Done By Law

World Mental Health Week: 11 October 2011

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, a day aimed at raising public awareness about mental health issues. So tonight on Done By Law, we’re talking about mental illness. People suffering from mental illness can sometimes be treated without their consent, both in hospital and in the community. When this happens, people can be subject to involuntary treatment because they can’t or won’t consent to treatment. Involuntary patients can be subjected to significant restrictions on their personal liberty. So what safeguards are there to protect their rights, and do the safeguards go far enough? Tonight on Done By Law we talk to Catherine Leslie, lawyer and policy officer at the Mental Health Legal Centre and Merinda Epstein, a consumer of mental health services and coordinator of Our Consumer Place, a resource for mental health consumers.

DBL 27 September 2011 - Reverse Presumptions & Decarceration

Natasha Wholan is a Drug Outreach Lawyer with Fitzroy Legal Service. On the show she talks about her experience as a newly admitted lawyer involved in the Momcilovic case which raised human rights arguments in criminal matters and was heard in the High Court of Australia.

Terri Silvertree is an advocate with the Decarceration Network which is working to promote decarceration and abolitionist messages through a poster that outlines the real impacts of imprisonment and criminalisation in terms of violence, recividism and community safety. The poster was recently launched by the Centre for the Human Rights of Imprisoned People.

DBL: Changes to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity laws. Is it time to panic?

Victoria has had Equal Opportunity laws since 1977.  The new Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 2010 was the brainchild of the former State government.  The new Act is due to commence on 1 August this year.  However, the current State government has introduced proposed changes into Parliament regarding the new Act.  Some argue that these proposed amendments are a step back for anti-discrimination laws.  In addition, the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities is currently being reviewed.  Joining us tonight on Done By Law to discuss the changes to both pieces of legislation is someone who works wtih these laws on a daily basis- the Commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, Helen Szoke.

Public housing and human rights: 26 April 2011

A recently proposed law will give the Office of Housing the powers to evict public housing tenants who have been charged with drug trafficking. We speak with Chris Povey from Homeless Persons Legal Clinic to explore the debate around appropriate use of tax-payer funded housing and broader concerns such as the impact on families and emergency housing sectors. We also talk with Huy Zhou from Fitzroy Legal Service about issues of double punishment, the law’s impact on criminal proceedings, and the contradiction inherent in evicting people from public housing for the same reasons that often lead them to require housing in the first place.

A balancing act? The human rights of convicted sex offenders in Victoria

Victoria passed laws this year that allows for sex offenders to be kept in custody indefinitely after serving their sentence if they are considered likely to commit sex offences in the future.  The indefinite incarceration continues to take place in a prison, not rehabilitative type environment.

Tonight on Done By Law, we discuss the need to balance human rights against the need to protect the community from convicted offenders perceived to be a high risk of further offending.

Defending human rights in Columbia: 23 November 2010

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Women in Victorian Prisons

UN Committee on Racial Discrimination highly critical of Australia

GetUp for your right to vote!

Today on Done By Law we talk to Ben Schokman, the Director of International Human Rights advocacy at the Human Rights Law Resource Center located in Melbourne about the recent litigation the Center launched together with GetUp! about the right to vote of unregistered voters.This is the second public interest case the Center has been involved in concerning the right to vote, the other being the Vickie Roach case that changed the law around voting rights of prisoners.

Everyday People, Everyday Rights

The term human rights is talked about a lot these days, but do you know how human rights are relevant to you on a practical day to day basis? On todays show we will be talking with Jessie Lees from the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission about a human rights project that she is coordinating called Everyday People, Everyday Rights. It is a joint program between the VEOHRC and the Neighbourhood Justice Centre that brings together City of Yarra residents, business owners and local agencies to plan 10 human rights focused meetings with the local community.