LGBTIQ+
School should be a safe space for everyone to develop and learn. No ifs. No buts. Yesterday a media storm developed around the decision of Burwood Girls High School deciding to celebrate ‘Wear it Purple’ day and screening the film ‘Gayby Baby’. The two are quite distinct issues. Wear it Purple day is...
LGBTIQ+
Religious freedom could be seriously compromised if a referendum were held on whether same-sex couples were allowed to marry. Following the events of the week numerous people have talked up a referendum, not a plebiscite, as the “public vote” on whether same-sex couples should be able to legally...
LGBTIQ+
A law can be designed to protect the rights of all and avoid a distracting and divisive debate on marriage for same-sex couples. There are two fundamental human rights that could be affected by any change: equality before the law and religious freedom. During the recent National Press Club debate...
LGBTIQ+
Religious freedom isn’t sufficiently protected in any of the bills before the parliament to allow same-sex couples to marry. Last week the leader of the government in the Senate, Eric Abetz, raised concern that those of faith might suffer legal consequences if they continue opposing marriage for same...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
The Northern Australia white paper has the potential to be transformative in improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples if it increases the respect and value of their property rights and their right to development. The white paper, released just over a week ago, focuses on...
LGBTIQ+
Visibility remains one of the greatest challenges in tackling the legacy of state-sanctioned discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status. In the past 30 years we’ve made great strides in ensuring people are treated equally before the law...
Race Discrimination
In October 1975, at a ceremony for the proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described the legislation as ‘a historic measure’, which aimed to ‘entrench new attitudes of tolerance and understanding in the hearts and minds of the people’.(1) The Act was...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The long running, if muted, struggle between the High Court of Australia and the Government over refugees recalls a bitter legal battle in the early 17th century. Sir Edward Coke, the first Lord Chief Justice of England, defied King James 1 by asserting the supremacy of the common law over the...
Commission – General
Malcolm Fraser was a towering figure in human rights. I greatly respected his compassion and respect for all human beings. I have known Malcolm for 40 years. He was always generous with his time and demonstrated a great ability to resolve difficult issues. He loved to tell stories about his days in...
Children's Rights
THE running of the Australian Marriage Forum (AMF) advertisement on television last weekend to coincide with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade can only be described as pointless and cruel. This anti-same sex marriage message deliberately seeks to undermine the thousands of healthy gay...
Rights and Freedoms
Behind human rights is the still revolutionary idea that every human being is free and equal, that individuals own their own bodies and should be free to pursue their lives, opportunities and enterprise. Human rights provide the foundation for our liberal democracy, our market economy and our civil...
LGBTIQ+
On Sunday night, the Australian Marriage Forum (AMF) broadcast an advertisement against marriage for same-sex couples. The advertisement was scheduled to be broadcast on Channels 7, 9 and SBS. The AMF advertisement argued that same-sex couples should not be able to marry under the law, because...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
"Just in the last week, three of my closest friends and a relative have been diagnosed with cancer. This is not an uncommon story, to be – as a community – constantly in grief, loss and trauma." These words, from Janine Mohamed, chief executive of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait...
Race Discrimination
Explore an opinion piece that celebrates 40 years of the Racial Discrimination Act by former Race Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Tim Soutphommasane.
Rights and Freedoms
Charlie Hebdo would have risked being censored by the courts, but self-censorship is the reality of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
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