HSC Legal Studies: News Watch - Human Rights

Human rights and international students

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:49:17 +1100

How well does Australia treat its international students? At the recent Australia and New Zealand Race Relations Roundtable, Human Rights Commissioners heard about many instances of racial harassment, abuse and violence directed at international students. Many areas of concern need to be addressed, including rights to non discrimination, equality of treatment, security of the person, access to justice, housing, information, freedom of religion and culture and labour rights. The Commissioners resolved to:

Call for more research into the actual experience of discrimination and harassment of international students in specific communities and contexts, including regular surveys of students by education providers to provide a better evidence base for policy decisions;

Call on the police to record complaints and incidences of racially motivated crime, and for education providers, local government and other stakeholders to provide accessible reporting systems for racial harassment and discrimination, including web-based systems;

Encourage the provision of reliable and accessible web-based information to prospective international students, including about their human rights and support available;

"After the perfect storm: Indian students in Australia" by Janaki Bahahur, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 12 October 2009 documents some of the experiences of Indian students studying in Australia. Additional media reports can be found on the ABC website. Just type in "Indian students" and you will find reports of incidents involving indian students during 2009.

Northern Territory intervention

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:31:56 +1100

In early 2007, following a series of revelations about the level of child sex abuse in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, the previous Federal Government announced and legislated for the implementation of a series of emergency measures. This became known as the Northern Territory Emergency Intervention. You can read the key legislation that introduced this intervention on the Australian Parliamentary Library Indigenous Affairs website, under Northern Territory Emergency Intervention.

In March 2009, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination requested that the Federal Government take urgent action to ensure that this new legislation complied with the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The Human Rights Law Centre wrote a letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin on 10 November 2009 urging them to immediately reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) to apply to all measures of the Northern Territory Intervention.

If you have a reader's card for the State Library of NSW, you can find more articles in the media on Proquest ANZ Newsstand dealing with the Northern Territory Intervention. Type in "northern territory intervention". They include:

"The Northern Territory intervention and the Racial Discrimination Act" by Renata Grossi (2009) 31 (3) LegalDate 11-13;
"Response and responsibility" by Richard Mohr (2009) 7 (11) Indigenous Law Bulletin 15-18; and
"downunderallover:developments around the country" (2009) 34 (2) Alternative Law Journal 129-136

Human Rights Consultation Report released

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:55:48 +1100

The ‘The Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Australia’ was released on 8 October 2009. There is a summary included with the report. The report is a large document and to read it online you need to click on the 'downloads' link.

In December 2008 the Rudd Government asked the National Human Rights Consultation Committee to examine the protection and promotion of human rights and responsibilities in Australia.

The Committee conducted the most extensive consultation on human rights issues in Australia’s history, receiving more than 35,000 submissions and conducting over 65 community roundtables and public hearings across more than 50 urban, regional and remote locations.

The report contains 31 recommendations and provides important information about what we do well and assesses options for addressing the areas where we can do better.

Overwhelmingly, the report finds that Australians support the protection of human rights, however, most of the debate surrounds the way these rights are protected. What the research has identified is that there are many views on how human rights and responsibilities should be protected, promoted and realised, including on the merits of a Human Rights Act.

Importantly, it has also shown that there are many other important ways to protect and promote human rights including, for example, through enhanced education and improved parliamentary scrutiny.

The Attorney-General released a public statement at the same time as the launch of the report which outlines the key findings and states the Australian government's intentions to carefully consider the Committee's report and outline its response in the coming months.

George Williams responded to the report with a piece in the SMH 'A clear voice crying dignity for our fellow beings' on 9 October 2009.

Numerous articles have been written in the media in response to the release of this consultation report. You can do a search on Proquest Australia and New Zealand Newsstand, a database of fulltext newspaper articles. You need to register as a client of the State Library. Set dates to after 1 October 2009 and type in 'human rights and Brennan'. (Just typing in 'human rights' will get too many hits.)

Rights of persons with disabilities - UN optional protocol

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:28:42 +1100

The Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has come into force in Australia as of 20 September 2009. This protocol provides a mechanism for Australians to make complaints to the United Nations Disabilities Committee in the event that all domestic remedies have been exhausted.

The Convention was ratified in July 2008. The Convention has also been declared under the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 to enable the Australian Human Rights Commission to conciliate complaints based on breaches of the Convention.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has useful information on this Convention and the rights of people people with disabilities.

Afghanistan and rule of law

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:38:51 +1100

David Kilcullen, a world expert in counterterrorism spoke at the Wallace Wurth Memorial Lecture at the University of NSW. He said that the Government of Afghanistan was losing to the Taliban because it was being out-governed, rather than out-fought. Taliban survives through rule of law provides a useful summary of this lecture. Taliban forces have introduced 15 Sharia Law courts operating at the local level where they are imposing their rule of law more effectively than the Government, making decisions about family matters, water and grazing disputes, and inheritance issues.

The World Report 2009 produced by Human Rights Watch have identified that Afghanistan is experiencing its worst violence since the fall of the Taliban government. They highlight the plight of the ordinary Afghan people as a consequence of a weak government who is unable to assert its control and provide a safe environment so that they can enjoy basic rights.

Human Rights Watch have written extensively on human rights issues in Afghanistan, including: the lack of schooling for girls, barriers to women working outside the home, the wearing of the burqa, the practice of 'bacha bazi' (the keeping of boys as sex slaves), lack of freedom of expression, and the lack of independent media reporting.

Invasion of Privacy

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:59:47 +1100

The report Invasion of Privacy No 120 was released on 14 August 2009 by the NSW Law Reform Commission. It examines the existing privacy laws in New South Wales and makes recommendations about reform. In summary, the major recommendation is that as part of a uniform law initiative in Australia, New South Wales should amend the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) to provide a cause of action for invasion of privacy in the terms of the draft legislation appended to the report.

On the following day, David Marr wrote in the SMH of his concerns and objections to their findings and recommendations for reform. In contrast, the Australian Privacy Council produced a media release supporting the findings of the Commission.

This report is part of a wider reference and they are now turning their attention to the issue of access to personal information and whether existing legislation is adequate or is in need of reform. The Commission has established a blog as a way of capturing the public's experiences of accessing information about themselves from Government agencies, some of which will be made public.

visit the Privacy links on our Find Legal Answers Website for an overview of the existing laws protecting privacy. Use the three tabs at the top of the screen, labelled 'read online', 'books in public libraries' and 'lawyer's tools'. The online guides to privacy are simple, plain language factsheets that will help you understand what privacy is. The resources in public libraries are useful if you are looking for more indepth information.

Terrorism and human rights

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:21:56 +1100

The United Nations Human Rights Committee identified aspects of Australian counter-terrorism law, policy and practice that conflict with fundamental human rights. This issue surfaced again last week with the arrest of a group of men in Melbourne who were suspected of planning an attack on the army base at Holdsworthy in south-west Sydney.

Carl Ungerer in an opinion piece in the SMH highlights the dilemma facing the Australian Government in combatting terrorism, and the threat of attacks that might be planned.

LIAC's Hot Topics issue on Terrorism provides an overview of the global threat of terrorism, Australian and international anti-terrorism laws, ASIO powers, detention orders, and case studies of people prosecuted under anti-terrorist laws in Australia.

The Australian Government has introduced the National Security Legislation Monitor Bill which is seeking to address some of these complaints and to ensure that Australia is able to respond to an impending terrorist attack. Cynthia Banham and Jonathan Pearlman provide a useful summary of this new legislation in The Age.

If you have a reader's card for the State Library of NSW, you can find some more articles in the media on Proquest ANZ Newsstand. Set the date to the last three months.

The Australian Parliamentary Library's Terrorism Law is updated regularly and is also a useful website to follow Australia's response to this complex issue.

UN Human Right's Committee report on Australia

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:19:32 +1100

Earlier in the year, the United Nation's Human Rights committee released its observations of Australia's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Human Rights Law Centre identified the following recommendations for reform:

the lack of legal protection of human rights at the national level - the Committee recommends the enactment of comprehensive human rights and equality legislation, such as a Human Rights Act;
the incompatibility of aspects of Australian counter-terrorism law, policy and practice with fundamental human rights - the Committee recommends amendment of the Criminal Code, the Anti-Terrorism Act and ASIO legislation;
the continued suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act in relation to the Northern Territory Intervention - the Committee calls for re-design of the Intervention in direct consultation with Indigenous people and conformity with international human rights obligations;
the need to establish an adequately resourced national Indigenous representative body;
the need to make adequate reparations to the Stolen Generations - the Committee urges Australia to establish a national compensation scheme;
the need to take further steps to address ongoing issues of violence against women and homelessness;
the need to take 'urgent and adequate measures, including legislative measures, to ensure that nobody is returned to a country where there are substantial grounds to believe that they are at risk of being arbitrarily deprived of their life or being tortured or subjected to other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment';
the co-operation of Australian law enforcement officials with overseas agencies, which may expose Australians to the real risk of the death penalty - the Committee urges Australia to enact legislation to ensure that no person is extradited to a country where they may face the death penalty and also to ensure that Australian law enforcement officers do not provide assistance in the investigation of crimes (such as the Bali 9) which may expose people to the death penalty;
the excessive use of force by police without adequate oversight, including the use of Taser guns and lethal force;
the continued policy of mandatory immigration detention and the use of Christmas Island as a remote detention facility - the Committee urges Australia to abolish mandatory immigration detention, close Christmas Island and enact new migration legislation which respects fundamental rights;
the need to increase access to justice and legal aid, particularly for Indigenous Australians; and
the importance of establishing a comprehensive national human rights education program.

This is a useful list to refer to for identifying examples of domestic or local human rights issues.

Sex Discrimination Act - 25th Anniversary

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:03:23 +1100

It is twenty-five years since the Federal Government introduced the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth). This press release produced by Robert McClelland, Attorney-General, and Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Status for Women on 1 August 2009 summarises the major initiatives undertaken by the Government in improving the rights of women over this time, particularly in relation to discrimination and violence.

For information about recent initiatives of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, visit the Human Rights website.

If you have a reader's card for the State Library of NSW, you can find some interesting articles that examine the effectiveness of the current legislation for the rights of women on AGIS Plus. Type in "sex and discrimination" for articles on discrimination or "women and violence" for violence.

The Women page of the Legal Studies Research Guide will provide you with a list of additional resources to read.

Slavery and the Criminal Code

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:52:42 +1100

In August of 2008, the High Court considered a provision of the Criminal Code covering "offences against humanity", in particular "slavery, sexual servitude and deceptive recruiting". This was an interesting decision of the court, as it specifically looks at whether a woman was being kept in slavery by her employer.

The definition of slavery in the Criminal Code is very similar to the definition contained in Article 1(1) of the International Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery [1927] ATS 11.

In R v Tang [2008] HCA 39, the respondent, the owner of a licensed brothel, was found guilty in the Victorian County Court of a number of charges of "possessing" and "using" a slave contrary to section 270 of the Criminal Code. The charges related to five women who were recruited from Thailand to work in brothels in Australia. The women were not kept locked up, but had entered Australia on illegal obtained visas, their passports and return air tickets were kept by the respondent, and they had limited English and no money. The respondent appealed to the Victorian Court of Appeal, which ordered a retrial. The DPP appealed to the High Court, which allowed the appeal, confirming the original guilty verdict.

If you have a reader's card to the State Library of NSW, you can find some interesting articles that discusss this case and the issue of slavery more generally on AGIS Plus. Type in "slavery and women".

Two articles of particular relevance include: "Without Sex - Slavery, Trafficking in Persons and the Exploitation of Labour in Australia" (2009) 34(1) Alternative Law Journal 4 and "Slavery in 21st-Century Australia - Case Note; R v Wei Tang" (2008) 46(10) Law Society Journal 36. Both these articles are available in full text via AGIS Plus.