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THE END OF OFFSHORE DETENTION?
The implications of the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court decision By Maria O’Sullivan The highest court in Papua New Guinea has, in a unanimous decision, found that detention of refugees and asylum seekers in its Australian-funded ‘processing’ centres is unconstitutional. Although the Supreme Court decision is not directly enforceable under Australian law, it will have…
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What’s the child sexual abuse royal commission got to do with the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
By Tania Penovic Sexual abuse is an egregious violation of the rights of the child, causing harms which are profound and often lifelong. Evidence presented before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has revealed that in a range of institutional contexts, children have not been protected from abuse. The Convention on…
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Tony Abbott’s contempt for international human rights law
Tony Abbott’s open contempt for international human rights law Sarah Joseph, Monash University Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has penned an essay in Quadrant defending his government’s stance on national security. It betrays an extraordinarily open contempt for international human rights law. Mr Abbott starts by saying that he is proud that his government was…
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Criminal Convictions for Consensual Sex
Imagine a world in which you could be convicted of a crime merely for having sex with another consenting adult. It sounds like the sadistic, dystopian construct of a fictional fanatical regime, but the fact is it’s reality for people in (at last count) 76 countries today. In Mauritania, Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and…
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‘Dollar Dave’ and the Reserve Bank: a tale of art, theft and human rights
By Stephen Gray This year marks the 50th anniversary of Changeover day: when Australia swapped from pounds to the new decmal currency. But the “C” in Changeover day might equally stand for Copyright day, for it marks the first Aboriginal copyright dispute. In February 1966, Adelaide’s Advertiser newspaper revealed that the Reserve Bank had not sought…
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What does Human Rights Law say about Gun Control?
Opponents of gun control in the United States have a powerful ally in domestic law, because their Constitution contains a right to ‘keep and bear arms.’ Since the Heller Supreme Court case in 2008, this has been interpreted as an individual right which can trump legislative gun bans. In the context of the 2016 Presidential…
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law 
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