Human Rights - Civil Liberties Australia

Reining in the ’national security’ secrecy claims in courts

29 April 2021 29 April 2021

Not very long ago, a secret prisoner was discovered quite by chance in the ACT jail (even the ACT Prisons/Justice Minister did not know he was there). The prisoner, given the pseudonym ‘Alan Johns’, was a victim of being tried in secret under “national security” legislation. The laws that enable that abuse of his rights, and the rights of all Australians to know what happens in the courts, is now under detailed scrutiny by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Grant Donaldson. Here is CLA’s submission (authored by VP Rajan Venkataraman) to the process, and the separate sub of CLA member Kathryn Kelly also.

Secret files held secretly is vigilantism and a nether world of justice

25 March 2021 25 March 2021

It has been reported that NSW police are accepting secret reports of sexual assault in a dangerous new type of vigilantism. Asked to comment verbally by the media, Civil Liberties Australia chose to put our concerns in writing. Here is our statement.

Dutton’s mantra: ‘Identify and Disrupt’ civil liberties and rights

17 March 2021 18 March 2021

Under Home Affairs Minister Dutton, the government’s security laws are getting harsher, the crackdown harder; privacy and rights are shrinking as freedoms dwindle.

Mandatory C19 vaccination: ethical shot in the dark?

13 March 2021 13 March 2021

What are the drivers behind the Covid-a9 vaccinations, its priority delivery, the seeking of herd immunity…and whether the vaccine must be made mandatory? In a special cooperative project, CLA and its expert members helped a team of students work through the dilemmas to produce a thought-provoking paper.

Masks inflame passionate response…’Covid is a hoax’

3 January 2021 3 January 2021

As a reminder that there are lots of diverse viewpoints about the dangers of Covid-19, here’s an excerpt from an email received by Civil Liberties Australia after we made a one-paragraph comment in the Sydney Morning Herald on face mask wearing during a virus pandemic. Civil liberties and human rights are always about the sometimes difficult weighing one person’s freedom with another person’s, or group’s, rights…frequently on the fulcrum of responsibility.

Brewery party! But don’t ask ASIO to organise it

7 October 2020 26 December 2020

Longtime security shenanigans observer, Jack Waterford, says giving executive power to ASIO was a big mistake, and exposes the hypocrisy of its recent claim to be offended by critical comments in relation to its China briefings, which compromise our diplomatic efforts.