News
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Urgent call for seriously ill Nauru children to be transferred
The Australian Human Rights Commission is calling on the Federal Government to urgently transfer any seriously unwell asylum seeker children – and their families – from Nauru to Australia. The Commission notes several recent cases where the Federal Court of Australia has consistently found the...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Making detention safe and humane: can we grasp a once-in-a-generation opportunity?
Making detention safe and humane: can we grasp a once-in-a-generation opportunity? Austin Asche Oration Australian Academy of Law and Charles Darwin University Nitmiluk Lounge, Level 4, Parliament House, Darwin 5pm, 19 September 2017 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Introduction Acknowledgements Traditional...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Protecting refugees
As recent reports allege asylum seekers are being removed from Manus Island and returned to their place of origin, Commission President, Professor Gillian Triggs, reflects on the nation's responsibilities.
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
New report reveal alarming impact of detention on children
[Check against delivery] Thank you for joining us today. Over a year ago, the Australian Human Rights Commission produced The Forgotten Children Report. This Report examined the impact of prolonged mandatory, indefinite immigration detention on the mental and physical heath of children. The findings...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The Government, the High Court and the Migration Act
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...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Magna Carta shelters asylum-seekers
NEXT year is the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, signed reluctantly by King John at the demand of his rebellious barons in 1215. Buried in the middle of this foundational document of English constitutional law — setting out the single measure for wine and ale and the rights of widows on the...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Keeping asylum seeker children in detention doesn't stop people smugglers - so why do it?
The former and current ministers for immigration and border security, Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison, agree on one thing: that asylum seeker children are not detained to deter people smuggling. Rather, it appears that patrol boats and naval frigates, commanded by a three star general, and a refusal...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Sister Clare Condon - Sanctioned Violence: What does it do to our society and relationships?
I acknowledge the Gadagal People of the Aora nation on whose land we meet. I pay my respects to the elders past and present. I come here today as an ordinary citizen. I am not an academic, nor a lawyer. I am simply a concerned citizen. There are many nuances to the meaning of the word violence. It...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
We can't 'outsource' our moral obligations to these people
Events on Manus Island have graphically and tragically brought to the attention of the Australian public the inappropriateness of the current arrangements for the regional processing of asylum seekers. I have been troubled by the loss of life and the injury that has occurred on Manus Island over this...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Australia, Human Rights, Refugees and Asylum Seekers
A comment on the current human rights issues faced by Australia in the processing of refugees and asylum seekers
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Australian Government’s third country processing regime & human rights
Explore a speech delivered by the former President of the Human Rights Commission, Professor Gillian Triggs, to the Refugee Advice and Casework Service.
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Current issues Australia faces in relation to its treatment of refugees (2012)
Speech delivered to the United Nations Association of Australia (WA Division)