Human Rights Forum
How should Australia deal with the many new & urgent challenges facing human rights law? Where do you, your organisation or your department fit in? Join leading experts from across the country as they guide you through the practical & legal realities of religious freedom, refugees, LGBTIQ people, & the latest cases & legislative developments. Human rights issues are at the forefront following the pandemic & evolving societal & political change, so now is the time to stay on top of these issues. WEB2111N08
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair: Ruth Barson, Legal Director, The Human Rights Law Centre
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.55am Recent Case Law Developments in Australian Human Rights Law
Examine the latest cases, trends and developments impacting human rights law in Australia, including an analysis of the significant takeaways and their impact on the area.
Presented by Christopher Crawford, Barrister, Level 10, Inns of Court
9.55am to 10.15am Insights from the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria
Presented by Marcus Stewart, Co-Chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria
10.10am to 11.00am Protecting the Human Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons in Australia: Where to Next?
- What are the main human rights issues refugees and stateless persons currently face in Australia and in Australia’s offshore detention facilities?
- Where to next for Australia’s current refugee situation and human rights concerns?
- What is the global situation for refugees and stateless persons, particularly in the current Covid-19 pandemic?
Presented by Katie Robertson, Human Rights Lawyer and Director of the Stateless Children Legal Clinic, Melbourne Law School and Arif Hussein, Senior Lawyer, Refugee Advice Casework Service
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
11.15am to 12.05pm Religious Discrimination or Religious Freedom? Issues and Challenges
The need for protection against religious discrimination has been the subject of significant recent debate. One challenge that arises is striking a balance with other human rights, including the right to freedom of speech and the rights of other groups – such as women, people with disability, LGBTI people and people of minority faiths.
- How do recent Commonwealth and State specific proposals deal with these issues?
- What concerns have been raised by both religious groups and civil society?
- What can we learn from existing protections in State and Territory anti-discrimination laws?
Presented by Jonathon Hunyor, Chief Executive Officer, Public Interest Advocacy Centre
12.05pm to 12.55pm Protecting the Human Rights of LGBTIQ People: Contemporary Gender and Sexuality Issues
- What further reforms are required in Australia to better protect the rights of LGBTIQ people?
- What is the global situation for LGBTIQ people?
- What is the United Nations doing to better protect the rights of LGBTIQ people?
- What are the barriers to achieving equality for LGBTIQ people?
Presented by Professor Paula Gerber, Faculty of Law, Monash University
12.55pm to 1.05pm Closing Comments from the Chair
Presenters
Ruth Barson
Since joining the Human Rights Law Centre in 2014, Ruth has led a multidisciplinary team of lawyers and advocates defending the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and people in prison, police custody and youth detention. The team champions a fair legal system that is free from racial injustice and that upholds the principles of dignity, equality and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ right to self-determination. Ruth previously worked at the Centre for Innovative Justice where she developed expertise in alterative justice mechanisms that centre victim/survivors and authored a ground-breaking report on reforming legal responses to sexual assault through restorative justice approaches.
Christopher Crawford
Christopher Crawford was called to the Bar in 2005. He has a broad commercial practice specialising in contract, property, trusts, corporations, insolvency, insurance and consumer protection. Christopher is also experienced in succession, employment and administrative law. He regularly appears in all state and federal courts and specialist tribunals. Before becoming a barrister, Christopher was a solicitor at a large national law firm and a judge's associate. He is a regular presenter at industry seminars and conferences, has published numerous papers and journal articles and holds a doctorate from Queensland University of Technology.
Katie Robertson
Katie Robertson is a human rights lawyer and Director of the Stateless Children Legal Clinic at the Melbourne Law School. Katie has over 10 years’ practical legal experience in human rights, strategic litigation and public interest law in Australia and overseas; with a particular focus on the rights of refugees and stateless persons. She also has policy and political expertise, having worked at Oxfam Australia and as an advisor for a federal Senator.
In 2021, Katie established the Stateless Children Legal Clinic at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne, in partnership with the Refugee Advice and Casework Service Clinics, where she teaches.
Arif Hussein
Arif Hussein is a Senior Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) in Sydney where he works to protect the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum.
He has spent over 6 years working with refugees and people seeking asylum both in Australia and in Australia’s Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.
Prior to joining RACS, Arif worked at the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC). Arif’s work at the Centre included ensuring refugee and people seeking asylum subject to Australia’s offshore processing regime received the medical treatment they urgently require.
Jonathon Hunyor
Jonathon Hunyor is the CEO of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. He has practised law for over 20 years in NSW and the Northern Territory, in areas including criminal law, discrimination and human rights, migration and refugee law and Aboriginal land rights. Prior to joining PIAC is 2016, Jonathon was the Principal Legal Officer at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency in Darwin from 2010-2016; Director of Legal Services at the Australian Human Rights Commission; and worked as a lawyer at the Central Land Council in Alice Springs and the NT Legal Aid Commission in Darwin.
Paula Gerber
Paula Gerber is a Professor at Monash University Law School and a leading expert on protecting and promoting the rights of LGBTI persons. She has written numerous journal articles and book chapters on issues relating to persons of diverse genders and sexualities, including, most recently, ‘Is the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Doing Enough to Protect the Rights of LGBT Children and Children with Same-Sex Parents?’ (2021) Human Rights Law Review and ‘Protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people around the world: Beyond marriage equality and the decriminalisation of homosexuality’ (2021) Alternative Law Journal.
Arif Hussein
Arif Hussein is a Senior Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) in Sydney where he works to protect the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum. He has spent over 6 years working with refugees and people seeking asylum both in Australia and in Australia’s Regional Processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Prior to joining RACS, Arif worked at the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC). Arif’s work at the Centre included ensuring refugee and people seeking asylum subject to Australia’s offshore processing regime received the medical treatment they urgently require.