Liberty Victoria welcomed the opportunity to provide a submission to the Inquiry into Antisemitism at Australian Universities. We support actions of government and universities to address antisemitism on university campuses and in Australia generally, and believe the best way to protect the human rights of all people, including students at universities, would be to have robust federal human rights legislation designed to balance competing rights, which would of course include freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and freedom from vilification.
Liberty Victoria condemns the recent attack on the Addis Israel synagogue. Attacks based in antisemitism - or any kind of religious hatred or racism - are unacceptable. We acknowledge the fear felt by members of the Jewish community in the wake of this attack.
Liberty Victoria is concerned, though, to see the Premier and others cite the attacks as a justification for further limits on the right to protest in Victoria.
There is no evidence, nor even any credible suggestion, that the attack occurred as a result of any protest, either outside a place of worship or otherwise.
This week the Federal Labor Government is trying to push through unprecedented and unprincipled laws without due process and scrutiny. These abhorrent laws target people solely on their visa status and will devastate individuals, families and communities across generations. If passed they will cause irreversible harm.
There needs to be a more considered approach. Liberty Victoria advocates for more targeted interventions that aim to minimise harms while preserving social media’s benefits for children under the age of 16. A blanket ban will be ineffective and indeed will make matters worse – and expose children to more harm – as the use of social media by children is pushed underground.
Politicised attacks on people based on their visa status must end. The harms inflicted are severe, generational, and go to the heart of Australian culture and community.
We must all be equal before the law. Refugees and migrants are members of the community like any other, and should be permitted to live in dignity, security and peace – not in a parallel, ever-shifting universe where they are relentlessly vilified, punished, and discarded.
Committal hearings have long served as a critically important part of the protections afforded in Victoria to persons accused of serious crimes. The current system holds significant value in ensuring adequate disclosure, promoting the early resolution of cases, minimising the impact on vulnerable witnesses and ultimately easing pressure on the criminal justice system.
In an era in which social media revolution has created an avalanche of disinformation and conflicts polarise communities across the world, the role of independent journalism has never been more critical to the protection of human rights and civil liberties. The role of journalists can be dangerous and come at a high personal price, particularly when reporting from conflict zones. The extreme price that journalists can pay for their commitment to their ideals has been brought into tragic focus in Palestine where, at the time of writing, over 120 journalists are reported to have been killed
Liberty Victoria is grateful for the opportunity to make this submission in relation to the inquiry into the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic).
Freedom of information (FOI) is a fundamental human right in itself, and a touchstone for all other rights and freedoms exercised by individuals within a functioning democratic society.
To ensure the full enjoyment of this right, there must be “free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens, candidates and elected representatives”.
