Rights and Freedoms
State and federal governments should reform laws that make offensive acts unlawful and refocus them on protecting free speech and stopping workplace and public harassment. This week a news story broke about a complaint made under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by a Queensland University...
Rights and Freedoms
Daryush "Roosh" Valizadeh鈥檚 freedom of speech won鈥檛 be suppressed if the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, denies him a visa. In the past few days there have been increasing calls on the Federal Government to block so-called 鈥榥eo-masculinist鈥 Valizadeh from entering Australia. Outraged politicians...
Race Discrimination
In October 1975, at a ceremony for the proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described the legislation as 鈥榓 historic measure鈥, which aimed to 鈥榚ntrench new attitudes of tolerance and understanding in the hearts and minds of the people鈥.(1) The Act was...
Rights and Freedoms
Charlie Hebdo would have risked being censored by the courts, but self-censorship is the reality of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Rights and Freedoms
The Abbott government should correct the festering sores of 35P of National Security Legislation and 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act together. Since the passage of Section 35P of the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill a number of journalists have decried the threat to free speech of...
Rights and Freedoms
In an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald, Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson says this week's Free Speech Symposium, together with the Prime Minister's decision not to proceed with changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, marks the beginning of a national conversation about free speech. V...
The legacy of Ian Thorpe鈥檚 鈥渃oming out鈥 is whether corporate Australia will dispel the myth that it won鈥檛 support gay and lesbian Australians reaching their full potential, says Human Rights Commissioner, Tim Wilson, in an opinion piece first published in The Australian. Ian Thorpe won the...
Rights and Freedoms
Before anyone screams "free speech", they should actually know what they are talking about. Earlier this week the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet released new social media protocols. The protocols limit the capacity of public servants to make statements that are "harsh or extreme in their...
Rights and Freedoms
THE proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act provide the basis for correcting the legal limits of free speech, 颅promoting pluralism, opposing reprehensible racism and highlighting the importance of 颅responsibility. Arguably the most important change is assessing an 18C violation based on...
Rights and Freedoms
Responsibility, anti-discrimination laws, human rights and freedoms - these words have been at the center of an ideological debate about how to protect fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom from detention without trial. But if we are serious about...
Rights and Freedoms
Freedom of speech is alive and well in Australia but, with respect to Voltaire, we will not defend to the death those who abuse this right by vilifying others in public on the ground of race.
Rights and Freedoms
The 黑料情报站 has this week lodged its submission with the National Human Rights Consultation, recommending that Australia implements a human rights act.
Commission - General
Predictably, opponents of a human rights act reacted swiftly to Mr McHugh's comments, misrepresenting concerns about specific aspects of one model of a human rights act as a reason to reject any such act.
Rights and Freedoms
Australia is a great country to live in 鈥 for most of us most of the time. We don鈥檛 suffer the terrible poverty witnessed in some parts of the world, our judicial system works well by international standards and most of us can vote in elections by secret ballot. Most of us can live pretty safely, say what we like most of the time and, if we are so inclined, practise our faith in peace. Most of us have access to decent education and health services.
Disability Rights
The Disability Discrimination Act Seven Years On: Have We Had The Good Years Or Are They Still To Come? Graeme Innes AM Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Pathways Conference,Canberra 6 December 2000 Some people say that the hardest part of...
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