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14 December 2012Book page
2011 Immigration detention at Villawood
The Australian Human Rights Commission visited the immigration detention facilities at Villawood from 21 to 25 February 2011. This statement contains a summary of the key observations and concerns arising from the Commission’s visit. It focuses on conditions as they were at that time. -
Commission – General
14 December 2012SpeechPresident Speech: Mandatory immigration detention of children in Australia: how far have we come and where to from here? (2010)
I knew Brad well and admired him a great deal. We met when he joined the Crown Solicitor’s Office and we worked closely together in that office for a number of years. He was appointed Crown Solicitor of South Australia when I left that position to practice at the private Bar. He was subsequently appointed Solicitor-General of South Australia, the office from which, I believe, he made his… -
14 December 2012Book page
15. Religion, Culture & Language for Children in Immigration Detention
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requires Australia to protect children's rights to cultural identity, language and religion. The most effective way of ensuring enjoyment of these rights is to encourage and allow refugee and asylum-seeking children to participate in cultural and religious activities in the community. The Australian community is well equipped to respond to this need… -
8 December 2020Book page
Part 2: Supporting strong families and communities
Learn about issues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls face and the legal and social initiatives that work to address them. -
Legal
14 December 2012WebpageInquest into the death of Mr Ward (2009)
the provisions of an international convention to which Australia is a party can also serve as an indication of the value placed by Australia on the rights provided for in the convention and, therefore, as indicative of contemporary values.[7] -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
Human Rights - Refugees and Terrorists - What Rights?
It is a great pleasure to be speaking today with Judge Clifford Wallace. I had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions at Judges' conferences in the Pacific. I was very sorry to miss him when he was in Adelaide in 2003. -
Legal
14 December 2012Webpage
Inquiry into Australia’s agreement with Malaysia in relation to asylum seekers
Recommendation 1: Asylum seekers should not be transferred from Australia to Malaysia under the Arrangement between the Government of Australia and the Government of Malaysia on Transfer and Resettlement. -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
Address delivered to volunteer lawyers at the Welfare Rights Centre Housing Legal Clinic
I am very grateful for the opportunity to address you today and express my admiration to you all for taking on the very necessary venture of providing practical legal assistance to some of the most powerless and marginalised people in society. -
14 December 2012Book page
National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
Although it is not possible to precisely specify all the circumstance that lead people to arrive in Australia through people smuggling routes, there can be no doubt that they undertake perilous journeys which put their lives and that of accompanying family members at risk. Given the very high rates of approval for those who have sought asylum in Australia through these routes, it is reasonable to… -
14 December 2012Book page
Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
We must face up to our humanitarian responsibilities to accept refugee children and their families. We must take them out of the immigration detention centres and welcome them into the community where they can play, learn and grow. At least then when our children look back on this time and ask us what we did to stand up for refugee kids, we can say we gave them their childhood." (Calvert,… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
14 December 2012SpeechCurrent issues Australia faces in relation to its treatment of refugees (2012)
Speech delivered to the United Nations Association of Australia (WA Division) -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012SpeechMornington Peninsula Shire Conference
Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand and by so doing remind ourselves that Australia's cultural traditions stretch back many thousands of years. -
Rights and Freedoms
31 October 2013Speech
Freedom of Speech and giving offence: can a balance be struck?
Annual Kirby Lecture on International law: ANZSIL 2013 Thursday 4 July 20136:30 pm Finkel Theatre, John Curtin School of Medical Research,Garran Rd, Australian National University (Check against delivery) Freedom of Speech and giving offence: can a balance be struck? I was especially pleased to be invited to give this address as, throughout my career, I have been enriched by Michael Kirby’s … -
Legal
14 December 2012Webpage
Australian Human Rights Commission Submission to the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Immigration Detention Network (2011)
The Australian Government should implement reforms it announced in 2008 under which immigration detention is to be used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable period, people are to be detained in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual circumstances, and there is a presumption that people will be permitted to reside in the community unless they pose an… -
14 December 2012Book page
Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
This submission addresses some of the issues and questions raised in the background papers prepared by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and its 1967 Protocol (the Refugee Convention). The conclusions drawn in this submission arise… -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
Reconciling human rights and counter-terrorism – a crucial challenge
I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional country of the Girringun people and pay my respects to their elders past and present. -
Legal
14 December 2012Webpage
National Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 and Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010
The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) makes this submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in its Inquiry into the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (the Bill) and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Bill 2010. -
Commission – General
14 December 2012Speech
President speech: ‘A Human Rights Act for Australia’ - Dame Roma Mitchell Memorial Luncheon
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present. -
14 December 2012Book page
7. Refugee Status Determination for Children in Immigration Detention
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that around half of the 50 million displaced persons in the world are children. Around 10 million of these children are under the care of UNHCR. Approximately 100,000 separated children roam Western Europe.(1) During 1999 alone, more than 20,000 separated children applied for asylum in Western Europe, North America or Australia… -
Legal
14 December 2012Speech
Dignity, Fairness and Good Government: The Role of a Human Rights Act - Lord Bingham
It would clearly test to destruction the tolerance of the ordinary red-blooded Australian to have a Pom getting off the plane from London and telling them how to run their country. So I shall not presume to say how the current human rights debate in this country should be resolved. But perhaps I may contribute some thoughts, prompted by our own experience in the United Kingdom, acknowledging as I…