Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Author: Guest

  • Freedom, the sublime and the patriotic

    Speech to Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Gala Dinner by  Keynote Speaker Dr Tim Soutphommasane, Federal Race Discrimination Commissioner During the past year or so, I have been constantly asked two questions with unerring predictability. One: Should the Racial Discrimination Act be amended? Two: How is everyone getting along at the Australian Human Rights…

  • Guest Post: “Nothing About Us Without Us”: National Responses to the CRPD Six Years On

    The 2014 Castan Centre/Mallesons Annual Lecture – paper delivered by Professor Emeritus Ron Mccallum AO 1. Introduction Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is indeed a huge honour for me to deliver this annual human rights lecture named for Ron Castan QC. I met Ron on several occasions, but we never conversed at any length. I…

  • Looking beyond Australia’s debate about asylum to better regional answers for refugees

    Guest Blogger: Paul Power, CEO of the Refugee Council of Australia The current international refugee situation is one of the most challenging the world has ever seen. Statistics recently released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that the number of people forcibly displaced worldwide has now topped 50 million, the highest level…

  • Guest Blog: smoking bans in Australian prisons

    By Anita Mackay States and Territories around Australia are rushing to ban smoking in prisons – the Northern Territory was the first in July 2013, and has recently been joined by Queensland (from 5 May 2014).  Most others have stated their intention to ban smoking during 2015. This blog post poses two questions: 1. What are smoking bans in…

  • Guest Blog: DFAT’s Iraq pullout a bitter pill for aid

    By Laura Jean McKay In February this year Michael Bates, country director of the Danish Refugee Council in the Kurdish region and greater Iraq, received an email. It was from DFAT, the donor that was supporting 70 per cent of their programs in south and central Iraq, regretting to say that they were pulling out.…

  • Guest Blog: Racism is a moral bad that our law should combat

    By Tim Soutphommasane Can you legislate for virtue or eradicate racism through laws? These are questions that have been raised in the current debate about the Racial Discrimination Act. Some, particularly those who favour the Federal Government’s proposed reform to the Act, suggest that combating discrimination is best left to the marketplace of ideas. We…