Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 14:32
Liberty Victoria honours the Ngaga-Dji project ( Hear me!), a collaborative project of the Koorie Youth Council led by Anna Cerreto and Indi Clarke, with the Young Voltaire Award.
The Young Voltaire Award honours a person or group no older than 30 at the date of their nomination for an outstanding contribution to or action on free speech, human rights or civil liberties, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality and dignity. It celebrates those who speak out, write, campaign, whistle-blow, take action or stand against authoritarianism.
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Thu, 02/05/2019 - 14:14
This year Liberty Victoria honours Debbie Kilroy, the founder of Sisters Inside, with the Voltaire Human Rights Award.
The Voltaire Award honours a person or group for an outstanding contribution to or action on free speech, human rights or civil liberties, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality and dignity. It celebrates those who speak out, write, campaign, whistle-blow, take action or stand against authoritarianism. Previous winners include Magda Szubanski, Gillian Triggs, Waleed Aly, David Marr, Peter Greste, Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy.
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Tue, 26/02/2019 - 10:38
Liberty Victoria believes fervently in the importance of impartial, independent legal advice and representation.
Liberty Victoria is an organisation made up predominately (though not solely) of legal practitioners. We believe that public confidence in the legal profession is integral to the proper administration of justice.
As the integrity of the legal profession in Victoria is under enormous scrutiny, we reiterate our individual and collective commitment to independent, ethical professional conduct and to the duties we each assumed upon admission to the legal profession.
If enacted the Justice Legislation Amendment (Police and Other Matters) Bill 2019 (“the Bill”) would, amongst other things:
a. Create new powers in the Crimes Act 1958 (“the Crimes Act”) for police to take a DNA sample from certain suspects and offenders without a court order, including in some cases children; and
b. Introduce new criminal offences and sanctions in the Crimes Act, Sentencing Act 1991 and Bail Act 1977 for acts that harm or threaten harm to police officers, protective services officers (“PSOs”) and police custody officers (“PCOs”).
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Thu, 07/02/2019 - 09:15
The proposed spent convictions bill introduced by Reason Party leader Fiona Patten MP would transform the lives of many Victorians. If passed, the proposed scheme would bring Victoria in line with every other Australian state and territory, including Queensland, which has had a legislated scheme since 1986.
Ms Patten today introduced a bill into the Legislative Council that would automatically remove the convictions for minor offences if people have not reoffended for a period of time.
The proposed scheme will introduce the following changes:
Sex Discrimination Amendment (Removing Discrimination Against Students) Bill 2018 (Senator Wong’s Bill)
Liberty notes that the so-called religious exemptions amount to a preference or benefit for some religious groupings over others (including the growing numbers of the non-religious), which appears to contravene section 116 of the Constitution.
Insofar as the Bill removes the privilege to discriminate against students in their education at schools run by religious bodies it is whole-heartedly supported.
Liberty Victoria is essentially supportive of the reforms contained in the Bill. We note that there has been a significant expansion in the powers and activities of Australia’s national security and intelligence organisations over the past two decades, without a corresponding increase in review or scrutiny of such bodies.
