The fight for democratic voting rights is not confined to the Middle East: Australians living in the Territories want them too. Imagine if laws passed by the Australian Parliament could be overturned by the UN Secretary-General, or by a UN vote…ordina…
Staff and funding cutbacks severely weakening the Australian Law Reform Commission were the tip of an iceberg, showing what had happened to most similar bodies, CLA has told a Senate inquiry. Tens of billions had been spent on police, security and surv…
Without a Bill of Rights, the Australian Law Reform Commission is one of the pillars safeguarding Australia’s civil liberties, CLA has told a Senate inquiry. It should receive more staff and funding, and its independence should be publicly re-emphasised…
The proposed new Parliamentary Budget Office, to cost project proposals from members and parties, should not be introduced on the cheap, CLA says. It needs ample quality staff, excellent funding and true independence from political interference, we’ve s…
Wouldn’t it be good if, on Australia Day, PM Julia Gillard spoke out in support of the right to freedom of speech of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks? If she spoke up, it would prove the accuracy of Michael’s Parkinson’s Australia Day comment that he had se…
As a new Victorian Government takes office, there are worrying signs that it will try to wind back the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities legislated in 2006. CLA has joined 73 national and state organisations to lobby new Attorney-General Robert Cla…
The Attorney-General’s proposal to change the bail and magistrate court rules in the ACT would further erode fundamental human rights in the Territory, CLA has told him. What is needed is correcting a shortage of judges and fixing an inefficient courts…
The processes of an almost ‘secret’ Senate Select Committee on Reform of the Australian Federation (SCRAF) should re-start completely, CLA says. SCRAF’s inquiry was totally swamped by the August 2010 federal election: the questions asked of the committee…
Cyber-safety comes down to trusting parents to choose for themselves how much educating and monitoring is right for individual children in relation to web browsing (and bullying and other youth concerns), CLA says. The Australian Government’s role is to…