Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
Amnesty International Australia condemned the Northern Territory parliament’s decision to pass retrograde youth justice amendments which will wind back reforms and increase the number of Indigenous people in Australia’s prisons. A last minute-amendment was added which allows the granting of bail in “exceptional circumstances”, however it is breathtaking that this legislation was created and passed …
Continue reading “New youth justice laws set NT back decades in addressing Indigenous rights”
In 2020, Amnesty International Australia supporters took over 185,000 actions as part of Write for Rights. Around the world, nearly 4,500,000 actions were taken as part of Write for Rights to challenge injustice. Check out the full report from our International Secretariat here. Our collective actions are already making a difference and changing lives. Challeging …
Continue reading “Write for Rights 2020: You’re already changing lives!”
Amnesty International Australia expressed deep concern over the Queensland Government’s youth justice amendments which passed Parliament last night. The amendments undo years of hard-fought reforms to keep Indigenous kids out of the justice system and their passing is a devastating step backwards in addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Australian jails. “With the guilty …
Continue reading “QLD Parliament passes law which promotes systemic racism: NT next”
In 2020, we recorded the lowest number of executions in over a decade. The world is getting closer to abolishing death penalty. 2021 cannot be a year of regression.
Over the past twelve months, Amnesty International has highlighted how police around the world have used the COVID-19 pandemic as a cover to crack down on the right to protest. Today, Amnesty International has released a briefing detailing how New South Wales police have used disproportionate and unnecessary force to police protests and enforce COVID-19 …
Continue reading “NSW police using COVID-19 pandemic to restrict the right to protest”
Palm Sunday has long been a day of protest for people across faith communities and for those without any religious beliefs. Thousands have been marching for justice for refugees ever since the re-opening of Australia’s inhumane offshore processing program in 2013. Our power is in challenging injustice together so this year Amnesty International Australia lent …
Continue reading “Activists calling for a Fair Go and Justice for Refugees”
Responding to the news that the Tasmanian State Government’s proposed legislation to restrict the right to protest peacefully has been defeated, Amnesty International Australia campaigner, Nikita White, said: “This is good news for human rights and for Tasmanians. The Bill, under which protesters could have faced up to 21 years in prison, would have unnecessarily …
Amnesty International Australia is deeply concerned about proposed changes to the Northern Territory’s youth justice system which turns its back on the reforms made following the 2017 Royal Commission. “This is a callous, racist legislative crackdown in search of a problem,” Amnesty International Australia Indigenous Rights Advocate Rodney Dillon said. “This is a callous, racist …
Continue reading “NT’s youth justice proposal winds back Don Dale reforms”
Amnesty International Australia today gave evidence into a hearing into the Queensland Government’s Youth Justice Act amendments, raising concerns that rather than allowing them to access diversion programs the QLD Government has invested heavily in, the proposed amendments will have the perverse effect of funnelling more children and young people into police watch houses and …
Amnesty International Australia has made a submission to the inquiry into the Youth Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 (QLD). The bill sets out to: make it harder for recidivists to get bail, introduce a 12-month trial of GPS monitoring as a bail condition for 16 and 17-year-olds charged with particular offences, make it …
