes to put their profits ahead of our wellbeing.
Read MoreThe only people brought before the courts over illegal spying and war crimes are the people who helped expose them.
Read MoreIn early October, the ACT Court of Appeal refused to allow the trial of whistleblower Bernard Collaery to go ahead in secret, behind closed courtroom doors. A one-page summary said secret trials erode public confidence in the court and open the door to political prosecutions.
Read MoreSecret evidence, secret hearings and secret judgements. Each step in the prosecution of Bernard Collaery comes with another layer of opacity. If it were not so serious, the accumulation of secrecy in this case would be comedic.
Read MoreAs Australia begins to reconnect with the world, this paper highlights the restrictions that continue to prevent travel for many members of the Australian community and for refugees whose resettlement has been delayed, and proposes a pathway for the federal government to ensure no one is left behind.
Read MoreWe live in difficult times. On top of the climate crisis, a once-in-a-century pandemic and rampant global inequality, democratic norms continue to be eroded at home and abroad.
Read MoreGlobal Warning: the threat to climate defenders in Australia by the Human Rights Law Centre, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and the Environmental Defenders Office, reveals how the unregulated political influence of the fossil fuel industry is driving political inaction on climate change and the repression of those calling for action.
Read MoreThe dire warnings from some about Victoria’s proposed new pandemic laws are mostly wrong or overblown. There are important areas where the bill needs fixing but overall, it’s a big improvement on the current laws.
Read MoreWith the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and Victoria’s current state of emergency set to expire, Victoria is developing a new pandemic law to support the ongoing management of COVID-19 and any future pandemics.
Read MoreWith the next federal election not far away, the Human Rights Law Centre has released a new step-by-step guide to help charities comply with electoral law.
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