November 09, 2023

Opening Doors

Australia’s High Court ruled Wednesday that the government’s power to hold individuals indefinitely in immigration detention centers is illegal, a landmark ruling that overturned a nearly two-decade-old precedent that has significantly influenced the country’s border policies, the BBC reported. The case involved a stateless Rohingya man...

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November 02, 2023

The Over-Step

Australia’s top court ruled Wednesday that the government cannot strip citizenship from a man convicted of terrorism, a verdict that dealt another blow to a law allowing government ministers to revoke dual nationals of their Australian citizenship because of extremism-related crimes, the Associated Press reported. The...

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October 16, 2023

Down and Out, Down Under

Australians over the weekend shot down a constitutional amendment to provide the country’s Indigenous peoples with a “Voice,” an advisory body to the national parliament, serving their interests in the country, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Two-thirds of Australians had supported the idea when the incumbent...

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July 04, 2023

A Big Trip

Australia became the first country in the world to legalize the use of psychedelics to treat mental health conditions, a move that was met with praise and caution from the scientific community, the BBC reported this week. The new regulations – which became official on July...

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June 28, 2023

A Voice, a Divide

After a recent historic parliamentary vote, Australians will vote on a constitutional amendment to dramatically expand the protections of their Indigenous communities. As a government website showed, the question will ask voters whether to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice as a constitutional body....

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June 20, 2023

The Voice

Australia’s upper house of parliament approved a bill to hold a referendum on Indigenous rights Monday, clearing the final hurdle for a vote that would enshrine the country’s Indigenous population in the constitution and better represent them in government, the Financial Times reported. The passing of...

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February 27, 2023

The Voice

Australians will decide whether to give Indigenous people a voice in parliament in a landmark referendum that observers believe will face a number of hurdles before the vote later this year, the Guardian reported. The October plebiscite will see voters choose whether they support the enshrinement...

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January 27, 2023

Interior Thoughts

Almost everyone ranks the Amazon, the Sahara and Siberia as among the world’s greatest, most gigantic and most remote wildernesses. Many might forget to add one of the planet’s vastest untouched regions, though – the Australian Outback. The Outback covers nearly two million square miles of...

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October 25, 2022

Locked Out

The United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT) suspended its tour of Australian prisons this week, citing a lack of cooperation from officials and a lack of access to some detention facilities, CNN reported Monday. SPT representatives arrived in Australia on Oct. 16 for...

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October 19, 2022

The Do-Over

Australia is reversing its decision to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, going back on a policy implemented by the previous administration of former conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the Hill reported Tuesday. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced Monday that the government has “reaffirmed Australia’s...

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August 17, 2022

Jack of All Trades

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to five ministries while serving as the country’s chief, revelations that have sparked outrage in Australia and calls for legal inquiries over the former leader’s conduct, the Guardian reported Tuesday. Current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his predecessor...

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