Once again, activist lawyers from across Australia are coming together at the National Conference of Community Legal Centres (#naclc12). It’s a terrific opportunity to reflect on the work of Community Legal Centres (CLCs), and to identify challenges and opportunities. For those that don’t know, CLCs are independently operating not-for-profit, community-based organisations that provide legal services […]
Tag Archives: human rights
It seems that no matter how cordial Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is or how much it is desired to be so, perennial issues continue that call aspects of that relationship into question. Critically, the gap between how Australia official engages with Indonesia and how that engagement is more widely viewed within Australia continues to test […]
As Australians, our home is known as the ‘lucky country’. We learnt recently that five of Australia’s cities are among the most liveable in the world. Geelong Advertiser readers will know that it’s only a matter of time until Geelong finds its way onto that list. But not everyone in the world is so lucky. Imagine […]
Let’s start with some basic facts. The 1951 Refugee Convention (as broadened by the 1967 Protocol) provides that the term “refugee” shall apply to any person who: "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his […]
As a still young state trying to establish itself, within itself and in the world, Timor-Lestes commitment to recognising and upholding human rights, in particular civil and political rights, has been widely welcomed. For a people who have suffered such egregious human rights abuses, it is consistent that they wish to never suffer such abuses […]
A group of academics from Deakin University’s School of Law today called on the Australian Senate to pass laws to allow marriage equality. The academics’ call was included in their submission to an inquiry by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee on the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010. The Bill is one of three Bills currently before the […]
Phil* became homeless after his partner died and his house was repossessed. He cycled through shelters and crisis accommodation, dangerous rooming houses, and the couches of friends and families. After several months, Phil hit the jackpot and was accepted into transitional housing. As the name suggests, transitional housing is short- to medium-term housing to assist […]
There is a quickly developing sense that Burma, long an outcast in the international community, has begun a serious process of reform. It is as though the Burmese opposition, and the world behind it, are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, where a hostage comes to love the hostage taker following a small sign of kindness. Burmas […]
Background The Federal Government’s White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness (White Paper), proposed the introduction of new legislation that would “underpin the national response to homelessness, setting standards to deliver the best quality services possible”. In June 2009, the Minister for Housing referred the inquiry into homelessness legislation […]
The movement of people from their countries of origin to another country seeking a more secure and better life is not a new phenomenon and is not likely to diminish any time soon. The prevailing wisdom in migration scholarship and policy circles is that people move either in a voluntary or un-voluntary capacity. In other […]