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The major finding of this Inquiry is that Australia’s treatment of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences who said that they were children has led to numerous breaches of both the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Until December 2009, Ali Jasmin lived with his family in Bala Uring, a small village on the island of Flores, Indonesia. His family bought fish from the local fishermen and sold them at the market. Ali had completed seven years of schooling and worked as a fisherman in a little town not far from his home.

The table below contains information about each of the individuals of concern to the Inquiry. The data contained in this table was provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Australian Federal Police.

An age of uncertainty Inquiry into the treatment of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences who say that they are children Appendix 3: Submissions The Inquiry received a total of 39 submissions, four of which remain confidential. Submission name Submission No. Amnesty International Australia 23 Australian Government 30 Australian Lawyers Alliance 21 Australian Society of Forensic …

On 26 and 27 April 2012, two members of the staff of the Australian Human Rights Commission visited Albany Regional Prison and Pardelup Prison Farm for the purposes of this Inquiry.

This short paper is concerned, first, to examine the significance in a particular case of statistical evidence; secondly, to examine what it means to prove a fact on ‘the balance of probabilities’; and finally to examine the significance of relying on statistical evidence to establish an accused person’s age in the context of s 236B of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

An age of uncertainty Inquiry into the treatment of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences who say that they are children Appendix 6: Responses to Inquiry report – Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Federal Police and Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (See PDF documents available for download from http://www.humanrights.gov.au/ageassessment/report/responses.html…

An age of uncertainty Inquiry into the treatment of individuals suspected of people smuggling offences who say that they are children Appendix 7: Acknowledgements President Catherine Branson QC Inquiry team Kate Temby, Danielle Noble, Freyana Irani, Vanessa Lesnie, Susan Newell, Amy Rogers Legal Graeme Edgerton, Michelle Lindley Communications Louise McDermott, Leon Wild Information…

This report is about two distinct subject matters. The first of these is the welcome move by the Australian Government to transfer increasing numbers of asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons into community arrangements. The second is the situation of people who remain in immigration detention facilities with little or no prospect of being released.[1]

Recommendation 2: The need to detain should be assessed on a case-by-case basis taking into consideration individual circumstances. That assessment should be conducted when a person is taken into immigration detention or as soon as possible thereafter. A person should only be held in a closed immigration detention facility if they are individually assessed as posing an unacceptable risk to the…

Over recent months, the Australian Government has moved increasing numbers of asylum seekers and refugees who arrived in Australia by boat from closed immigration detention into the community, pending resolution of their claims for protection. This has been achieved through use of community detention and bridging visas, building on measures introduced by successive Australian Governments.[2]

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Australia’s introduction of mandatory immigration detention and the eighteenth anniversary of the system of mandatory, indefinite immigration detention. In the current context, it is apt to recall that mandatory detention was introduced in reaction to the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, with concerns about a potential ‘influx’…

There are a host of benefits associated with community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons. Community arrangements are more closely aligned with international human rights law and standards than models of indefinite closed immigration detention. They also provide for far more humane treatment of people seeking protection.

Despite the significant positive developments of the past two years, the Commission remains seriously concerned about some aspects of Australian law and policy on asylum seekers, refugees and immigration detention. The Commission is primarily concerned about the prolonged or indefinite detention and lack of durable solutions or substantive visa pathways for certain groups of people in immigration…

“In Australia, if you have a pet, you take your pet out at least once a week. I haven’t had an excursion in the two years I’ve been in detention ... I don’t even know what Australians look like.”

Learn about bystander approaches to stop sexual harassment in the workplace. Bystanders can help by raising awareness and can intervene to prevent harm.

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a persistent and pervasive problem in Australia and elsewhere, demanding new and creative responses.[1] One significant area that may inform prevention and response strategies is the area of ‘bystander approaches’. In examining the potential for bystander approaches to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment, this paper draws upon a…

Workplace sexual harassment is a persistent and pervasive problem in Australia and elsewhere, demanding new and creative responses. One promising area which may inform prevention and response strategies is bystander approaches.

Models which account for the circumstances under which different bystander responses occur have been evolving since the 1970s, especially in the fields of criminology and social psychology. The notion of bystanders originated with the study of an event in New York where a young woman, Kitty Genovese, was raped and stabbed to death over a period of half an hour. During the attack, 38 witnesses…