Children Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2017

In principle Liberty supports the Children Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2017. However, Liberty Victoria’s view is that the proposed regime goes too far and needs to be amended to ensure that the range of information that can be stored is clearly defined, that children have the opportunity to give consent wherever possible, and that there are clear rules about the types of people that are able to access the information.

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Clarity needed on child safety laws, says Liberty

New laws aimed at improving child safety need better provisions, the human rights group Liberty Victoria warned today.

The laws set up a regime to allow a range of professionals to share information about children to promote their safety. They include child protection workers, teachers and health professionals.

“Liberty Victoria’s view is that the proposed regime needs to be amended to ensure that the range of information that can be stored is more clearly defined,” said Liberty president Jessie Taylor.

Bail Amendment (Stage Two) Bill 2017

As previously stated in our submission to the Bail Review and commentary in respect of the Bail Amendment (Stage One) Bill 2017, Liberty Victoria is opposed to the State Government’s proposal to reverse the presumption of bail in a wide number of offences.

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Religious Freedom Review

Freedom of religion is properly understood to mean the freedom for an individual to have, or not have, a religious belief, to join a religion and take part in its rites and rituals, or change religion, or leave a religion, and not to be discriminated against because of their having or not having a religion; and also the right of religions - taken to mean (more or less) organized groups of persons adhering to a common belief system—to coexist in society on a basis of equality with each other and with individuals or groups of no religion.

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Curtail religious privileges, human rights body urges

Prominent human rights organisation Liberty Victoria has thrown out a challenge to an inquiry set up by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

In the wake of the overwhelming vote in favour of marriage equality, Mr Turnbull ordered a review to see whether Australian law "adequately protects" the human right to freedom of religion.

Liberty Victoria has turned this on its head by telling the inquiry that religious privileges are far too extensive and must be rolled back.

Firearms Amendment Act 2018

Last week, the Victorian Parliament passed the Firearms Amendment Bill 2017 which contained a series of significant amendments to the Firearms Act 1986.

The aspect of the Bill of most concern to civil liberties and human rights is the introduction of Firearm Prohibition Orders.

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Sex Offenders Scheme both costly and unnecessary

Liberty Victoria labelled the opposition’s proposed plan to allow concerned parents access to photographs and other details of sex offenders "an unnecessary and costly scheme that would have no impact on the rates of sexual offences in Victoria."  

Liberty Victoria President Jessie Taylor dismissed the proposal as “an irrational and expensive attempt to make political gain out of a highly emotive issue without reference to any available evidence.”

Inquiry into the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Bill 2017

A submission was made to this inquiry by the councils for civil liberties across Australia (New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, Liberty Victoria, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, South Australia Council for Civil Liberties and the Australian Council for Civil Liberties).

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