Joint letter to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus urging freedom of information reform
March 14, 2024Dear Attorney-General, Freedom of information reform is long overdue. We write to urge the Government to act on the recommendations made in the recent report of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee’s...
MEDIA RELEASE: Rex Patrick appeal hearing by Full Federal Court over crippling FOI delays
February 26, 2024Today, former Senator and transparency advocate Rex Patrick’s appeal over a judicial ruling - that the Information Commissioner's multi-year delays in reviewing FOI document access refusal decisions are legally reasonable - is to be...
MEDIA RELEASE: Democracy groups call on Government to overhaul broken FOI system in line with inquiry report
December 08, 2023Yesterday evening, the Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee released its report into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. The Committee’s report paints a damning picture of a highly dysfunctional,...
MEDIA ALERT: Legal fight to clarify FOI ‘Cabinet document’ exemption, access key Robodebt documents, resumes today
November 29, 2023Today at 10:15am, transparency advocate Justin Warren’s long-running legal fight over access to key documents behind the harmful Robodebt scheme will be heard by the Full Federal Court. The case has the potential to...
MEDIA RELEASE: Legal battle over controversial remote rent framework resumes today
November 15, 2023Today at 10am, four remote renters will continue their fight to invalidate the Northern Territory Government’s controversial ‘remote rent framework’ in a hearing in the NT Court of Appeal.
MEDIA RELEASE: Climate science experts step forward as landmark case comes to Melbourne
November 09, 2023Following extraordinary On-Country hearings in Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait) in June, further hearings for the landmark Australian Climate Case will resume at the Australian Federal Court in Naarm (Melbourne) from 8–27 November.
MEDIA RELEASE: High Court unanimously rules tenants have rights to compensation for inadequate housing
November 01, 2023Today, the High Court unanimously recognised for the first time the right of tenants to compensation for disappointment and distress when a rented house does not meet legal standards. They did so on the...
MEDIA RELEASE: Remote Aboriginal community wins legal right for safe drinking water for all NT tenants
October 02, 2023In an important victory for renters and remote Indigenous communities, the NT Supreme Court today ruled that the public housing landlord is legally required to supply safe drinking water to its tenants.
MEDIA RELEASE: Rex Patrick launches appeal in long-standing legal fight over excessive FOI delays
September 22, 2023Former senator and now transparency advocate Rex Patrick has filed an appeal challenging the Federal Court's May 2023 determination that multi-year delays by the Information Commissioner in processing Freedom of Information (FOI) reviews were...
VOICE STATEMENT: Why we’re Writing Yes
September 14, 2023First Nations people have cared for Country and communities for millennia. They have done so in the face of colonisation, violence and neglect at the hands of generations of Australian policymakers. From massacres and...
MEDIA RELEASE: Queensland Government admits to unlawful detention of children in police watch houses
August 04, 2023In a dramatic turn of events, the QLD Government’s Department of Youth Justice has admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland that it has been detaining children on an unlawful basis in police watch...
MEDIA RELEASE: Evidence of climate harms given on-Country by those on the frontline of climate disaster at landmark hearings for climate case
June 05, 2023Hearings for the potentially groundbreaking Australian Climate Case will take place On Country in the Torres Strait (Zenadth Kes), 5-19 June. Guda Maluyligal plaintiffs Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai from the islands...
MURA KALMEL SIPA STATEMENT: Former President of Kiribati stands with Torres Strait in fight for climate action
April 24, 2023Former President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, has been visiting communities in the Torres Strait to stand alongside Uncle Paul Kabai on Saibai island and Uncle Pabai Pabai on Boigu island as they bring the...
MEDIA RELEASE: Major loophole in ministerial reshuffles to be challenged in Federal Court
March 29, 2023Rex Patrick tackles the Information Commissioner’s decision that former Attorney General Christian Porter’s documents are no longer “official Ministerial documents”.
MEDIA RELEASE: Broken FOI system in Federal Court as transparency warrior Rex Patrick, tackles delays
March 20, 2023On Monday 20 March from 10.15am, the Federal Court in Melbourne will hear a long-awaited challenge to the lengthy delays that plague freedom of information (FOI) requests being reviewed by the Australian Information Commissioner....
MEDIA RELEASE: High Court fight for safe housing in remote First Nations communities has far-reaching implications for renters nationwide
March 16, 2023On Thursday 16 March from 9.45am, the High Court of Australia will consider whether compensation is available for distress or disappointment suffered by First Nations people living in dilapidated housing in remote communities. It...
MEDIA ALERT: Torres Strait communities outline fears for their future in lay evidence submissions to landmark climate case
February 17, 2023The 'Australian Climate Case' progresses to the next step today with community members revealing how climate change has impacted lives in the Torres Strait.
MEDIA RELEASE: Tribunal uphold secrecy around key Robodebt documents
December 05, 2022Key documents behind the former Government’s decision to set up the failed Robodebt scheme will not be released, following a decision in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
MEDIA RELEASE: Top lawyers join forces to warn governments: act on climate or face the courts
September 28, 2022Lawyers from over twenty organisations say countries must ramp up their climate action or face accountability in courts. Their open letter comes as the UN climate chief warns current plans are "nowhere near” what...
MEDIA RELEASE: High Court agrees to hear First Nations renters’ case for compensation from NT Government for dilapidated housing
September 16, 2022The High Court will decide whether compensation is available for distress or disappointment suffered by First Nations people living in remote dilapidated housing, in a case that could have ramifications for all Australian renters....