Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Author: Sarah Joseph

  • Reflections on Mabo

    The long anticipated telemovie “Mabo” aired last night on ABC1. Like many, I sat, transfixed, at this story of a proud Murray Island man, Eddie Koiki Mabo, his refusal to bow to endemic racism, his groundbreaking legal fight for Indigenous land rights, his untimely tragic death from cancer only a few months before his final…

  • The Eurovision human rights conundrum

    On Saturday night, we have that annual marvellous celebration of kitsch, the Eurovision Song Contest.  Jedward, the Irish twins seemingly devoid of the embarrassment gene, are back, Russia promises to entertain with its troop of provincial grannies, while the UK has resurrected a 76 year old Engelbert Humperdinck for the occasion. Yet these delightful absurdities…

  • Victoria’s Human Rights Charter to be Retained, but its Future still Unclear

    The Baillieu government has committed to retaining the Victorian Charter of Rights and Responsibilities in its official response to a review of that law.  That response is an apparent rejection of the key recommendations of the review body, the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee (SARC). The SARC Committee had split along party lines, with…

  • Sometimes cricket is “just not cricket”

    by Sarah Joseph Summer is here in Australia, which means many hours of cricket on radio and television, and, for those in capital cities, occasional opportunities to see the players in real life.  Given the subject matter of this blog, I think it an opportune time to reflect on some of the many intersections between…

  • Sinking boats: a reason to reconsider compassion?

    by Sarah Joseph The issue of asylum seekers arriving by boat to Australia has been massively politicised for over ten years.  The arguments in this debate are well set. On one side is the rhetoric of hoards of queue-jumping illegal immigrants breaching our border security.  On the other is the view that these are people…

  • A silly season blog: Tintin and Human Rights

    by Sarah Joseph So the new Tintin movie, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, opens in Australia on Boxing Day. As a die-hard fan of Tintin, the creation of Georges Remi known as Hergé (1907-1983), I will have to see it, though I have serious doubts that the movie can remotely match…