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Press Release
Post date: April 3, 2014
Longer jail terms for serious offences do not mean a safer community but may have the reverse effect, Liberty Victoria warned today.
“They may have a simplistic appeal, especially when parties are clamouring for public attention as a State election looms, but there is no evidence that they lead to... Read more
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Liberty Victoria in the News
Post date: April 2, 2014
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Press Release
Post date: March 28, 2014
LIBERTY SLAMS BRANDIS CHANGES TO THE RDA
Liberty Victoria today attacked new government proposals to dilute protections against racist speech.
Liberty President, Jane Dixon SC, said that ‘freedom of speech is a fundamental value in a pluralistic and democratic society. At the same time, however,... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: February 19, 2014
The tragedy at Manus Island was foreseeable.
As observed by the Human Rights Law Centre, Australia has sent 1300 asylum seekers to Manus Island for ‘processing and resettlement’, but not one person has actually been processed and resettled. Asylum seekers have been left languishing in arbitrary... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: February 18, 2014
As the community contemplates the Victorian Government’s decision to, as Premier Denis Napthine puts it, have the Hoddle Street murderer Julian Knight “rot in jail”, it is worth looking at similar cases.
Back in 1990 the Government wanted to keep Gary David, a seriously mentally ill offender, in... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: December 13, 2013
Approval of the Napthine government’s move to ensure the Auditor-General’s independence came today from Liberty Victoria.
Liberty President Jane Dixon SC said it was vital for the proper oversight of government to keep this office as independent as possible.
The State Services Authority had the... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: November 26, 2013
Public confidence in the legal system is threatened by jamming people into jail while hiding a study of the State’s prison population, Liberty Victoria said today.
Liberty President Jane Dixon SC echoed the warning by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service that the crisis in prisons presents a... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: August 17, 2013
A reluctance to acknowledge the existence of racial profiling and a misunderstanding of how racism can be part of police practice underscores the need for better education in the Victoria Police, Liberty Victoria said today.
This follows a call by the Law Institute of Victoria for police to be... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: August 17, 2013
“The newly announced Coalition’s proposal to never allow over thirty thousand stranded asylum seekers settle in Australia, plumbs new depths of cruelty. It is a policy that will cause severe psychological harm. It extinguishes all hope and re-traumatises people who have already been traumatised... Read more
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Press Release
Post date: July 25, 2013
Liberty Victoria raises serious concerns about the human rights implications of Australia's new asylum seeker policy.
President Jane Dixon SC said today: "Liberty is very concerned about how this policy will play out in practical terms. Australia seems to be outsourcing its obligations to a... Read more
