The GetUp! Blogs

A Win for Human Rights in the High Court

Posted by Jillian Kramer, August 18th, 2010

--Phil Lynch is the Executive Director at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and a contributing author to "More Than Luck" by the Centre for Policy Development.
You'll find more commentary from Phil Lynch about this & other commentary on human rights during the election at the Centre for Policy Development here.--

In an historic decision, the High Court has struck down legislation which resulted in the early close of the electoral rolls and denied over 100,000 Australians the right to vote.
The decision is a landmark victory for representative... (read more)

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An historic victory in the Federal Court

Posted by Sam Mclean, August 15th, 2010

--Damian Sturzaker is a partner at Marque lawyers, and one of the solicitors on 'GetUp limited & Ors v. Electoral Commissioner'--

Taking on electoral litigation was never going to be easy. In Australia, the courts have not historically played a big role in shaping Australia's electoral process -- but in the last two weeks GetUp has changed that. Having campaigned for the last 3 years to modernise Australia's enrolment system, this past fortnight has been the most successful period ever in the electoral reform campaigning efforts of GetUp members, who voted in... (read more)

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Time to Pull The Plug On Internet Filtering

Posted by Eliza Cussen, April 30th, 2010

Stephen Conroy's been sounding defensive lately. Recently, he got called into the boss' office for a raking over the delayed roll-out of the national broadband network.

Then he felt compelled to argue point-for-point with a 22 year old campaigner (ie me) over the deeply flawed design of the internet filter policy.

At every opportunity, the Senator has felt compelled to defend his ideology-driven policy against immense opposition.

This week he was given another reason to get on the back-foot with the announcement that the legislation will be shelved before the... (read more)

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Now It's Up To Us...

Posted by Aaron Hulse, April 24th, 2010

Last year, the Government launched the National Human Rights Consultation (NHRC) - an initiative meant to engage the Australian public in a national discussion about how best to protect and promote human rights for all Australians. What resulted was the largest consultation in our country's history, thanks in large part to you!
GetUp members made over 10,000 submissions to the consultation, held over 200 Our Rights GetTogethers in communities across the country and almost 14,000 of us signed a petition urging the government to adopt a human rights act. The consultation... (read more)

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Mental Health Update

Posted by Sam Mclean, April 21st, 2010

Mental ill health is the leading killer of Australians under 45 and the leading cause of disability for all Australians. Yet there are huge gaps in our services and millions of Australians still suffer each year.
GetUp members like you have risen to this challenge. Together we've brought mental health into the centre of the health debate, shining a light on what is all too often a source of silent suffering for the mentally ill and those who love them. Together we've raised more than $85,000 to put on the air an urgent message from Australian of the year Prof. Patrick McGorry,... (read more)

536 comments