Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Category: Auslaw

  • Victorian children to be seen and not heard

    By Erica Contini and Melissa Castan You could be forgiven for not knowing that the Victorian Parliament is passing unprecedented legislation limiting  the rights of young people to legal representation in child protection proceedings.  The changes were introduced last week, hidden in an obscure bill that gives no indication as to what it really contains,…

  • Can Julian Assange be elected to Australia’s Parliament, and can Craig Thompson stay there?

    Guest Blogger: Professor Graeme Orr, University of Queensland In the past week, one serving politician, Craig Thomson, was charged with a raft of complaints of fraud.  And one would-be politician, Julian Assange, affirmed his intention to stand for the Senate, come Australia’s federal elections, scheduled for September. In different ways, each man’s position highlights quirks…

  • Human rights and religion in Australian Law. Where does the balance lie?

    Guest Blogger: Rachel Ball, Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at the Human Rights Law Centre The recent release of the Federal Government’s draft Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill (HRAD) has reignited Australian debate about human rights, religion and the law. The current controversy is around the permanent exceptions in the HRAD which allow religious bodies to…

  • A trafficking jam: How can China better address the serious problem of labour trafficking?

    Guest Blogger: Sophia Kagan, Castan Centre Honorary Associate ‘Why are you focusing on a problem that affects so few people?’ asked my interviewee, an academic in rural migrant issues. ‘Even the media don’t bother reporting it – that’s how small an issue it is’. We are discussing trafficking for forced labour in China and my…

  • Dan Mori’s Castan Centre talk on targeted killings [video]

    From 2003 to 2007, Dan Mori (often known by his first name, Michael or Major Mori) represented Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks. The Castan Centre was proud to have former Lieutenant Colonel Mori give the keynote address at our recent human rights gala in October 2012. In the twenty minute video below, Mr Mori…

  • The right to health, sexual violence and social change in India

    Guest Blogger: Adrianne Walters, Castan Centre Global Intern At the start of December 2012, I arrived in Delhi to undertake a 3-month internship with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as part of the Castan Centre Global Internship Program. Mr Anand Grover, a…