Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Tag: human rights

  • PNG plan: cruel to be … cruel

    The PNG solution: cruel to be … cruel By Sarah Joseph, Monash University While the government might not show humanity in asylum seeker policy, there is certainly a human side to it. EPA/Andra Subhan   Much of the criticism of the PNG solution has focused on apparent inadequacies in PNG laws, economy, and infrastructure in…

  • The PNG solution: as harsh as it is unprecedented

    By Maria O’Sullivan Under the ”regional agreement” signed by Australia and Papua New Guinea on Friday, all asylum seekers who travel to Australia by boat will be transferred to PNG and have their asylum claims processed there by local officials. Controversially, those asylum seekers recognised as refugees will be resettled in PNG, and not Australia.…

  • Is Australia’s new asylum policy the harshest in its history?

    By Azadeh Dastyari Last week’s announcement is perhaps harsher than any asylum policy we have had in our recent history. It attempts to achieve what the Howard government’s Pacific Solution could not: that is, to ensure that no refugees are in fact resettled in Australia. Whether it can achieve this aim is a big question.…

  • The Return to Rudd: a turn for the worse on asylum seeker policy?

    The night of Wednesday 26th of June was full of surprises. We got an old/new Prime Minister in Kevin Rudd, found out that our first female Prime Minister was quitting politics, and learned what the Foreign Minister Bob Carr thinks of refugees and our international obligations to protect them. Not much as it turns out.…

  • Human Rights in the Federal Budget Part 2: The Attorney-General’s Department

    By Adam McBeth The Attorney-General’s Department has trumpeted the commitment of an additional $130 million in the next year “to improve access to justice for all Australians.” The bulk of that amount will be spent on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse, with a further $23.5 million split between Community Legal Centres,…

  • Appeals to racism do not advance us: special International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination post

    By Richard Clarke Tucked away in the lesser-known second verse of our national anthem is the following stanza: For those who’ve come across the sea We’ve boundless plains to share With courage let us all combine To advance Australia fair. In the lead-up to the federal election, politicians from both sides would do well to…