Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Author: Dr Paula Gerber

  • What can Australia learn from other countries about Birth Registration?

    By Paula Gerber and Amalia Fawcett Birth registration and birth certificates are very topical at the moment, with the Victorian Law Reform Commission releasing its community report on this issue. The report, which contains 26 recommendations, is intended to make it easier for people to register the births of their children and reduce the cost…

  • Is the criminalisation of homosexuality in the Commonwealth a relic of the British Empire?

    By Associate Professor Paula Gerber Last week The Conversation published an article by Timothy Jones entitled ‘Colonialism, Homophobia and the legality of gay sex in the Commonwealth’. Jones was highly critical of a recent report published by the Kaleidoscope Trust, entitled Speaking Out: the rights of LGBTI citizens from across the Commonwealth. He states that…

  • Why Journalists Need Human Rights Training

    By Paula Gerber The United Nations has recently singled out journalists and media professionals as in need of increased education about human rights, as part of the World Programme for Human Rights Education. Its first phase (2005-2009) focused on human rights education within primary and secondary school systems. Educating children about human rights is a logical…

  • Decriminalising homosexuality worldwide: should Australia get involved?

    By Paula Gerber, Monash University and Joel Gory, Monash University In Australia, there is an ongoing debate around the right for same-sex couples to marry. The majority of laws discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were repealed in 2008. Earlier this year, the Sex Discrimination Act (1984) was also amended to prohibit…

  • The ethics of enforced child vaccinations

    By Dr Paula Gerber The debate around whether children should be vaccinated against illness such as the measles and whooping cough tends to be highly emotive and divisive, with the medical profession on one side talking about epidemics and quoting lots of scientific data, and concerned parents on the other side, recounting heart-wrenching stories of…

  • One size does not fit all when children come to court

    By Paula Gerber and Melissa Castan Two sisters aged 9 and 11 have just won a Supreme Court case in which they were claiming that they had the right to instruct their own lawyer. In A & B v Children’s Court of Victoria, the sisters were the subject of protection applications after one of them sustained…