NSW Charter of Human Rights

The NSW Charter Group has made a submission to the National Consultation of Human Rights protection.   Human Rights Protection for all

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) on behalf of the NSW Charter Group is holding a video competition based on the theme - “Why Australia needs Human Rights Protection”.

The theme reinforces the vision of the Declaration as a commitment to universal dignity and justice, and reinforces how the protection of human rights in Australia is essential to the ongoing vision of the Declaration.

We are looking for videos that reflect the theme of the competition and provide a unique approach to a human rights subject.  For some, the video will record a moment where a human right was protected, for others it may be an observation of what human rights means to you as an Australian.

Send in your entries and our judging panel will choose a Winner and Highly Commended entry.

The entries of the winner, runner up and those that are specially commended and short-listed will be accessed through the NSW Charter Group and its members’ websites.

Prizes

The winner will receive an award to the value of $800.  The runner-up will receive a prize to the value of $200.  The winner, runner-up and those who are specially commended will all receive a certificate of achievement and will be advised by phone and mail by 28 April 2009.

The NSW Charter Group and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre thank the sponsors for providing excellent prizes.

To enter the competition or to find out more information go to:   http://www.piac.asn.au/news/Competition.html

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the International Declaration on Human Rights, the NSW Charter Group is launching a competition for the best film under two minutes that illustrates why Australia needs human rights protection. Several organisations have already donated cash prizes. The larger the prize the more entrants we can attract. Please contact Brenda (brenda@piac.asn.au) if you would like to contribute to the pool or sponsor a prize for a specific target group (for example a prize for young entrants under 18). More information on how to enter will follow.

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1948)

(60 years on - has the golden thread of human rights unravelled?)

Thursday 27 November, 2008 @ 6 for 6.30 pm

THAT!(The Talking Heads at Toxteth) panellists are:

JOHN DOWD                    Former State Attorney-General and Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, International Commission of Jurists (President)            

STUART REES                   Director, Sydney Peace Foundation and

                                         Internationalist 

ED SANTOW                     Senior Lecturer in Law, UNSW and Director,

                                         Charter of Human Rights Project, Gilbert & Tobin

                                         Center (sic) of Public Law

THAT!  AUDIENCE            Discussion encouraged– so come prepared

NOTE:   Also attached to the covering email is a Motion for an Australian Charter of Human Rights (drafted by Prof. George Williams) – this Motion will be put (without amendment) to the Meeting.   If you wish to fully participate in this session google, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

VIEWER ADVICE:  This session is rated LLR for laws, liberties & rights

The venue is the upstairs function room of the Toxteth Hotel, 345 Glebe Point Road, Glebe (cnr Ferry Road)

 Senior & Pensioner discounts available at Bar but not for sessions – see Donation below for others

Join us for dinner after for a “buy one get one free” meal deal

DINNER RESERVATIONS ESSENTIAL  -  see Inquiries below

Donation:   $10   –    FREE  for Benefits recipients, full-time students, unwaged                 

Convenors:      Kate Barton,  Alexandra Penfold,  Helen Randerson

Inquiries:         katebarton3@optusnet.com.au   or  Tel:    9518.5560

The Inaugural Evatt Annual Lecture will be presented by the Attorney-General, The Hon. Robert McClelland MP on the topic, ‘Getting into Gear for the next 60 years‘.

When: Tuesday 9 December 2008

Time:  6.30 - 7.30pm

Where:  Eastern Avenue Auditorium, University of Sydney

Cost:   Free - RSVP:  admin@evatt.usyd.edu.au or 02 8090 1170

The Australian Human Rights Commission is pleased to present the fifth of
its seminar series celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, entitled ‘Human Rights, Equality and
Fundamental Freedoms: What Difference does a Human Rights Act Make?’.

To present the seminar, we are delighted to have Lord Bingham of Cornhill,
pre-eminent human rights jurist and former Senior Law Lord of the House of
Lords, the highest judicial office in the United Kingdom. His influential
rulings under UK and European human rights law have been significant to the
promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The newly appointed President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, The
Hon. Catherine Branson QC, will provide a response to the presentation of
Lord Bingham with particular focus on human rights protection in Australia.

The seminar will be chaired by Graeme Innes AM, Human Rights Commissioner
and Disability Discrimination Commissioner.

The Seminar will take place on Thursday, 11 December from 12.30-2.00pm at:

The Hearing Room
Level 8
Australian Human Rights Commission.
Level 8, Piccadilly Tower
133 Castlereagh Street
Sydney NSW  2000

Entry is free but places are limited. Please RSVP to
associate@humanrights.gov.au by close of business Friday, 28 November.

Friday 29 August 2008 and

Friday 10 October 2008

Both in the Sydney CBD.  Download flyer: Protecting Human Rights - train the trainer for more information

Hilary Charlesworth is an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow, Professor in RegNet and Director of the Centre for International Governance and Justice, ANU. She also holds an appointment as Professor of International Law and Human Rights in the ANU College of Law. Her research interests are in international law and human rights law. She was the inaugural President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law (1997-2001).

Hilary Charlesworth was Co-Editor of the Australian Yearbook of International Law from 1996 to 2006 and a member of the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law since 1999. She has worked with various non-governmental human rights organisations on ways to implement international human rights standards and was chair of the ACT Government’s inquiry into an ACT bill of rights, which culminated in the adoption of the ACT Human Rights Act 2004. She is Patron of the ACT Women’s Legal Service and a patron of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture.

WHEN: Monday 21 July, 2008 - 5.30 for 6.00pm

WHERE: Corr Chambers Westgarth, Level 32, Governor Phillip Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney

TO BOOK: (02) 9252.3366 or mail@thesydneyinstitute.com.au

Article by George Williams and Nicola McGarrity in the Sydney Morning Herald, July 16, 2008:

The protesters have won this round. Next time they are not likely to be so fortunate. The Federal Court decision illuminates the fragile nature of freedom of speech in Australia. The right deserves better protection than the legal presumption that Parliament does not intend to breach the right unless it sets this out in clear terms. It is long past time that such an important freedom was safeguarded in a national charter of human rights.  full article

Dr. Lesley Cannold, Sun Herald, 13 July 2008.

YOU might think I am the sort of person who has always favoured a charter of human rights, but it isn’t so.

Having come of age in America, I had seen first-hand the social ructions caused by the Supreme Court’s invalidation of laws that violated the bill of rights. I watched my country struggle to come to terms with that court’s banning of unconstitutional racially segregated schools, its upholding of the separation of church and state and its striking down of laws banning abortion.

In principle I agreed with each one of these decisions, yet as a new migrant to Australia in the early 1990s I thought this nation’s more incrementalist approach to social change had much to commend it …. Don’t trust politicians with your human rights