Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
Following yet another court challenge by the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) and a third court decision that has declared it was unlawful, the Victorian Government has finally responded to public pressure and transferred all children who were being held in Barwon adult prison. What happened? Children as young as 15 had been held in …
Continue reading “Children transferred out of adult maximum security prison”
A lot of hard work is going on behind the scenes to keep up momentum for the Community is Everything campaign in the wake of the release of an interim report by the NT Royal Commission into Youth Detention, and a visit to Australia by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. …
Continue reading “Community is Everything update: April 2017”
Warning: Strong content Victoria is often referred to as one of Australia’s most progressive states. However, with children as young as 15 being sent to Barwon adult prison – a maximum-security prison for Victoria’s most notorious adult offenders – and allegedly facing abuse, Victoria is failing some of its most vulnerable children. According to the …
Continue reading “Victorian children report facing Don Dale-style abuse in adult prison”
Channeling one of the calls from our Community is Everything campaign, the NT Government has announced $18.2 million dollars in new funding including for community organisations to run diversion programs that help keep kids out of the justice system. In the wake of a horrific exposé last year of conditions for children in Don Dale Detention …
Continue reading “Big news: Northern Territory Government funds new approach to youth justice”
Hurry – there are only 2 spots left! I’m Julian, Indigenous Rights Campaigner at Amnesty International and I want to tell you about my own personal highlight of the year. Over seven beautiful days and pink-skied nights I trekked the Larapinta Trail, “Tyerretye” and experienced our rugged Central Australian landscapes in a unique and intimate way. I …
As the Royal Commission holds hearings across the Northern Territory, Indigenous Rights Campaigner Julian Cleary reflects on the reports of other children, all over Australia, who are being abused in the youth justice system. I can’t forget the footage of two small boys cowering in their cells as guards pump teargas – a chemical weapon …
Continue reading “The last six months are proof enough: it’s not just Don Dale”
While Budget talk has dominated news channels this week, the back-and-forth funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services is a much longer story. Amnesty’s Indigenous Rights campaigner Julian Cleary sums up the latest and what it means for Indigenous Australians. What are Indigenous legal services? The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services …
Continue reading “Why are Indigenous legal services so important?”
Western Australia (WA) locks up Indigenous young people at the highest rate in Australia. Julian Cleary, a Campaigner in our Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Team, explains the impact the proposed Criminal Law Amendment (Home Burglary and Other Offences) Bill 2014 would have on Indigenous young people in WA and what you can do to help. So, …
Continue reading “Three strikes and you’re out: mandatory sentencing in WA”
