In our submission NSWCCL raised concerns that criminal offences should remain a last resort given their impact on freedom of expression and the risk that police will use them to target people in discriminatory ways. 

NSWCCL has, for many years, maintained that Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) use should be addressed as a health and social rather than a legal issue. It therefore advocates the transfer of powers relating to drug use from the criminal justice system to the health system.

The Council also supports the policy of harm minimisation, rather than zero tolerance, in treatment of the effects of AOD, and more equitable access to safe and appropriate AOD services, including for priority populations in the National AOD strategy such as young people, First Nations communities, people in contact with the criminal justice system, and LGBTQI+ people.

2 October 2024

Dear Commissioner,

We write concerning your intention to apply to the Supreme Court for the prohibition of the holding of public assemblies by Palestine Action Group on 6 and 7 October. We strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to apply to the court and instead work with assembly organisers to facilitate the exercise of the democratic right of protest under the protections in the Summary Offences Act and in line with the government’s human rights obligations.

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) wholeheartedly supports the establishment of a Truth and Justice Commission to address injustices suffered by First Nations Peoples in Australia. The proposed Bill, currently before a Parliamentary Inquiry, represents a crucial step towards implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart—a document NSWCCL endorses in full.

The Truth and Justice Commission, as outlined in the Bill, will have investigative powers to examine historic and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations Peoples. Its primary aim is to provide recommendations to Parliament based on truth-telling about Australia's colonial history, paving the way for national reconciliation.  

The right to adequate housing as a fundamental human right is recognised under Australia’s international human rights obligations. All Australians should have access to adequate housing in fulfilment of their human rights. The human right to housing is also pivotal in ensuring the realisation of many other human rights.

NSWCCL supports the aims of the Bill which enshrines a human rights-based approach to housing in legislation. In Australia, the lack of a meaningful and well-informed national housing plan has undoubtedly contributed to the current housing crisis, placing millions of people under significant social and economic pressure. Home ownership affordability, an increasingly competitive rental market and stagnant public housing availability and poor housing accessibility for people living with disability are all by-products of this crisis.

Australia is a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightswhich provides that adequate housing is a human right. If climate change makes insurance for housing unaffordable or unavailable for more people, the fulfilment of this right is made even more difficult in the context of a housing system already in crisis.

Our governments, at all levels, need to act. The climate emergency is accelerating with breathtaking speed. The frightening frequency of climate-related disasters further validate the concerns of NSWCCL as we continue to advocate for more ambitious climate action.

Cannabis is criminalised in New South Wales (NSW) with use, possession, cultivation and supply being the key offences. Cannabis has long been the most widely used illicit drug in Australia. In 2022–2023, 11.5% of people in Australia had used cannabis in the previous 12 months, around 2.5 million people. In comparison, the next most common illicit drugs (cocaine and ecstasy) were used by around 3% of Australians.

Dear Prime Minister,

I write in my capacity as the President of the New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties, one of Australia’s leading human rights and civil liberties organisations. The Council is non-political, non-religious and non-sectarian. We are a Non-Government Organisation in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, by resolution 2006/221 (21 July 2006).

I have written to you on two earlier occasions on the issue of Australia’s position with respect to Palestine; including a joint letter issued with Liberty Victoria. To date, I have not received a response to the issues raised in those letters.

On this occasion I write in relation to the peaceful vigil that is being held outside your electorate office regarding the ongoing violence destroying the lives and futures of tens of thousands innocent civilians in Palestine.

We recognise this vigil as a legitimate exercise of democratic freedoms available in Australia. The vigil is noteworthy in that the organisers, their families and attendees are diverse in their religious beliefs and cultural heritage. Importantly, the organisers and many of the protestors live in your electorate – they are your constituents.

We understand that the primary purpose of the participants in the vigil is to achieve an occasion on which they can communicate directly to you, as their electoral representative and as Prime Minister of Australia, their views in relation to the events in Gaza and how they affect people in Australia.

Public confidence in our governmental and political institutions requires elected officials to engage with their constituents, particularly in relation to matters of international significance such as the current events in Palestine which directly affect so many people in Australia.  We strongly believe that an important part of a healthy democracy is constituent access to elected representatives. 

We are concerned that you are yet to meet with participants in the vigil and to give them the opportunity to share their concerns with you personally.

This could understandably be perceived as a breach of your obligations towards them and damaging to public confidence in Australia’s democracy.

We urge you to meet with your constituents and allow them to ventilate their concerns.

The Council remains available to you and your office if you require any further information with respect to the issues raised herein.

Yours faithfully,

Lydia Shelly

President

Read our letter here.

Dear Attorney General

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties joins our community in mourning the intolerable rates of women being murdered in Australia. Eleven women have been murdered in the month of April alone. In 2024, the rate of murdered women has doubled compared to this time last year.

The rising rate of domestic violence has not abated in NSW, even after new laws and tougher penalties were introduced over the past six years. We strongly believe that this scourge cannot be solved by expanding of police powers.  If we are to reduce the occurrence of these types of horrendous crimes, we must ensure that structural failures within our criminal justice system and our communities are appropriately understood, addressed and funded. Without appropriate resourcing and funding, laws are rendered impotent.

The NSWCCL recognises the importance of increasing the efficiency of jury empanelment, the provision of enhanced support for jurors to perform their role and reducing the expenditure of resources on trials that are ultimately aborted or result in hung juries. The NSWCCL also recognizes the validity of majority verdict legislation in criminal and coronial trials.

However, the NSWCCL is concerned that the proposed amendment to section 55F of the Jury Act 1977 (the Act) may compromise a jury’s ability to properly consider the guilt or innocence of an accused person, and that such a compromise is made in exchange for a speculative and nominal reduction in the expenditure of resources on trials and reduction in hung juries.

The NSWCCL is further concerned that the proposed amendment to section 73A(1) of the Act unnecessarily broadens the investigative power of the NSW Sheriff’s Office (Sheriff). The broadening of the investigative power is significant and not safeguarded or constrained by current legislation.