Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Tag: Adam Fletcher

  • Rolling the Federal Anti-Discrimination Acts into One ‘Great Big New Law’

    By Adam Fletcher As part of its National Human Rights Framework released in April last year, the Federal Government announced its commitment to re-engage with the international human rights system and take several measures here in Australia to improve protection of, and respect for, human rights. One of these measures was the consolidation of the […]

  • Can the Australian Government Return Unsuccessful Asylum-seekers to Afghanistan?

    By Adam Fletcher Yesterday it was reported on the ABC that unsuccessful asylum-seeker Ismail Mirza Jan is to be the first to be returned to Afghanistan involuntarily. This last word is important, because previous returnees have all accepted what’s known as an Assisted Voluntary Return package. These sorts of packages were also offered by the […]

  • Retrospective People Smuggling Bill: a Breach of our Constitution?

    By Adam Fletcher The major parties put aside their differences on immigration policy in the House of Representatives last week to pass the Deterring People Smuggling Bill 2011 (the Bill). Despite its name, the Bill is a ‘clarification’ of the people smuggling offences in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) designed to make successful prosecutions easier. […]

  • Do we need better privacy protection in Australia?

    By Adam Fletcher Protection of privacy in Australia was brought into stark relief last week with the ABC’s coverage of the Federal Government’s current compulsory Australian Health Survey being conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The ABC reports that  some participants have found the survey “deeply intrusive and a stressful violation of their privacy” because […]

  • In Praise of Independent Oversight

    By Adam Fletcher Anyone who watched the ABC’s 7.30 Report story this week on the death of a 52 year-old father who had been convicted of traffic offences in Grafton prison would have been horrified. For those who did not see it, this man was dying of a brain haemorrhage for hours while guards treated […]

  • Undermining the Migration Act’s Protections

    By Adam Fletcher Later today the Australian Government plans to put the Migration Legislation Amendment (Offshore Processing and Other Measures) Bill 2011 to a vote in the House of Representatives. So, what does this controversial Bill actually say? The Bill undermines several protections built into the Migration Act 1958, which, with Australia’s unique policies of […]