Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Tag: human rights

  • Sometimes cricket is “just not cricket”

    by Sarah Joseph Summer is here in Australia, which means many hours of cricket on radio and television, and, for those in capital cities, occasional opportunities to see the players in real life.  Given the subject matter of this blog, I think it an opportune time to reflect on some of the many intersections between…

  • Mining, Security and Human Rights

    By Joanna Kyriakakis Earlier this year I wrote a piece about the potential for Australian laws to regulate and oversee the human rights impacts of Australian mining companies operating abroad. Anvil Mining and Oceana Gold were two examples I gave where Australian mining interests had come under the spotlight for alleged human rights abuses connected…

  • Time’s Person of the Year: The Protester

    by Sarah Joseph* Time Magazine has just announced its Person of the Year.  Appropriately, it is “The Protester”. The signature characteristic of 2011 has been the extraordinary outbreak of protests, demonstrations, riots, and even overthrows of government. Most obviously, there has been the “Arab Spring”. Two long-standing dictators, Ben-Ali and Mubarak, were, remarkably, overthrown in…

  • It’s Time to recognise Indigenous Australia

    By Melissa Castan This morning The Age reported that the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has concluded its deliberations on reform proposals.  While we wait on the release of their  final report and recommendations its worth thinking again about the issues involved in altering the Commoneath Constitution in…

  • 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…

  • The Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) legislation: an important but “second best” development

    By Sarah Joseph New human rights legislation has finally been approved by the Federal Parliament. The Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Bill 2010 will require Ministers, when introducing legislation, to table a Statement of Compatibility outlining the extent to which the legislation complies with Australia’s international human rights obligations.  It will also create a Parliamentary Joint…