It is often said by those who oppose a federal Human Rights Act that there is no need for one. They argue that the human rights of Australians are more than adequately protected by the common law and statute. Anyone remaining of that view will be hard pressed to retain it should they read the comprehensive report on the subject prepared by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) entitled ‘Traditional Rights and Freedoms: Encroachments by Commonwealth Law’ (December 2015).
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Tue, 11/07/2023 - 10:29
Liberty Victoria is strongly opposed to the Human Source Management Act 2023 (Vic). We are committed to its repeal. We are also deeply concerned by the closure of the Office of the Special Investigator.
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Wed, 07/06/2023 - 10:26
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.
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.
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.
Submitted by Liberty Victoria on Mon, 20/03/2023 - 09:56
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.
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.