ACT Human Rights Act Research Project
The ACT Human Rights Act Research Project is a joint project of the ANU and the ACT Government, supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council. The project has been documenting the impact of Australia's first Bill of Rights - the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 - over its first five years of operation. The project was completed in July 2009: read our final report.
This website will continue to be updated to include up to date summaries of cases, news, publications and resources concerning the ACT Human Rights Act and the national debate about a bill of rights.
ACT Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Research Project
Protecting Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the ACT: models, methods and impact (the ‘ACT ESCR Project’) is a new joint project between the ANU (together with the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW) and the ACT Government, supported by a linkage grant from the Australian Research Council.
The project will assess whether the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 should be amended to include economic, social and cultural rights. Click here to learn more about the project.
Contact us:
phone:(+ 61 2) 6125 7103
fax: (+ 61 2) 6125 1507
email: acthra@anu.edu.au
Subscribe to our mailing list
Please follow this link if you would like to subscribe to our email list for updates on cases and developments under the ACT Human Rights Act, and news on bills of rights issues throughout Australia. New subscriptions are subject to moderator approval, and this may take a couple of days, so we appreciate your patience.
What's New on the Site?
Most Recent Cases added to our Database
Latest media reports in our News section
November 2009
- Religious freedom under attack: Pell [pdf], The Australian, 21 November 2009 [word]
- Common-sense overboard [pdf], The Australian, 21 November 2009 [word]
- It's not just cricket, your Honours [pdf], The Courieir-Mail, 21 November 2009 [word]
- Taxi fear 'reasonable' Passengers vulnerable, says SC opposing killer's licence [pdf], Herald Sun, 20 November 2009 [word]
- Hysteria revisited: 25 years later the world still spins [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 November 2009 [word]
- Cloak falls from the dialogue model [pdf], The Australian, 20 November 2009 [word]
- Poor downtrodden blokes need a holiday with the girls [pdf], The Age, 19 November 2009 [word]
- Women-only trips breach male rights [pdf], Herald Sun, 18 November 2009 [word]
- Anger as crime assets unfrozen [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 2009 [word]
- League tables law is simply rank [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 November 2009 [word]
- Geoffrey Robertson Comment Bill of Rights [pdf], The Monthly, November 2009 [pdf only]
- Finally, a decision based on common sense [pdf], The Mercury, 16 November 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - charter of rights [pdf], Canberra Times, 14 November 2009 [word]
- Overcome populist fear with sanity from judges and a charter of rights [pdf], Canberra Times, 14 November 2009 [word]
- Storm over torture evidence proposal [pdf], The Australian, 13 November 2009 [word]
- Mentally ill are badly handled, report finds [pdf], The Age, 12 November 2009 [word]
- Turn left for a values makeover [pdf] The Australian, 7 November 2009 [word]
- Ten years on, Republic rivals maintain the rage [pdf], Sydney Morning Herald, 6 November 2009 [word]
- One lazy argument against a Bill of Rights lacks judgement [pdf], Canberra Times, 4 November 2009 [word]
- Withnell says nighclub ban 'like a life sentence' [pdf], The West Australian, 3 November 2009 [word]
- Opinion: Ten years on, Republic's a long way off [pdf], The Advertiser, 3 November 2009 [word]
- Court delays leave alleged criminals stuck behind bars [pdf], Canberra Times, 2 Noveember 2009 [word]
October 2009
- Sickness that curbs religious freedom [pdf], The Australian, 31 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - not much to worry about [pdf], The Australian, 31 October 2009 [word]
- Charter of rights will rule [pdf], The Australian, 30 October 2009 [word]
- Britain delivers lesson in dangers of freedom lost [pdf], The Australian, 30 October 2009 [word]
- Lawyers blink at prison eye scans [pdf], Canberra Times, 30 October 2009 [word]
- Prejudice - Secular Pollies [pdf], The Australian, 30 October 2009 [word]
- Parties' prayer: a state of grace [pdf], Canberra Times, 29 October 2009 [word]
- Gallagher, Pell row over plans to buy Calvary [pdf], Canberra Times, 29 October 2009 [word]
- Rights threat to religious tolerance [pdf], The Australian, 28 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - Bill of rights [pdf], Canberra Times, 27 October 2009 [word]
- Costello takes parting shot at Howard 'Tragedy', Northern Territory News, 25 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - Rights and religion [pdf], The Australian, 24 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights 'flood' wrong [pdf], Australian Financial Review, 23 October 2009 [word]
- Clergy unite over charter [pdf], The Australian, 23 October 2009 [word]
- Prejudice - Defending Religion [pdf], The Australian, 23 October 2009 [word]
- Ideology dressed up as social justice [pdf], The Australian, 23 October 2009 [word]
- Charter 'would shift balance' between executive, judiciary [pdf], The Australian, 23 October 2009 [word]
- Call for human rights legislation [pdf], The Age, 22 October 2009 [word]
- No boozing or bed hopping, please [pdf] The Age 22 October 2009 [word]
- Getting around transport hitches [pdf], The Canberra Times, 22 October 2009 [word]
- Kirby slams charter critics, says activism well-judged [pdf], The Australian, 22 October 2009 [word]
- The people have spoken - and they want protection [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights can thrive alongside national values [pdf], The Australian, 21 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - no retreat on human rights (letter by Frank Brennan) [pdf], The Australian, 19 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights plea [pdf], The Advertiser, 19 October 2009 [word]
- Lawyers seek a leash on state watchdog [pdf], Sunday Age, 18 October 2009 [word]
- Charter plan changes again [pdf], The Australian, 16 October 2009 [word]
- Second retreat on law dilemma [pdf], The Australian, 16 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - rights debate [pdf] , The Australian, 16 October 2009 [word]
- A bad benchmark for law [pdf], The Australian, 16 October 2009 [word]
- Problems in 'back-door' bill of rights (Abstract only) [pdf], The Australian Financial Review, 16 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - forget semantics, these people are que jumpers[pdf], The Australian, 15 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights proposal 'no picnics for lawyers' [pdf], The Canberra Times, 15 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights pressure [pdf], The Australian FInancial Review, 15 Octoober 2009 [word]
- Human rights consultation and beyond [pdf], Eureka Street, 14 October 2009 [word]
- Power to the hi-tech [pdf], The Australian, 14 October 2009 [word]
- Your say - bill of rights [pdf] , The Daily Telegraph, 14 October 2009 [word]
- No hiding substantive untruths behind human rights platitudes [pdf], The Australian, 14 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - 'compatibility' legislation on rights is a toothless tiger [pdf], The Australian, 14 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights record slammed [pdf], The Canberra Times, 14 October 2009 [word]
- Battalion of lawyers offer no cost-benefit [pdf], The Australian, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - charter of rights [pdf], The Australian, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Casting evil out of politics [pdf], The Daily Telegraph, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Big aims in democratic desires [pdf] , The Canberra Times, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Right way hard to judge [pdf], The Mercury, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Callinan warns of charter power [pdf], The Australian, 12 October 2009 [word]
- Rights overkill isn't the majority view [pdf], The Australian, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Legal win for refugee families [pdf] , The Age, 13 October 2009 [word]
- Bill of rights can curb excesses [pdf], The Canberra Times, 12 October 2009 [word]
- Learning to talk across the trenches [pdf], The Age, 10 October 2009 [word]
- It's time this country set matters to rights [pdf] , The Age, 10 October 2009 [word]
- A bill of rights would rewrite the rules [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2009 [word]
- Case still to be made on the need for a bill of rights [pdf], The West Austraian, 10 October 2009 [word]
- Charter a recipe for chaos - 'Enormous problems' [pdf] , The Australian, 10 0ctober 2009 [word]
- Bill of rights desireable but not urgent: votes [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2009 [word]
- Thousands of viewpoints on protecting individuals [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 October 2009 [word]
- The SMHs Richard Ackland accepts the egg gracefully [pdf], The Australian, 10 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - human rights act victory for the disadvantaged [pdf], The Australian, 10 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights report poisoned chalice [pdf], The Australian, 10 October 2009 [word]
- Rights act would bind us to a fairer go for all [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Just the bill for lawyers [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Rights and wrongs [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Give courts power to rule on human rights [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Dispute ahead over charter [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Battle looming on rights - Commttee backs Act, role for courts [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Call for a charter based on stitch-up [pdf], The Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights model could follow ACT [pdf], Canberra Times, 9 October 2009 [word]
- A clear voice crying for dignity for our fellow human beings [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Egg in your face to be so satisfying [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights act promises a 'fair go' [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights act would give Canberra final say [pdf], The Age, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Call for a federal human rights act (abstract only)[pdf], The Australian Financial Review, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Charter of rights for Oz [pdf], The Northern Territory News, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Bill of rights will clog the courts: Libs [pdf], The West Australian, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Rights bill slammed [pdf], The Daily Telegraph, 9 October 2009 [word]
- Nation should have a human rights act: report [pdf], The Australian, 8 October 2009 [word]
- Bill of rights would be wrong (abstract only) [pdf], Austrailan Financial Review, 8 October 2009 [word]
- Human rights should be valued as highly as the Anzac spirit [pdf], theage.com.au, 7 October 2009 [word]
- Letters to the editor - rights charter unnecessary [pdf], Herald Sun, 5 October 2009 [word]
- Council law costs state $165,000 [pdf], The Age, 5 October 2009 [word]
- Balancing religion and rights [pdf], Sunday Age, 4 October 2009 [word]
- No time to be a timid little nation [pdf], The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 October 2009 [word]
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Spotlight
Spotlight Archive
Final Report of the National Human Rights Consultation Committee released by Attorney-General Robert McClelland
8 October 2009
National Human Rights Consultation Committee submitted final report to Attorney-General Robert McClelland
30 September 2009
Professor Hilary Charlesworth interviewed by the CAPPE Public Ethics Radio on 'Human Rights Protection and Bills of Rights'
28 September 2009
Major Victorian Charter Case handed down: The Victorian Supreme Court reads
down coercive powers legislation to ensure compatibility with self-incrimination rights
24 September 2009
The ACTHRA Project's final report - 'The Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT): The First Five Years of Operation' - has been tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
19 August 2009
Selection of speeches given at the National Human Rights Consultation Public Hearings at Parliament House, 1-3 July 2009 available here
8 August 2009
Selection of key submissions to the National Human Rights Consultation available here
31 July 2009
Presentation given at RegNet by Justice Yvonne Mokgoro of the South African Constitutional Court on: 'The Role of Legislation and Courts in Promoting Socio-Economic Rights: the South African experience". (audio file available here)
24 July 2009
ACTHRA Submission to the National Human Rights Consultation
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