Amnesty International Australia has submitted to the New South Wales Legislative Council’s Portfolio Committee No.3 – Education’s inquiry into the Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020. If this bill was to be passed, trans and gender diverse children in New South Wales will be harmed. Trans and gender diverse children and young people exist. …
Author Archives: Joel MacKay
Amnesty urges bold action to clean up the battery industry
Ensuring clean and green battery supply chains must be a priority for businesses and governments during the post-pandemic recovery. Amnesty International has published a set of principles for ensuring that lithium-ion batteries, which power electric vehicles and many electronic devices, and which are essential for tackling climate change, are not linked to human rights abuses or environmental harm. Previous Amnesty International research exposed how cobalt mined by children in the DRC could be …
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Amnesty tells Australian government to ‘speak out’ about India
The Indian government must stop its escalating crackdown on protesters, farming leaders and journalists, amid ongoing nationwide demonstrations against three recently introduced farm laws. Amnesty International is concerned that rather than investigating reports of violence against protesters and bringing suspected perpetrators to justice, the authorities have resorted to hindering access to protest sites, shutting down …
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Backtrack Boys Education Resources
BackTrack is a community based not-for-profit organisation helping young people who are having a hard time, get back on track. The program works with young people that find themselves hanging around in parks, stealing for food, sleeping on the streets, and running into trouble with the police. These young people are on a path to …
Indonesian authorities must end cruel and inhuman punishment of LGBTQIA+ community
In the Indonesian province of Aceh, authorities conducted at least 60 public floggings against 254 LGBTQIA+ people in 2020, 52 of which were conducted after the COVID-19 outbreak started. We can’t stand by and allow the LGBTQIA+ community to be targeted like this. On Thursday 28 January 2021, two men were flogged in public for …
Proposed Alice Springs youth curfew will not go ahead: Minister Manison
In response to a motion passed by the Alice Springs Town Council, Amnesty International Australia wrote to the Northern Territory Police Minister, Nicole Manison, asking her to intervene and ensure that a curfew did not go ahead. Amnesty International Australia argued that a curfew on children and young people will only entrench cycles of disadvantage, …
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Navalny’s arrest and detention warrants a global response
Russian politician and anti-corruption activist Aleksei Navalny was arrested on 17 January 2021 after arriving from Germany at Sheremetyevo airport and remanded in custody for 30 days. His arrest and detention are arbitrary and politically motivated. Navalny is a prominent and vocal government critic. Like many others in Russia, he has been arbitrarily targeted and …
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Submission: 2021-22 Pre-Budget Submissions
In November 2020 the Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer called for submissions from individuals, businesses and community groups on their views regarding priorities for the 2021-22 Budget. Amnesty International has made a submission, with two focuses: highlighting the protection of refugees and asylum seekers as an area for serious consideration in planning Federal Budget …
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Human rights must be at the centre of the Malaysia-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
The Australian government entered into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Malaysia on the 27th of January 2021. This is an elevation to the ‘strategic partnership’ that began in 2015. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin agreed the Partnership will be underpinned by three areas of cooperation: economic prosperity; society and technology; …
Australian government to “encourage” Hungary to uphold human rights
In December 2020, Amnesty International Australia wrote to Foreign Minister Marise Payne, asking her to pressure the Hungarian government to drop its plans to ban LGBTQI people from adopting children. Amnesty International is concerned that the (now adopted) measures would further undermine the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people, including right …
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