The Parliamentary Joint Committee of Human Rights inquiry has recommended the Albanese Government should legislate an Australian Human Rights Act. Read the Human Rights Law Centre’s explainer of of the final report here.
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It is neither fair nor just to continue caging children in youth prisons.
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What don’t we know because potential whistleblowers are too scared to raise concerns? What scandals remain hidden?
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The Human Rights Law Centre stands in solidarity with the refugee activists who have maintained a constant protest outside government and ministerial offices in Melbourne since 14 July 2024.
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Regrettably, in August, the High Court of Australia declined to hear an appeal by tax office whistleblower Richard Boyle.
Boyle will now face trial - and potential jail time - after blowing the whistle on unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office.
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The Human Rights Law Centre welcomes the Albanese Government’s introduction of groundbreaking reforms to reduce widespread migrant worker exploitation.
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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.
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There is one crucial resource this country hasn’t yet fully appreciated and nurtured in pursuit of a safer climate: the whistleblower.
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Our right to protest is under threat. That’s why we are launching our new report Protest in Peril.
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The 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.
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Sweeping, 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.
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The 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.
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For too long, Australia’s human rights laws have not been fit-for-purpose. For the first time since 2010, there are signs of change.
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The 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.
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If 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
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David 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.
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Does 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
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The 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.
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An 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.
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The 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.
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The 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.
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$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.
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Our 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.
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The Albanese Government is trying to rush through dangerous new laws that will criminalise and punish people because of their visa status.
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There is still time for the government to change course and to finally give people an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
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The 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.
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The Albanese Government must take action to fix its unfair social safety net and address the gap in life expectancy.
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Last 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).
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Intergenerational 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.
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The dark, secret walls of prisons create an environment where mistreatment is rife.
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26 January is not a day to celebrate.
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Transparency 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.
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This 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.
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Governments 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.
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The 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”.
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