About us
Our people
The ACT Human Rights Act (ACTHRA) Portal is maintained as a free public resource by the Law Reform and Social Justice Program based at the ANU College of Law.
A team of law students volunteer their time to monitor and report on cases and legislation involving the ACT Human Rights Act 2004. The law students' work is overseen by ANU College of Law faculty advisers Kevin Boreham, Wayne Morgan, Molly Townes O'Brien and Katie Young, and by pro bono lawyers in the Canberra office of the law firm Clayton Utz.
If you would like to volunteer to help maintain the ACTHRA Portal, or have any other queries about the Portal, please contact the Project Coordinator.
Our history
The ACTHRA Portal arose from two independent research projects:
- the ACT Human Rights Act (ACTHRA) research project – a 5-year joint venture between ANU and the ACT Government that was initiated in 2004 and was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council
- the ACT Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ACTESCR) research project – a 16-month joint project between ANU (together with the Australian Human Rights Centre at The University of New South Wales) and the ACT Government, that was initiated in 2009 and was supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council.
The database underpinning the ACTHRA Portal was established and subsequently maintained by the Centre for International Governance and Justice at RegNet, based in the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific. Public access to the database was initially provided via the former ACTHRA research project website. Management of the ACTHRA database and ACTHRA research project website was taken over in October 2010 by the Law Reform and Social Justice Program based at the ANU College of Law.
The ACTHRA Portal in its current form was designed so as to showcase and enhance public access to the ever-increasing cases and resources pertaining to the ACT Human Rights Act 2004. The Portal was designed and built by Web Developer Costanza Maffi for the Law Reform and Social Justice Program, assisted by funds provided by the ACT Human Rights Commission. It was launched in February 2012 and continues to be maintained by members of the Law Reform and Social Justice Program.
