In a groundbreaking Australian first, the ACT has become the first jurisdiction in Australia to explicitly enshrine the right to a healthy environment within its Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT). Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has applauded the move, noting it comes a year after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution … Read More >>
As Australia prepares for its next National Census in 2026, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) seeks an overturn of the Australian Government’s decision to exclude the LGBTIQ community from the Census . ALHR Vice President Nicholas Stewart said ‘All members of society, including the LGBTIQ community, should be accurately counted and represented in Australia’s … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has expressed frustration and concern at the NSW Government’s postponement of Alex Greenwich MP’s Equality Bill. The bill, which was scheduled for debate on Thursday 8 August 2024, has now been pushed back to October. ALHR President Kerry Weste said: “The LGBTIQ+ community should not have to wait a … Read More >>
Welcoming Disability, a group supported by more than 100 organisations and experts, holds significant concern that the findings in the recently released Report on the Department of Home Affairs Review of Australia’s migration health requirement fall well short of what is needed. Darryl Steff, CEO of Down Syndrome Australia says: “It is disappointing that there continues … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights landmark report recommending that the Australian Government enact a federal Human Rights Act. For over thirty years, ALHR has called on the Australian government to comprehensively incorporate its international human rights law obligations into domestic legislation via a federal Human Rights … Read More >>
In an Australian first, an ACT Government Parliamentary Committee has recommended that the human right to a healthy environment be recognised under ACT law and protected within the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT). The ACT Legislative Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety today released its final report into the Inquiry into Human Rights (Healthy Environment) Amendment Bill 2023. … Read More >>
South Australia is one step closer to a Human Rights Act, with the Social Development Committee of the South Australian Parliament committing to hold a parliamentary inquiry into how human rights across the State can be guaranteed and protected. The announcement comes on Human Rights Day and exactly one year after a group of more … Read More >>
A major new report tabled yesterday by Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP in Federal Parliament, calls for an overhaul of Australia’s Human Rights framework and a Federal Human Rights Act to better protect the rights of all Australians. Ms Kerry Weste, President, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR), said, “We welcome the … Read More >>
More than 70 of Australia’s leading disability and civil society organisations have endorsed wide-ranging recommendations to reform the nation’s archaic and degrading migration health laws. The recommendations are part of a submission made by the Welcoming Disability Campaign to a public review of Australia’s migration health requirement being conducted by the Federal Government. The recommendations … Read More >>
The landmark High Court judgment, which ruled it is unlawful and unconstitutional for the Australian Government to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention, should mark the end of a brutal chapter in Australia’s history. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) NSW Co-Convenor, Ms Stephanie Lee said the decision is an historic judgment that corrects some … Read More >>
Leading human rights lawyers and disability justice experts are calling for an immediate end to indefinite detention laws in Australia that often see people with disabilities abused and victimised, their behaviour criminalised and often becoming victims of the criminal justice system rather than being managed through disability support services. The call follows the recent episode … Read More >>
Welcoming Disability, a joint civil society campaign led by Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) and Down Syndrome Australia, has welcomed the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendation to review discriminatory migration health requirements, which have been described as archaic and degrading by leading disability advocates. Under Australia’s current legal framework otherwise fully eligible visa applicants and … Read More >>
