Nominations are now open for the 2015 United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) Media Peace Awards. The Media Peace Awards is a prestigious National Awards Program that recognises journalists, producers and editors, who seek to promote the understanding and awareness about humanitarian and social justice issues in our society and stimulate public debate. Nominations close 5pm Friday … Read More >>
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has been asked to identify and critically examine Commonwealth laws that encroach upon ‘traditional’ or common law rights, freedoms and privileges. In the attached Interim Report, the ALRC analyses the source and rationale of many of these important common law rights and provides an extensive survey of current Commonwealth … Read More >>
UPDATE The ALRC has released its Interim Report which reflects the law as at 17 July 2015. Attached is a copy of the report titled ‘Traditional’ rights and freedoms – Encroachments by Commonwealth Laws’. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In February 2015, ALHR submitted to the ALRC that: International human rights standards are the criteria by which the … Read More >>
Some of Australia’s largest companies have joined over 150 of Australia’s corporate, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and community organisations to issue a joint statement to call for renewed efforts to stamp out racism in sport and in everyday life. ALHR is in support and will stand together to not only lend our support to … Read More >>
The UPR Coordinating Committee (HRLC, NACLC and KLC) has provided an update on its work leading up to Australia’s Universal Periodic Review in November including fact sheets on key human rights issues in Australia. ————————————– Since lodging our Joint NGO Submission in March, we’ve been working with the UPR NGO Advisory Committee to prepare UPR Fact … Read More >>
Update We have received a response from Senator Scullion, attached below is the response. ——————————————————————————————– Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) is warning that failure to fund the Custody Notification Service (CNS) successfully operated by Aboriginal Legal Service NSW & ACT for 15 years may ultimately result in a return to Indigenous deaths in police custody in … Read More >>
Nomination form attached below.
ALHR has made a submission in response to the OHCHR’s global consultation initiative on business and human rights (the ‘Accountability and Remedy Project’). The aim of the Accountability and Remedy Project is to gather information on corporate accountability for human rights abuses in different legal jurisdictions. The Accountability and Remedy Project seeks information on corporate … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights strongly endorses the below press release from the Refugee Council of Australia: Refugee Council of Australia July 22nd 2015 Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Shadow Immigration Minister Richard Marles are pandering to the politics of fear by supporting the forced turnbacks of asylum seeker boats, the Refugee Council of Australia … Read More >>
“ALHR believes that Australia should deal with Australian criminals and terrorists in our own courts and not put them beyond the reach of Australian law by terminating their citizenship” says ALHR President Nathan Kennedy about the Federal Government’s proposed amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act. “Nor do we agree with automatic termination of citizenship for … Read More >>
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) strongly supports the Senate Inquiry into the education of students with disabilities. Recent reports of students with disabilities being targeted and improperly treated in schools throughout Australia must be properly examined and the respective bodies be held to account. “Education is fundamental human right and one which must be … Read More >>
“ALHR endorses the concerns expressed in the open letter published today from 40 medical, educational and humanitarian detention centre staff” says President Nathan Kennedy. “The Border Force Act imposes disproportionate and unreasonable penalties upon Australians. It infringes rights to free speech” says Mr Kennedy. “It overrides the ethical obligations of health workers, and even their … Read More >>
