Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Category: Auslaw

  • Another 356 pages on the excesses of immigration detention

    By Tania Penovic The federal government’s Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Immigration Detention Network handed down its long awaited final report last Friday. Its report has added 356 pages to the many thousands of pages already devoted to addressing the excesses of a regime which has for 20 years breached Australia’s international obligations and afflicted vulnerable…

  • The evidence is in: the Charter of Human Rights is working for all Victorians

    Guest Blogger: Ben Schokman, Human Rights Law Centre A collection of case studies recently published by the Human Rights Law Centre illustrates the many benefits delivered by Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities during its first five years of operation.  The 101 case studies ‑ compiled from the various submissions made to the Victorian…

  • Signs of Progress on Independent Detention Oversight

    Last October, I wrote about Australia’s need for more independent oversight of places where people are deprived of liberty – preferably under the framework of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). I am pleased to report that in the intervening months the Attorney-General’s Department has tabled a National Interest Analysis (NIA) for…

  • Serco and Asylum-seekers’ Rights in Detention

    By Adam Fletcher The government’s obligations to immigration detainees are very similar to those of prisoners. AAP/Dean Lewins A training manual instructing immigration detention centre guards to use force to incapacitate detainees was leaked this week. It included techniques to kick, punch and target pressure points on detainees. The Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen said…

  • 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…

  • Extradition and Mutual Assistance Changes Slip in under the Radar

     By Adam Fletcher Last Wednesday, in the aftermath of the infamous Labor leadership showdown and when all eyes were on the Carr for Canberra drama, federal Parliament passed the Extradition and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Amendment Bill 2011. Unless I missed it, the passage of this Bill into law garnered not a single…