Liberty Victoria Supports the Voice

Uluru Statement from the Heart

Liberty Victoria proudly supports a Yes vote in the historic referendum that will take place later this year.

Raise the Age advocate Sophie Trevitt named winner of Liberty Victoria human rights award

Liberty Victoria is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2023 Voltaire Human Rights Award is human rights and Raise the Age advocate Sophie Trevitt. 

The Voltaire Human Rights Award honours a person who has made an outstanding contribution to human rights, free speech, and/or civil liberties, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality, dignity, and action.

Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of Nazi Symbols) Bill 2023

Liberty Victoria is deeply worried by the emergence of far-right extremism, but opposes the ban of the ‘hakenkreuz’ for the reasons set out in our joint submission to the PJCIS. We understand that the display of Nazi symbols is highly confronting and offensive, particularly to the Jewish community and other minority groups that have been targeted by fascist ideology.

Media Release: Continuing Detention Orders Should Be Abolished

Liberty Victoria endorses the recommendation of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) that Continuing Detention Orders (CDOs) be abolished.

A CDO is a court order that keeps a person who has committed a terrorism offence in prison beyond the end of their sentence. It is made on the basis of perceived risk of future terrorism offending, but there is no valid tool to assess that risk

Liberty Victoria Statement on the Anti-Trans and Nazi Protestors

Liberty Victoria condemns, in the strongest terms, the disturbing scenes outside the Victorian Parliament on 18 March 2023. This follows on from events over recent times where we have seen young men making Nazi salutes in the Grampians, gallows erected outside Parliament, and federal and state election campaigns where some people deployed violent and hateful rhetoric against trans and gender-diverse people.

Inquiry into Current and Proposed Sexual Consent Laws in Australia

This submission addresses the importance of reducing the prevalence of sexual violence, and the challenges and limitations of the criminal justice system in achieving that end. It sets out the extensive changes that have been made in the Victorian criminal justice system to prosecute sexual offending, especially consent based sexual offences like sexual assault and rape. This submission also deals with recent legislative amendments in Victoria that implement a model of affirmative consent which have been opposed by Liberty Victoria.

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The Meaning of ‘Recklessness’ in Victorian Criminal Law

Liberty Victoria has had the opportunity to consider the detailed submission of the Criminal Bar Association of Victoria (CBA), and we respectfully endorse it and its recommendations. In particular, we agree that

(1) The common law test for recklessness of probability, applied without issue in Victoria for the last 26 years, should not be changed;

(2) The current test is readily understood by juries, has not been shown to cause any issues following its long-standing application, and is accompanied by simple jury directions;

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The LIV, Liberty Victoria and Digital Rights Watch reiterate calls for MPs to respect patient autonomy in Health Sharing Bill

The LIV, Liberty Victoria and Digital Rights Watch call on members of the Legislative Council to respect patient autonomy to legislate for an opt-out provision to ensure that Victorians have the right to decide whether or not their medical information will be shared across public health services. 

The Health Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023 is currently before the Legislative Council.

The Human Source Management Bill 2023 (Vic)

Liberty Victoria opposes the Human Source Management Bill 2023 (Vic) in its current form.

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