There are many laws across the state (New South Wales) and the country that are subject to the scrutiny of the legal profession. Key legal professionals give their views on the laws that need to change - and why
edited By Klara Major and Jane Southward, Law Society Journal, February 2015 pp.24-35.
The following extract is reproduced with the permission of the Law Society Journal.
The many changes made to this legislation over the years since the 1990s, culminating in the recent Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment Act 2014, have produced a situation where the Migration Act 1958 and the policies behind it are among the most regressive and unfair in Australian history.
They rank in infamy with the Stolen Generation and the historical ill-treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the White Australia Policy. Indeed they reflect aspects of the White Australia policy.
by Hon. Alastair Nicholson
Asian Jurist, October 2018
(reproduced with permission)
Out of a history of occupation, conflict and genocide has emerged a renewed and concerted effort to create a more just future for Cambodia’s children.
"The treatment of children in prison has long been unsatisfactory. In many prisons, children are still mixed with adult offenders and receive little or no health care and education ... Many children see their lawyer for the first time on the day of trial."
"The new Juvenile Justice Law is enlightened and innovative ... It also represents an enormous challenge to the Cambodian justice system, which has hitherto been punishment-oriented."
See: The Fight for Children's Rights in Cambodia (PDF - Full Text of this Article)
24 September 2015
I have great pleasure in participating in the Melbourne launch of this excellent anthology collected from a wide and expert selection of authors, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Many are household names but others are simple participants or victims of the Intervention. I was touched by the comment of the soldier that in Afghanistan they built schools but in Australia they built police stations, which seemed to me to say it all about the priorities of the Intervention, the spectre of which still hangs over our Aboriginal people like a dark cloud.1 I regard the appointment of one of the creators of the Intervention to the Turnbull Cabinet as a particular irony for a Government that otherwise promises new approaches.
Malcolm Fraser AC, former Prime Minister of Australia, was a staunch defender of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. This speech was given at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne on June 18th 2014 in a special symposium to mark Refugee Week. Other speakers in the symposium were The Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC, The Hon Frank Vincent AO QC and Dr Georgia Paxton, Head of the Refugee Health Clinic at RCH Melbourne.
In December 2014, Children's Rights International (CRI) board member Professor Garry Warne AM travelled to Hanoi with Dr Anne Smith, Director of the Victorian Forensic Paediatric Medical Service (VFPMS) and her VFPMS colleague, Dr Andrea Smith. They were welcomed by the Director of the National Hospital of Pediatrics, Professor Le Thanh Hai and the 15-member child protection committee, which is chaired by Vice-Director, Dr Le Minh Huong and coordinated by Dr Do Minh Loan.
In a highly significant move, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health recently issued a circular instructing all hospitals to prepare protocols and procedures to deal more effectively with domestic violence, including violence against children. In addition, the government has passed a law that will see the creation of a new Family and Children’s Court. CRI Chairman, The Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC, has played a major role in supporting this development.
Dr Anne Smith and Dr Andrea Smith reviewed problems that have been encountered by the staff of NHP and provided some training on the types of injuries seen as a result of abuse. This project is on-going.
Read more: Training on child protection for Vietnamese hospital staff
The message from very many Aboriginal Peoples in Australia to the Australian Government is that the time is long overdue for genuine negotiation on treaties.
Published on Aug 18, 2014
You can also see this video clip on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU_H0oIQy60
'We're Better Than This' is a movement that has grown from a decision by ordinary Australians to do something about the extraordinary cruelty of our Government towards the hundreds of innocent children in detention/deterrence camps.
the sound track though iTunes or Google Play ($1.69) to help fund the campaign.
a letter to your MP to excess your concern about the situation of children in detention..
Wednesday 18th June 12.30PM-1.30PM
Refugee week
Ella Latham Auditorium, Royal Children's Hospital
Refugee Week is Australia's peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. Refugee Week is held from Sunday to Saturday of the week that includes 20 June (World Refugee Day).
Chairman of Children's Rights International and Former Chief Justice of the Family Court, Alastair Nicholson discusses the plan to send up to 1000 asylum seekers to Cambodia on the ABC program, Lateline 18/08/2014.
(Courtesy of ABC - Lateline 18/08/2014)
A copy of the interview can also be viewed on the ABC website (click here to view the interview of the ABC website)
By Bill Jackson
Afghanistan is described as the most dangerous country in the world and there are good reasons for this. War has been the constant companion of its people for three decades and the situation is unlikely to improve once the Western powers withdraw, as they are likely to start doing as early as next year. As I write the Taliban, and various tribal warlords who wield considerable power, are resurgent and struggling for authority. Their previous treatment of women and children gives no cause for optimism.
Voice of Women Afghanistan See http://youtu.be/pgGjSRGWjpc
Children’s Rights International has been working on the ground in Cambodia with its partner Legal Aid Cambodia (LAC) since 2005. CRI’s current priority, after extensive consultation, is to help establish a Child Friendly Court system in Cambodia. Since that time, with the support of the Cambodian Ministry of Justice, the Child Justice Working Group, the NGO Working Group on Child Justice, the Australian Embassy, AusAID, and UNICEF, considerable progress has been made.
This partnership will shortly commence to roll out training programmes in Australia and later in Battambang, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to assist Cambodian judges, prosecutors, police, prison officers, social workers and allied professionals in bringing to Cambodian children, in conflict with the law, their rights as detailed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Cambodia is a signatory. A Child Friendly Court is the aim. To establish this Court in 3 key provinces is currently seen as a 3-year project. With successful outcomes and additional funding the project could be expanded to other provinces and hopefully to include the whole of Cambodia.
Read more: Children's Rights International in Cambodia and Vietnam