Submission: Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024
We recommend that the Government bins this repugnant bill and we urge all of our members to take a vocal, immediate stand against it. It attempts to legitimate the exclusion, detention, and criminalisation of people based on where they are born. The NSWCCL recommends that the Government reconsider its approach to legislating on this issue and engage in a more transparent and consultative process reflective of the importance of the fundamental principles of democracy including the separation of powers and rule of law.
Read moreSubmission: COVID 19 Royal Commission
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) has submitted a statement to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee regarding the proposed COVID-19 Royal Commission. We highlighted existing efforts by a three-member panel appointed in 2023 to inquire into the government's response to COVID-19 and emphasized the need to prevent duplicative work. We recommended considering alternative methods to address misinformation without the need for a Royal Commission.
Read moreSubmission: Right wing extremist movements in Australia
The Council notes the concerningly growing threat of violent right wing extremism both overseas and in Australia, as well as the major impact of the online environment in radicalising young people towards extremist behaviour. There have been many incidents of right wing terrorist attacks which have caused large death tolls in Western countries. If not properly addressed, the spread of hateful and xenophobic far-right ideology will discernibly continue to threaten democracy, the rule of law and safety of citizens.
Read moreSubmission: Public Consultation on Doxxing and Privacy Reforms
The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties provides this submission with a view to highlighting the inadequacies of the multi-pronged approach to combatting doxxing, which contextualises the need for a statutory tort for invasions of privacy.
Read moreSubmission: Jury Amendment Bill 2023
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 recognises 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 to 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 Sherriff’s Office (Sherriff). The broadening of the investigative power is significant and not safeguarded or constrained by current legislation.
Read moreSubmission: Access to Australian Parliament House by lobbyists
At present in Australia we rely on a public lobbyist Register and a Code of Conduct that does not cover the majority of lobbyists. Third party, or commercial lobbyists are paid professionals who are engaged by clients to make representations to influence public officials on their behalf, while in-house lobbyists are those that seek to influence public officials on behalf of their employer. Industries hire professional in-house lobbyists and former politicians for their connections, paying fees well outside the budget of non-corporate actors. This is simply NOT good enough!
Fossil fuel industry lobbyists have included former Liberal Party, National Party and ALP ministers. We know that lobbying by the fossil fuel industry to hinder effective climate action has been successful in slowing down Australia’s response to the Climate Crisis. Recent history shows us that relentless lobbying knocked out Australia’s chance to have an effective emissions trading scheme, a mining tax and price on carbon. If the halls of Parliament are saturated by industry lobbyists and not counterbalanced by community voices, politicians’ views will be skewed to favour industry.
Safeguarding our democracy from the pressures of big money and big influence will improve the functioning of government and ensure that political outcomes are in the public’s best interests. The Australian public deserve those who they have elected to serve their interests – and their interests alone.
Australians are at risk of further losing faith and trust in our civil institutions, our political institutions and our elected politicians if Governments do not embrace transparency and accountability advocated in our submission.
Read moreSubmission: Inquiry into the administration of the 2023 NSW state election & other matters
Misinformation and disinformation in political advertising is a widespread problem in Australia. We think, that NSW should have truth in political advertising laws for NSW state elections and believe that such laws would enhance the integrity and transparency of the electoral system. Misleading political advertising can cause serious societal harms including:
- the erosion of trust in democratic processes;
- the weakening of trust between and among public and private entities;
- the weakening legitimacy of the social contract between voters and elected representatives; and
- the undermining of an informed populace.
In our submission to Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (Committee) regarding the administration of the 2023 NSW state election and other matters. We express views in respect of:
- political donations from property developers, including through shell companies and charities;
- truth in political advertising;
- the timeliness of political donation disclosures; and
- electoral participation and enfranchisement, particularly regarding imprisoned persons and people living with disability.
Read our submission here.
Submission: Future foundations for giving draft report
NSWCCL endorses the draft recommendations of the Commission which will bring reforms to the Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) system, making it more transparent, simpler, fairer and more consistent. The current DGR system is complex legislation and operates under outdated categories that do not capture the diversity of modern Australian charities. In our submission we comment specifically on areas that require further action to ensure a more democratic process and that align more consistently with civil rights. Our submission also concentrates on the system that determines which entities in Australia can receive tax deductable donations rather than tax incentives encouraging donation.
Read moreSubmission: Review of the amendments made by the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Bill 2023
The Bill was introduced into Parliament on 29 November 2023, and was passed by both Houses on 6 December 2023. Now in force as the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Act 2023 (Act), it has repealed and replaced provisions of Subdivision C of Division 3 of Part 2 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
This Bill should have been referred to the PJCIS to allow proper scrutiny before, not after, the Bill passed. This legislation was rushed through both the House and the Senate with very limited consultation, no exposure drafts and very short notice. In our view, no clear or adequate justification has been given for this rushed process.
In 2015, in a highly politicised environment, where there was very little nuanced public debate regarding national security, the Australian government added citizenship revocation on terrorism-related grounds (citizenship stripping) into the Australian Citizenship Act. Citizenship revocation was introduced to both dissuade disaffected people from committing acts of terrorism, as well as addressing the anticipated risks that individuals who had been convicted of terrorism related offences may pose to the community upon their release.
Read moreSubmission: Division 3 of Part III of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979
The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties considers that the powers contained in Division 3 of Part III of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 (Cth) (Division 3) disproportionately infringe on fundamental civil liberties, create a serious threat to the rule of law in Australia, and moreover, no longer have the utility which precipitated their creation. The NSWCCL submits that Division 3 should be repealed in full.
The Division 3 powers, when introduced, were cast as a transient response to an exceptional set of events, as a response to the perceived terrorism threat following the 9/11 attacks. However, more than two decades on, and what were once powers of unprecedented and exceptional reach, are now a permanent feature of Australia’s legal landscape. Given the reduction in the threat of terrorism, coupled with the fact that Division 3 powers have rarely been utilised, the powers given to Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) under Division 3 are now well beyond the scope of what is reasonably necessary. They overstep intelligence collection and veer into investigatory powers that are properly the purvey of law enforcement agencies.
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