Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is deeply troubled by the South Australian Government’s attempts to rush through new anti-protest laws, which threaten to breach Australia’s international human rights law obligations. The Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Amendment Bill 2023 (the Bill) seeks to introduce a number of changes, including increasing the penalty for … Read More >>
EOI’s Sought: Senior Co-Chair & Deputy Chair Join ALHR’s incumbent Senior Co-Chair, Dr Tania Penovic, in leading our National Women and Girls’ Rights Committee There are still many areas in Australian society in which women and girls experience unequal treatment and violations of their internationally recognised human rights. As such this area is a critical … Read More >>
In late April ALHR provided a submission to the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet as part of the consultation on the National Strategy for Gender Equality (the National Strategy). Australia’s latest Status of Women Report Card, released 8 March 2023, made plain that women are still facing persistent, entrenched and systemic inequality. Women in Australia … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart and advocacy towards a ‘yes’ vote in the Referendum on a First Nations Voice to Parliament. ALHR acknowledges the importance of the referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament and its significance, together with Treaty and Truth-Telling, in … Read More >>
While the Budget has delivered many positive cost of living measures, more must be done to guarantee greater immediate protections of Australians’ economic and social rights. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the Albanese Government’s commitment to developing a Wellbeing Framework for budget and fiscal policy and the $14.6 billion four-year cost-of-living package included … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes budget measures announced in the 2023-24 Federal Budget which promise modest advancement of the rights of people with disabilities in Australia. Natalie Wade, Chair of Disability Rights at ALHR said,“While the 2023-24 Budget has made clear the next steps for the financial sustainability of the NDIS, that is … Read More >>
A decade ago today, the United Nations celebrated the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR). In a letter to the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC MP and Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong, Human Rights experts have called on Australia to mark this anniversary by … Read More >>
ALHR has today written the the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus KC MP and the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney MP, to express our profound concern at the human rights impacts of a funding crisis that is leading to service freezes at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) across the country. ATSILS are facing … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) joins with Transgender Victoria, the Victorian Pride Lobby, LGBTIQ Legal Service and other key LGBTIQ and ally organisations led by Southside Justice in calling for action from the Victorian Government following the anti-trans protests in Melbourne on 18 March 2023. In a joint letter the group has acknowledged and … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) commends the 28 UN member states from 4 continents who have called on states to develop laws and policies that allow self-recognition of gender identity based on self-determination. Australia joined with Argentina, who delivered a statement on behalf of the group of states to reaffirm that human rights derive … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes ground-breaking legislation developed by the ACT Government that will provide protection for Canberrans with innate variations of sex characteristics. ALHR LGBTI Rights Co-chair, Georgia Burke said, “ALHR commends intersex advocates and allies who have pressed for these Australia first human rights reforms. The measures will protect intersex children … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) commends the Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC on the establishment of a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry to investigate Australia’s human rights framework, with a focus on whether the Federal Government should introduce a Federal Human Rights Act. The announcement comes soon after the launch of an … Read More >>
