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.
Read MoreThere is one crucial resource this country hasn’t yet fully appreciated and nurtured in pursuit of a safer climate: the whistleblower.
Read MoreOur right to protest is under threat. That’s why we are launching our new report Protest in Peril.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreSweeping, unnecessary and disproportionate secrecy laws are bad for democracy. Not only do they prevent the public having a proper understanding of what is done in their name, but they allow wrongdoing to go unchecked.
Refugees like me have already been through so much. All we ever wanted was freedom.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreFor too long, Australia’s human rights laws have not been fit-for-purpose. For the first time since 2010, there are signs of change.
Read MoreThe Albanese Government is trying to rush through dangerous new laws that will criminalise and punish people because of their visa status. Thanks to unrelenting community pressure, voting on the Bill has been delayed until at least 24 June.
Read MoreIf the bill passes, my husband – who fled war in Sri Lanka and is father to our three children – would be put in jail if he did not immediately leave Australia
Read MoreDavid 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.
Read MoreDoes it really make our country a better place to imprison a whistleblower whose actions led to public interest reporting on war crimes in Afghanistan?
The high court’s decision on indefinite detention will result in more litigation – and more time lost
Read MoreThe High Court allows indefinite detention of people who cannot be forcibly deported - but serious questions remain. The Human Rights Law Centre will not stop fighting to end cruel detention practices until the Albanese Government fixes this flawed system, and finally gives people the chance to rebuild their lives.
Read MoreAn explainer by the Human Rights Law Centre on the High Court’s decision in ASF17 v Commonwealth [2024] dismissing the appeal brought by ASF17 seeking his release from immigration detention.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre is working with communities in Bougainville to seek justice for the environmental devastation left by Rio Tinto’s Panguna mine. Together, we are calling for action so people can live safely on their land again.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read More$7 phone calls should not keep families apart. But mothers and fathers cannot afford to call their children, and siblings and friends cannot maintain crucial social connections.
Read MoreOur client, Ned Kelly Emeralds, was granted to leave to intervene in a High Court challenge that will determine whether our government can indefinitely detain people from countries that will not accept their forced return.
Read MoreThe Albanese Government is trying to rush through dangerous new laws that will criminalise and punish people because of their visa status.
Read MoreThere is still time for the government to change course and to finally give people an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
Read MoreThe Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Albanese Government to strengthen our modern slavery laws. Our laws need requirements on companies to take action to address modern slavery, and penalties for those that do not. We are advocating for independent oversight through a new Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Read MoreThe Albanese Government must take action to fix its unfair social safety net and address the gap in life expectancy.
Read MoreLast month marked one year since the Victorian, New South Wales and Queensland governments missed the deadline to meet Australia’s obligations to the United Nations anti-torture protocol, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).
Read MoreIntergenerational equity should be at the heart of the Australian Government’s decisions around climate. The Duty of Care law would result in fewer coal, oil and gas projects being approved, a faster transition to net zero and a brighter future for Australian children and for humanity.
Read MoreThe dark, secret walls of prisons create an environment where mistreatment is rife.
Read More26 January is not a day to celebrate.
Read MoreTransparency in government requires more than laws and shiny new institutions. It needs real courage and leadership.
The Migration Justice team have analysed the Albanese Government’s new preventive detention regime. Here is their analysis and explainer of the updated Migration Act.
Read MoreThis explainer responds to FAQs relating to the High Court’s judgment of NZYQ and what is likely to come next. It is not intended as legal advice.
Read MoreGovernments 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.
Read MoreThe 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”.
Read MoreThe Bill amends the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) (the Act) and the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) to introduce a new regime for Subclass 070 (Bridging (Removal Pending)) visas (BVR).
Read MoreWe need to step back and ask ourselves: How did we get to this point, where both sides of parliament talk openly of flouting High Court judgments and subjecting migrants and refugees to lifelong punishment based solely on their legal status? And we need to ask ourselves: Who will be next?
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreThis 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).
Read MoreDavid 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.
Read MoreIn November 2023, the High Court ended this dark chapter when it ruled that it is unlawful and unconstitutional for the Australian Government to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention. This has life-changing consequences for people who have been detained for years without knowing if they will ever be released.
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