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With no Coalition free vote, where to now on the road to same-sex marriage?
By Paula Gerber The much-anticipated announcement of the government’s position on same-sex marriage raised more questions than it answered. By rejecting a free vote on same-sex marriage for Coalition MPs during this term of parliament, the government ensured that Australia will continue to be the only developed English-speaking country in the world where marriage is an…
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Commonwealth Games: is it time to stop playing?
By Paula Gerber Barely six months ago, international anger and calls for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Russia drew nearly as much news coverage as the games’ sporting achievements. And as the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow get under way, it is worth remembering that although Scotland has nothing to match Russia’s gay propaganda laws, the…
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Decriminalising homosexuality worldwide: should Australia get involved?
By Paula Gerber, Monash University and Joel Gory, Monash University In Australia, there is an ongoing debate around the right for same-sex couples to marry. The majority of laws discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were repealed in 2008. Earlier this year, the Sex Discrimination Act (1984) was also amended to prohibit…
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Wiping the slate clean: historic convictions for gay sex must be expunged
By Paula Gerber Most of the current media relating to gay rights focuses on marriage equality. But for some older gay men, another issue is even more important. Sex between consenting men ceased to be a crime in Australia between 1975 and 1997, with South Australia being the first state to decriminalise sodomy and Tasmania…
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Australia FINALLY gets a children’s rights commissioner
By Paula Gerber On 27 April 2012 the Gillard Government made a long overdue announcement that it will appoint a national children’s commissioner. This person (yet to be selected) will join the six existing commissioners at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC): Human Rights Commissioner (The Hon. Catherine Branson QC); Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…
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Children will soon be seen AND heard by the UN
By Paula Gerber One month ago, on 19th December 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted the Third Optional Protocol (OP) to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC). This new international instrument establishes a procedure whereby children whose rights have been violated can bring a complaint to UN Committee on the Rights of…
Castan Centre for Human Rights Law 