Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Tue, 05/09/2017 - 15:36
Fearless Voices Slam Poet
Soreti is an Oromo poet, musician and community organiser currently based on un-ceded Kulin Nations land.
Her artistry is a method of story and truth telling. Her performance style is riveting, leaving audiences in an abyss of empowerment and contemplation. What she speaks on evolves with her but is rooted in a focus on identity, justice, equity and freedom.
She has performed her work all across Kulin Nation lands and in numerous other places across so-called Australia.
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Tue, 05/09/2017 - 14:59
Fearless Voices Slam Poet
Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa is a first generation Australian Sikh spoken word artist, educator, performer & human rights reformer based in Melbourne.
Sukhjit is passionate about diversity and the importance of visibility in the performing arts and inherently merges her advocacy background with the arts. Her work predominantly provokes conversations around Australian identity, feminism, cultural confusions, and the power of uncomfortable conversations.
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Tue, 05/09/2017 - 14:47
Fearless Voices Slam Poet
Waffle Irongirl was born with three given names in two languages. All have been miss-spelt or mispronounced. So she is obsessed with the names of things but can’t remember the names of people. Once upon a time, she accidentally attended a fiction class where she was astounded to be encouraged to make things up.
Liberty Victoria offers five double passes to this year’s #AlanMissenOration at #MWF17 with Nancy MacLean on Democracy in Chains. Offer runs this weekend, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 August only.
Liberty Victoria made a comprehensive submission in June 2017 on why the Sentencing Amendment (Sentencing Standards) Bill 2017 (Vic) is unnecessary and threatens to undermine the separation of powers. Unfortunately it appears that it will obtain bipartisan support.
We support the Commonwealth Government’s commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).
The Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (the Charter) imposes human rights obligations on every public authority in Victoria. Relevantly for present purposes, s 10 of the Charter provides that:
A person must not be—
(a) subjected to torture; or
(b) treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way; or
Time did not permit Liberty Victoria to address in full all aspects of the Terms of Reference for this Inquiry. Our concerns therefore centred on “3 — The relationship between the freedom of religion or belief and other human rights, and the implications of constraints on the freedom of religion or belief for the enjoyment of other universal human rights” (ToR 3). In particular we considered the balancing of freedom of religion or belief with the human right to equality. We also make some related comments on ToR 2 and ToR 4.
Liberty Victoria supports the Supreme Court’s objective of minimising delay in the criminal justice system, particularly in the period between charge and the listing of trial.
However, Liberty’s view is that the Supreme Court’s current proposal will not be effective in reducing delays and may jeopardise the accused’s right to a fair trial.
