Human Rights Lawyers Welcomes Inquiry into Gay Hate and Transgender Hate Crimes between 1970 and 2010

posted on November 5, 2021

Human Rights Lawyers Welcomes Inquiry into Gay Hate and Transgender Hate Crimes between 1970 and 2010 Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the announcement from the New South Wales Government that it will establish a judicial inquiry into gay hate and transgender hate crimes between 1970 and 2010 (“the inquiry”). The judicial inquiry follows … Read More >>

Human Rights Lawyers welcome the Australian Human Rights Commission Report on the rights of people born with variations in sex characteristics

posted on October 20, 2021

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) LGBT Co-Chairs, Georgia Burke and Nicholas Stewart, stand with the intersex community to welcome the Australian Human Rights Commission’s “Ensuring health and bodily integrity (2021)” report, released on 18 October 2021. Georgia and Nicholas said: “Intersex people form a diverse population with many different kinds of bodies, sex characteristics, … Read More >>

BREAKING: Top UN Human Rights body recognises right to a sustainable environment, appoints independent expert

posted on October 9, 2021

 Australian human rights experts welcome news overnight that the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has recognised the human right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and appointed a new Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change. Two resolutions were comfortably passed. The first, proposed by Costa Rica, The Maldives, Morocco, Slovenia … Read More >>

Human Rights Lawyers Support Progress Towards Justice for Victims of Historical LGBT Hate Crimes

posted on August 23, 2021

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) LGBT Co-Chairs, Georgia Burke and Nicholas Stewart, welcome recent progress within NSW towards identifying suspects allegedly involved in historical LGBT murders.  Georgia and Nicholas said: “While ALHR cannot comment on the details of  arrests, we can say that this has been, and remains, a long and difficult journey for … Read More >>

Australia failing to uphold international commitment to right to housing

posted on August 7, 2021

This Homelessness Week, leading human rights lawyers are calling for laws to protect the fundamental right to adequate housing. More than 116,000 experience homelessness in Australia on any given night, with many more at risk of homelessness. The largest number of those experiencing homelessness are women and children escaping family violence. And many more women … Read More >>

Fortress Australia: Legal Body calls for rights of appeal for Australians denied exit permission under COVID-19 international travel restrictions 

posted on August 6, 2021

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) has called on the Morrison Government to urgently fix its amended travel ban on Australians leaving the country so that decisions of the Australian Border Force (ABF) can be appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). ALHR’s Democratic Freedoms Chair Valerie Heath said, “Despite reports yesterday that Minister Andrews claims Australians … Read More >>

Disability Community Calls For Reform After Discrimination Claims Become ‘Impossible To Prove’

posted on July 3, 2021

ALHR has joined with 46 organisations in an open letter led by  People With Disability Australia (PWDA) calling on the Commonwealth Attorney-General to rewrite Australia’s disability discrimination laws. ALHR Vice President and Chair of Disability Rights, Natalie Wade, is spokeswoman: “A frustrated alliance of lawyers and community organisations has lobbied the Commonwealth Attorney-General to rewrite Australia’s … Read More >>

Australia called on to join international efforts to end human rights abuses in China

posted on May 5, 2021

Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) welcomes the Federal Government’s recent Joint statement with New Zealand on Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang, particularly its call on China to grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers. Madeleine Bridgett, Co-Chair of ALHR’s Business and Human Rights Subcommittee said, “There … Read More >>

India travel ban exposes gaping void in Australian human rights protections

posted on May 4, 2021

Australia’s leading association of human rights lawyers has published a briefing paper examining the Morrison Government’s moves to ban Australians from returning home. Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) President Kerry Weste says, “The issue exposes a gaping void in Australian human rights protections – the absence of a Federal Human Rights Act.” “The travel … Read More >>

74 WA orgs call to end imprisonment of children under the age of 14 years

posted on May 3, 2021

Today, ALHR joins 74 Western Australian organisations in calling for WA to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) to 14 years. More than 70 NGOs and ACCOs in WA collectively endorsed the new report released by coalition Social Reinvestment WA, ‘A Pathway to a Brighter Future for Western Australia’s most at risk children’. … Read More >>

Victorian Government urged to implement recommendations to improve hate speech protections

posted on April 28, 2021

Australia’s leading association of human rights lawyers is urging the Victorian Premier and Attorney General to adopt the recommendations of the Victorian Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry into the adequacy of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic). The Committee’s report, tabled in March, found the Act failed in its twin purposes … Read More >>