Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) fears the Australian Government is abandoning vital principles that form the bedrock of our criminal justice system in knee-jerk anti-terror proposals regarding bail and parole. ALHR Vice President Kerry Weste said, “We are concerned that the Prime Minister’s hasty proposal to create presumptions against bail and parole for people … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is deeply concerned at the Turnbull Government’s October 1 deadline for 7,500 asylum seekers to lodge applications for protection or face possible deportation and cuts to their welfare. These measures affect the Legacy Caseload: asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat between August 2012 and December 2013, who … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has lamented the 2017 Federal Budget as a missed opportunity for Australia to show leadership in enhancing refugee protection in the Asia Pacific region. Khahn Hoang, Co-Chair of ALHR’s Refugee Rights Subcommittee said, “ALHR welcomes the announcement of an increase in Australia’s refugee and humanitarian intake from 13,750 to … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) congratulates the Queensland Attorney General for her proposal to introduce a bill to expunge historical homosexual convictions in Queensland Parliament today. “This Bill appropriately enshrines human rights in Queensland,” says ALHR’s LGBTI Committee Co-Chair, Kathryn Cramp. “There is no place for historical criminal records that propagate the myth that … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has expressed its strong support for decriminalisation of abortion in NSW. Co-Chair of ALHR’s Women and Girls’ Rights Subcommittee, Rita Shackel, said the failure to provide safe, legal and accessible abortion services is a violation of fundamental human rights and that exclusion zones surrounding abortion clinics need to be … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has spoken out against the Tasmanian Government’s proposal to introduce mandatory minimum sentences for certain sexual offences against minors. ALHR Vice President Kerry Weste said, “ALHR is strongly opposed to mandatory minimum prison terms on the basis that they impose unacceptable restrictions on judicial discretion and independence, and … Read More >>
The 5th of May marks the fourth anniversary of the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR). Sixteen leading civil societies organisations, have written to the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Attorney General Senator George Brandis calling on the Australian government to celebrate … Read More >>
Photo Credit: poppies&sun: http://www.surreyphoto.co.uk/pages/surrey-art-for-sale.php?gall_id=49&page_no=1 OP-ED by Benedict Coyne, President, Australian lawyers for Human Rights The spirit of ANZAC and human rights go hand-in-hand. On this sacred day in our nation’s annual calendar we remember not only Gallipoli but the invocation of courage, mateship, and sacrifice in protecting our fundamental freedoms and way of life, all … Read More >>
Allegations have emerged in international media of the murder, torture and illegal detention of gay men in Chechnya, a republic of Russia, and the arrest of 53 gay men in Nigeria. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has expressed its support for and solidarity with human rights activists making arrangements to evacuate gay men from … Read More >>
On Friday the government released a report by the Senate committee on legal and constitutional affairs, which followed a seven-month inquiry into allegations of abuse on Manus and Nauru sparked by the publication of the Nauru files. ALHR’s submission was quoted extensively throughout the report. The Co-Chairs of ALHR’s Refugee Rights Subcommittee Rebecca Dowd and … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has urged the Tasmanian Parliament to reject proposed changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (“the Act”) when it is tabled for second reading in the Upper House. ALHR has slammed the proposed changes to the Act, citing deep concerns that the amendments would have widespread negative implications for many … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes recent changes to expand discrimination law in the ACT. The Discrimination Amendment Bill 2016 (ACT) expands discrimination law to now include extra grounds on which discrimination is prohibited including where it is based on a person’s accommodation status, employment status, intersex status, status as a victim of family … Read More >>
