Australia

Will Australia learn from the EU’s mistakes on data retention?

Will Australia learn from the EU’s mistakes on data retention?

Police officers, anti-terrorism officials and politicians all tell us that we need data retention laws, especially in a time of increased technological sophistication. This week, George Brandis—the Attorney General for...
Pregnancy Discrimination in the Australian Workplace

Pregnancy Discrimination in the Australian Workplace

As part of its national review into pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) recently released data from a national phone survey measuring discrimination in the...
Older Homeless Women in Australia

Older Homeless Women in Australia

Australia is often cited as an economic success story. Decades of growth fuelled by the resources and agricultural industries enabled it to navigate the global financial crisis virtually unscathed. Indeed,...
Grootboom and the right to housing: A (Virtual) Comparative Conversation between students at UNSW and Oxford

Grootboom and the right to housing: A (Virtual) Comparative Conversation between students at UNSW and Oxford

Students from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the University of Oxford recently demonstrated the potential of a virtual classroom as a medium for facilitating debate and comparative...
Over to you, Parliament – The significance of the Australian High Court’s judgment on same-sex marriage

Over to you, Parliament – The significance of the Australian High Court’s judgment on same-sex marriage

A striking feature of Australian High Court jurisprudence in recent years is the Court’s use of orthodox judicial analysis to decide issues of deep political controversy and high significance for...
The Commonwealth v The Australian Capital Territory: Marriage Equality in the High Court

The Commonwealth v The Australian Capital Territory: Marriage Equality in the High Court

On Thursday the High Court of Australia effectively struck down the nation’s first same-sex marriage laws. But there was a silver lining for marriage equality activists: in striking down marriage...
Australian judge lays down gauntlet for proponents of human rights instruments

Australian judge lays down gauntlet for proponents of human rights instruments

Last week we featured a post by Professor Brice Dickson on whether the common law would adequately fill any void left by the Human Rights Act 1998 (UK) (HRA), should...
True Reconciliation Requires a Treaty

True Reconciliation Requires a Treaty

Treaties are accepted around the world as the means of reaching a settlement between Indigenous peoples and those who have settled their lands. Australia is the only Commonwealth nation that...
Wedding Crashers in Canberra?

Wedding Crashers in Canberra?

The Australian Capital Territory made Australian history this week as the first Australian jurisdiction to provide for same-sex marriage. The ACT, Australia’s equivalent of the US District of Columbia, first...
The Tasmanian Dams Case, 30 Years On – Unfulfilled Promises

The Tasmanian Dams Case, 30 Years On – Unfulfilled Promises

The landmark Australian Tasmanian Dams case celebrated its 30th anniversary in August 2013. This case was a turning point for Australia. It had significant implications both for the interpretation of...
Ten Thousand Miles from Wall Street: Muldoon v. Melbourne City Council

Ten Thousand Miles from Wall Street: Muldoon v. Melbourne City Council

Melbourne is ten thousand miles from Wall Street. And yet, as a Federal Court of Australia decision demonstrated this week, the legal ramifications of the Occupy Wall Street movement are...
Bugmy v The Queen: Exploring the Significance of Indigenous Background in Sentencing

Bugmy v The Queen: Exploring the Significance of Indigenous Background in Sentencing

Bugmy v The Queen provides the High Court of Australia with its first opportunity in thirty years to rule on the significance of Indigenous background in sentencing. The overrepresentation of...

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