Enshrining the right to a healthy environment in law is one way we can hold governments to account for the benefit of future generations. In November 2022, we secured a win when the ACT Government announced that in 2023 they will introduce the right to a healthy environment into the ACT Human Rights Act.
Read MoreIn 2004, the Australian Capital Territory became the first Australian jurisdiction to establish a Human Rights Act. At present, however, people have to take legal action in the complex and expensive Supreme Court, which is out of reach for most people. In 2022, the Human Rights Law Centre called on the Australian Capital Territory to remove these needless barriers from the Act to make it easier for people to uphold their human rights.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has developed an online resource that shows 101 examples of how Charters of Rights that exist in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland are making peoples lives better.
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 MoreFor years – to justify spending billions of dollars on prison expansion – governments across Australia have parroted the line that prisons support “community safety”. This premise is false.
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.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has adopted an equitable briefing policy for the new financial year.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre has run a competition calling on high school students to write an essay explaining how a Charter of Rights would benefit Australians. The competition aimed to find the best introduction to an Australian Charter of Human Rights.
Read MoreEveryone should be able to access quality education, regardless of their postcode or bank balance. People living in remote and rural areas, First Nations people and children from migrant backgrounds often lack equitable access to education. The Human Rights Law Centre co-hosted a webinar on the right to education with the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion in February 2022.
Read MoreThe 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.
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