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Rights and Freedoms8 February 2016Opinion piece
Another 'aberration' shows that 18C is the problem and must be changed
State and federal governments should reform laws that make offensive acts unlawful and refocus them on protecting free speech and stopping workplace and public harassment. This week a news story broke about a complaint made under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by a Queensland University of Technology employee. Section 18C makes it unlawful to "offend, insult, humiliate or… -
Rights and Freedoms3 February 2016Opinion piece
Logic says Valizadeh shouldn't get a visa
Daryush "Roosh" Valizadeh’s freedom of speech won’t be suppressed if the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, denies him a visa. In the past few days there have been increasing calls on the Federal Government to block so-called ‘neo-masculinist’ Valizadeh from entering Australia. Outraged politicians have called for him to be denied a visa. Online petitions have been set up to “let the NSW… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice27 January 2016Opinion piece
Government’s Healthy Welfare Card no solution to alcohol abuse
In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country, old wounds are being reopened. Many of our people are being forced to revisit the past trauma of income management and stolen wages. The federal government’s Healthy Welfare Card has created great concern and contention, as the measure will disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and… -
Rights and Freedoms6 November 2015Opinion piece
Finding a balance for freedom of religion
Those of different beliefs need to be active in reshaping the conversation about religious freedom if it is to be preserved in law. Yesterday, the Australian Human Rights Commission hosted the first of many religious freedom round tables. These round tables have resulted from a year-long consultation identifying that there are tensions surrounding the way religion is treated in culture and… -
Rights and Freedoms12 October 2015Opinion piece
Why Geert Wilders should be allowed to visit Australia
Our borders should not be used to control access to unpopular ideas, and in the internet age such efforts are futile. According to reports, Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan has advised the Prime Minister not to grant a visa to controversial Dutch MP, Geert Wilders, using the example of denying a visa to American musician Chris Brown as precedent. Chris Brown's convictions… -
Childrens Rights25 September 2015Opinion piece
Domestic violence: $100 million funding raises hope in a week of tragedy
By Professor Gillian Triggs and Commissioner Megan Mitchell. We can no longer tolerate the loss of innocent lives, or allow children to be exposed to such horrific crimes. This week we have seen at least four lives tragically cut short at the hands of a partner or family member. Two of these victims were a mother and her unborn baby; the others a 12-year-old girl and a 17-month-old baby… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice17 September 2015Opinion piece
White paper has the potential to improve indigenous lives
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 working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who own more than 31 per cent of… -
Race Discrimination23 July 2015Opinion piece
Forty years of the Racial Discrimination Act
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 Australia’s first federal human rights and discrimination law. Enacted shortly after the formal -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees10 April 2015Opinion piece
The Government, the High Court and the Migration Act
Read an opinion piece about the High Court finding the government in breach of the Migration Act for refusing to grant a protection visa to a refugee. -
Rights and Freedoms11 March 2015Opinion piece
Is freedom under pressure globally?
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 society. It was the signing 800 years ago of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter of 1215, by…