Guardian Australia’s ‘Deaths Inside’ project has reported that at least 407 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the conclusion of the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). 147 of those deaths occurred in the past decade, and 43 of that number were young Indigenous people born after … Read More >>
State, Territory and Federal governments must make urgent changes to end homelessness. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has described current levels of homelessness as a significant human rights failure which should be at the forefront of the minds of all parliamentarians during Homelessness Week. In keeping with this year’s theme of “Ending Homelessness … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is alarmed by reports on ABC News that a transgender woman was jailed and sent to Hobart’s Risdon Prison only then to be allegedly raped by other prisoners. The woman, Marjorie Harwood, has since died from kidney disease. ALHR LGBTI Subcommittee Co-Chair, Georgia Burke said: “The Tasmanian Prison Service … Read More >>
Human rights lawyers have raised concerns about proposed amendments to the Defence Act which will make it easier for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to be called out onto Australian streets and increase the ADF’s powers when responding to such a call out. The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee (Committee) is currently considering the … Read More >>
Leading human rights lawyers have expressed alarm at the continued forced sterilisation of women and girls with disabilities in Australia. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) says concerns raised this week by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its report on Australia should shock governments into action. Susan Peukert, Chair … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has welcomed recommendations released by the Palaszczuk Government this week in the Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC) report on the review of termination of pregnancy laws in Queensland. ALHR President Kerry Weste said, “ALHR strongly supports the recommendations of the QLRC to reform pregnancy termination laws in Queensland, decriminalise … Read More >>
IMAGE: Peter Boyle, Facebook To mark NAIDOC Week, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) acknowledges, recognises and celebrates the role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women play in the community, not only in the past but also in the future, at a local, state and national level. Jo Byrne, Co-Chair of ALHR’s Indigenous Rights … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is calling for the immediate scrapping of the Australian government’s current offshore processing policy, on its shameful fifth anniversary on July 19. The policy has seen the forcible detention of people seeking asylum in Australia in detention facilities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru with many of these asylum … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has called for the immediate closure of “Real Bodies – The Exhibition” currently showing at the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney until October 2018. The Exhibition features human corpses and human organs from unclaimed bodies in China. ALHR, doctors and other civil society groups have expressed ethical, legal and … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the introduction of the Modern Slavery Bill into Parliament. The Bill requires certain large business entities with a consolidated revenue of $100m or more per year to report annually on the steps they have taken to identify and prevent risks of modern slavery in their supply chains. Around … Read More >>
Photo credit: Painting by Elizabeth Holland Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has acknowledged the positive step taken by the Victorian Government in passing the Aboriginal Victorians Bill. Jo Byrne, Co-Chair of ALHR’s Indigenous Rights Subcommittee says, “The Bill allows for the creation of an Indigenous representative body to be elected by Indigenous Victorians which … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has expressed disappointment in the passing through the House of Representatives of the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Bill 2017 and the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Bill 2017 – particularly because the latter as amended now provides a blanket exemption for sitting federal politicians and holders … Read More >>
