"All migrants are entitled to equal protection of all their human rights. On this International Day, I urge leaders and people everywhere to bring the Global Compact to life, so that migration works for all." - UN Secretary-General António Guterres The observance of International Migrants Day this year focuses on the stories of social cohesion,… Read More »International Migrants Day
On 18 December 1894 the South Australian Parliament passed the Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act. The legislation was the result of a decade-long struggle to include women in the electoral process. It not only granted women in the colony the right to vote but allowed them to stand for parliament. This meant that South Australia… Read More »1894: South Australian Parliament, the first in Australia to give women the right to vote
International Human Solidarity Day is a day to celebrate our unity in diversity, a day to remind governments to respect their commitments to international agreements, a day to raise public awareness of the importance of solidarity, a day to encourage debate on the ways to promote solidarity for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals… Read More »International Human Solidarity Day
The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) is a law passed by the Australian Parliament that recognises the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs. It established a process for claiming and recognising native title lands and waters in Australia. The NTA aims… Read More »1993: Passage of Native Title Bill by the Australian Senate
At the end of the 19th century, Australian colonies had concerns about who was migrating to Australia. With a rise in the number of migrants from China and the Pacific, many colonies passed tough immigration legislation. The Immigration Restriction Act was one of the first Commonwealth laws passed after Federation. It was based on the… Read More »1901: Enactment of Immigration Restriction Act (White Australian Policy)
In The Wik Peoples v The State of Queensland & Ors; The Thayorre People v The State of Queensland & Ors HCA 40 ('Wik'), the High Court held that native title rights could coexist on land held by pastoral leaseholders. The High Court decided that: - a pastoral lease does not necessarily confer rights of… Read More »1996: Wik High Court decision
"The face of God has been revealed in a human face. It did not appear in an angel, but in one man, born in a specific time and place. By his incarnation, the Son of God tells us that salvation comes through love, acceptance, respect for this poor humanity of ours, which we all share… Read More »Christmas Day
Prayer of Pope Benedict from Deus Caritas Est Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true light, Jesus, your Son - the Son of God. You abandoned yourself completely, to God's call and thus became a wellspring of the goodness which flows forth from him. Show us Jesus. Lead us to… Read More »2005: Pope Benedict’s XVI’s encyclical Deus Cartias Est (‘God is Love’)
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as much as 3,000 miles (nearly 5,000 km) to Africa, arriving with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property. The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to the USGS, which monitors earthquakes worldwide.… Read More »2004: Devastating tsunami in South Asia, killing 200,000 to 300,000 people