Australia’s decision in November 2022 to prioritise Myanmar nationals for humanitarian visas sends a clear signal that Australia recognises the humanitarian disaster in post-coup Myanmar and we welcome this decision. However, we believe the Australian Government should seize this moment to also include the Rohingya in this arrangement.

MEDIA STATEMENT - Issued in partnership with National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement South Australia, Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (QLD) Ltd, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) around Australia are calling on the federal government to deliver a $250 million emergency support package to prevent imminent service freezes and unjust incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

At the frontline, certain service locations in regional Australia face freezes within four weeks. A dramatic increase in service freezes can only be prevented or reversed with additional core funding from the Commonwealth.

The interim economic inclusion committee has recently released a report that sets out the catastrophic impact that the current rate of the jobseeker payment has had on many Australians. Currently, only $50 a day is payable to a single individual, which is two-thirds of the single rate of age pension. This is completely unsustainable for anyone living in modern Australia.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties committee member Stephen Blanks yesterday told a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in regard to The Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of Nazi Symbols) Bill 2023 (the Bill) that the legislation didn’t “go to the heart of the problem”.

Mr Blanks argued criminal law was only one of the required tools to prevent Nazi ideology and wouldn’t be enough on its own. Freedom of expression does not give licence to individuals to engage in expression which engenders hate and incites violence. He said the proposed legislation must iron out any doubts over people who might be displaying Nazy symbols for educational purposes or other reasons who weren’t about promoting hateful ideology.

NSW Council for Civil Liberties President, Josh Pallas, appeared before the Senate Committee on Education and Employment Legislation yesterday. The Bills being considered are sponsored by Senators Pauline Hanson and Matt Canavan. They suggest that States should not be able to restrict freedom of movement from State to State of any Australian citizen and they suggest that employers should not be able to ask an employee to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

In our view, the Bills in question, unreasonably and disproportionately protect the unvaccinated at the expense of the rights of other members of the community. Based on the generally accepted medical science, the Bills are incompatible with human rights.

Australia’s domestic intelligence agency Asio has welcomed a Coalition bill to ban Nazi symbols including the Sieg Heil salute, telling a parliamentary inquiry it would help prevent recruitment and radicalisation by far-right extremists.

The Victorian Government announced thay would implement a ban of the salute after a group of men from the National Socialist Network repeatedly performed the salute on the steps of Victoria’s parliament last month. This prompted shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash to introduce a federal bill. 

The Australian government has agreed to release the full findings of the Double Six tragedy where a Nomad N-22B aircraft crashed and killed 11 people in 1976.

Australia's Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Sydney yesterday decided to allow the release in its entirety of Australia's reports on the tragedy. This followed a request made to National Archives of Australia (NAA) by the former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh.

The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee (Committee) in regard to the administration of the referendum into an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice (Referendum).

NSWCCL's submission focuses on key issues relating to the disenfranchisement of First Nations people, misinformation and disinformation, and the ongoing integrity and assurance process of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

We support the Voice as an enactment of the Uluru Statement of the Heart, and the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Australia. We submit that the proposed wording is appropriate and should be put to the Australian people in its current form.

Whilst this Inquiry is based on the wording of the proposed amendment, we observe that many submissions provided are more concerned with the concept of the Voice, laced with unfounded fears and scaremongering, akin to those upon the introduction of the Native Title Act 1993.[1] In our submission, we call on the Committee to consider such submissions in that light.

The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in regard to The Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of Nazi Symbols) Bill 2023 (the Bill).

Freedom of expression does not give licence to individuals to engage in expression which engenders hate and incites violence. To that end, we support the principles underpinning the bill. However, the council believes it is the promotion of Nazi ideology which should be criminalised. To the extent that this Bill falls short of that objective, it is inadequate.  It seeks to criminalise only one aspect of the promotion of Nazi ideology – the display of Nazi symbols.  That does not go to the heart of the problem.  Careful consideration of how to prevent the promotion of Nazi ideology is required – the criminal law is only one of the required tools; other tools are required – education, engagement, diversion – and the criminalised conduct should be the core of the offensive conduct, not a superficial aspect.