Tag Archives: Country: Australia

Columbia U. National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Occasional Paper No. 181 by Louise Watson and Chris Ryan: “Beginning in 1974, Australian students received vouchers worth 15 to 85 percent of total student costs to attend private schools. Until 1999, the voucher system allocated funds per student on the basis of the school’s or school system’s financial need, based on its total private income. Thus, the schools that charged a lower fee, such as Catholic schools, received a higher per student grant than those that charged higher fees. Since 2000, the system has allocated voucher funds based on the financial means of individual students’ families through measuring the socioeconomic status of the enrolled students’ home addresses. In this paper, Watson and Ryan examine rates of enrollment, tuition, voucher amounts, student to teacher ratio, and average school socioeconomic status of students across public, catholic, and independent schools.”

The Protection of Religious Rights Under Australian Law
Denise Meyerson, 2009 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 529

“In 1998, Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (“HREOC”) issued a report in which it stated that the level of protection afforded to the right to freedom of religion and belief in Australia was relatively weak compared to a number of comparable countries. Although there have been a few changes in the intervening ten years, this Article demonstrates that HREOC’s statement remains accurate. In this Article, I analyze and evaluate the Australian legal framework governing the right to religious freedom, the right not to be discriminated against on the ground of religion, and the right not to be subjected to religious vilification. I call these ‘religious rights.’ Part II deals with federal legislation protective of these rights, Part III with constitutional protections, Part IV with the right to religious freedom at common law, and Part V with State and Territory legislation.”

Australian: “A HOMOSEXUAL couple has been granted leave to appear before the Family Court in a bid to gain access to a girl who isn’t biologically related to either of them. The men, who cannot be named, have successfully argued that they are important people in the life of the three-year-old.”

Brisbane Times: “A woman was denied a late-term abortion at a leading Sydney hospital, forcing her to carry a severely deformed foetus with no chance of survival for an extra week, in a decision that has infuriated senior doctors.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “A pharmacist has stopped selling contraceptives because of his strong religious beliefs. Trevor Dal Broi is telling women using oral contraceptive pills for birth control to take their scripts to another chemist.”

The Australian: “A push to introduce a charter of human rights in Australia is set to reignite the gay marriage debate with predictions the High Court judges would be empowered to rule on the issue. A report prepared by the National Human Rights Consultation Committee has today recommended that Australia have a statutory charter of rights, in the form of a Human Rights Act.”

Jenni Millbank, De Facto Relationships, Same-Sex and Surrogate Parents: Exploring the Scope and Effects of the 2008 Federal Relationship Reforms (October 1, 2009). Australian Journal of Family Law, Vol. 23, No. 3, 2009. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1481022

“In October 2008 a suite of major reforms concerning family relationships passed federal parliament. Broadly speaking these reforms include same-sex couples within the category of ‘de facto relationship’ in all federal laws (previously limited to unmarried heterosexual couples), extend the definition of ‘parent’ and ‘child’ in much federal law to include lesbian parents who have a child through assisted reproductive means and, in more limited circumstances, to include parents who have children born through surrogacy arrangements.”

Sydney Morning Herald: “A fresh attempt to legalise gay marriage in the ACT is set to test federal Labor’s tolerance on same-sex issues. The ACT Legislative Assembly is set to pass laws which will allow for legally-binding ‘civil union’ ceremonies for same-sex couples.”

Courier Mail: “Almost two-thirds of Queenslanders support the decriminalisation of abortion, according to an exclusive Galaxy opinion poll.”

Brisbane Times: “Proud mother of two Shelly Argent believes one of her sons is being treated as a second-rate citizen because he is gay and can’t get married. In a new national television advertising campaign she calls on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to give same-sex couples the right to legally tie the knot.”

AP: “Australia may allow female soldiers to serve in front-line combat roles under proposed equal-opportunity guidelines that stoked debate Wednesday on whether women can meet the physical demands . . . ”

The Australiana: “NSW hospitals have threatened to start turning away abortion cases sent to them from boycotting Queensland hospitals within days, after three patients were sent over the border this week. The secretary of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Gino Pecoraro, said yesterday NSW hospitals had told the Royal Women’s Hospital in Brisbane they would review their willingness to carry out abortions on Queensland patients from next week.”

The Australian: “The revolt by Queensland’s doctors widened yesterday, as another two public hospitals reportedly withdrew medical abortion services and a pregnant woman was sent to Sydney for treatment scrapped by the state’s biggest hospital. This was despite Premier Anna Bligh’s bid to appease doctors who want Queensland to decriminalise abortion with a partial rewrite of the existing law.”

The Australian: “Queensland will rewrite part of its hotly contested law on abortion to accommodate doctors’ concerns that they may be liable to criminal prosecution for performing drug-induced terminations.”

ABC News: “Parliament last night passed amendments to the Care and Protection of Children Act, which up until now has forced all adults to report any suspected cases of children under 16 having sex, even if it is with a consensual partner of the same age . . . The new provisions exempt health practitioners from reporting sexual activity in adolescents aged 14 or 15 where the age difference between concensual partners is two years or less.”

AdelaideNow.com: “A Melbourne man who paid a woman for sex is resisting child support requests after the alleged prostitute had his baby. The married man argues the child is potentially a breach of the Trade Practices Act. He told a Federal Magistrate he shouldn’t have to pay for the inadvertent offspring given the circumstances of the conception.”

The Daily: “Marion is optimistic proposed changes to Queensland law regarding altruistic surrogacy, expected to be introduced in the parliament by the end of the year, will allow both members of same-sex couples to become recognised as legal parents if they choose to have a child.”

LifeSiteNews: “The two women, who have undergone mastectomies and testosterone treatment, believe that even though they still have female reproductive systems, their outward demeanor and hormone regimens make them men.”

BBC: “The judge in the western city of Perth said the nursing home would not be held criminally responsible” if it stops feeding a quadriplegic who wants to die.

ABC: “The medical abortion drug RU486, or mifepristone, will now be more widely available in Australia.”

Syndey Morning Herald: “THE Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has intervened in the internal push to relax Labor Party policy on civil unions and gay marriage by instructing powerbrokers not to make any changes.”

WA Today: “The issue comes up for debate on Saturday and is shaping as one of the more passionate discussions at the Labor conference, which has to date been unusually restrained.”

Matthew Franklin reports in The Australian: “Kevin Rudd has guaranteed he will resist any attempt at this week’s Australian Labor Party conference to allow gay marriage or civil unions that mimic marriage.”

The Australian reports: “Hoping to contribute to the end of the use of embryos in research, the Catholic Church is offering a $100,000 grant for research into the medical use of adult stem cells. The Sydney Archdiocese announced the grant today, saying it is still vehemently opposed to embryonic stem cell research but approves of the use of adult stem cells.”

Emily Power reports in the Herald Sun: “In the past year an extra 715 students have started do-it-yourself education over public and private schools. State Government records show 2279 students from 1257 families were registered as home schooled in June this year, up on the 1564 students from 859 families in June last year.”

Reuters: “A couple’s age, previous relationships and even whether they smoke or not are factors that influence whether their marriage is going to last, according to a study by researchers from the Australian National University.”

Nick Ralston reports in the Brisbane Times: “Laws should be altered to allow same-sex couples to adopt in NSW because it’s in the best interests of children, a parliamentary inquiry has found.”

Christian Today Australia reports: “A homosexual man refused permission to donate blood has had his long-running discrimination complaint dismissed. The Australian Red Cross refused to accept Michael Cain’s blood at Launceston in October 2004 because he had answered yes to a screening question about having had male-to-male sex in the previous 12 months. Mr Cain, 26, maintains that homosexual sex is a lawful activity and those who practise it safely should not be excluded from giving blood. In August 2005, he lodged a complaint to that effect with the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.”

Herald Sun: “SAME-SEX couples will be allowed to marry if a Bill introduced in the Federal Parliament is passed. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young introduced her private member’s Bill, proposing to grant gay couples equal marriage rights, into the Upper House on Wednesday.”

AAP reports: “The poll, conducted for the lobby group Australian Marriage Equality, found strong support for same-sex marriage, including among Coalition voters. Of the 1100 respondents, 60 per cent were in favour of same-sex marriage.”

SMH.au: “A LIFE education program created by an organisation with ties to anti-abortion groups in Australia and the United States was endorsed by the NSW Education Department for use in public schools. But after the links were raised by the Herald , the department yesterday banned the group from visiting schools and announced a review of the processes that led to its approval.”

Dawn Eden reports at Americans United for Life: “The media Down Under is abuzz with reports of a new home “gender test” for pregnant women, now available in stores without a prescription. It enables a woman who is eight or more weeks pregnant to learn the sex of her child, with 90 percent accuracy — opening up the possibility that she might abort it if she is not happy with the result.”

New Zealand Herald: “A new test to reveal the gender of a fetus in early pregnancy has sparked a row over whether it will lead to sex-selection abortions.”

Mark Schliebs reports in the Courier Mail: “A Queensland woman is due to give birth to a child for her gay brother after impregnating herself with donor sperm from a third party – an act that is illegal here.”

The Cairns Post: “A Yungaburra man has been charged with 15 other Australians as part of a worldwide investigation into downloads of an 18-minute child rape movie. The arrest of the 28-year-old Far Northern man comes as a result of an Australian Federal Police investigation, codenamed Operation Furious.”

One News Now: “An Australian’s idea for short-term marriage agreements is getting short shrift from an American pro-family spokeswoman . . . Helen Goltz believes lifelong marriages are becoming “a thing of the past,” she writes in a Queensland newspaper.”

Sydney Law School: “The Sydney gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade is one of the largest public celebrations of queer sexuality in the world today. This article seeks to understand the attraction of the Mardi Gras parade for heterosexual spectators who feel ambivalent or negative towards homosexuality. Drawing upon the concepts of ‘the stranger’ and ‘the tourist’ we suggest that the parade has several liminoid features that enable these spectators to momentarily suspend sexual norms that would otherwise inhibit them from attending. In this way, the parade provides an almost ideal opportunity for the ambivalent sexual tourist to experience the pleasure of the strange.”

The Daily Telegraph: “A BOOK which teaches children about lesbian mums getting pregnant using sperm donors is being pitched at kids as young as two. The controversial publication, Where Did I Really Come From?, also features a drawing of two gay men holding a baby in a chapter about surrogacy.”

Cardinal George Pell of Australia writes at News.com.au: “To blame Catholic teaching for the spread of HIV/AIDS requires proof that those following the first essential Christian requirement of living chastely within and before marriage are still dying of AIDS. Pigs will fly before that argument does.”

LifeSiteNews:  There is a growing culture of suppression among secularist governments that is using the doctrine of “tolerance and diversity” to push Christians entirely out of public life, Australia’s Cardinal Pell told an audience at Oxford University this weekend. The …

CNSNews:  ”Six weeks after President Obama overturned a ban on federal funds going to non-governmental organizations that promote or perform abortions, the Australian government on Tuesday took a similar step . . . “

ABC: ”The Federal Government is under increasing pressure to lift a ban on providing abortion advice through its foreign aid programs. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says he will make a decision on the issue soon . . . “

“Doctors have warned that a decision to award $317,000 to a lesbian couple who had two babies instead of one will discourage medical students from specialising in obstetrics.”

SMH.com.au: KEVIN RUDD has denounced the unfettered capitalism of the past three decades and called for a new era of ‘social capitalism’ in which government intervention and regulation feature heavily . . . In an essay to be published next …

The International Herald Tribune: “An Australian man accused of throwing his 4-year-old daughter from a bridge, horrifying commuters caught in rush hour traffic, was a devoted father who had just reached a shared custody arrangement with his estranged wife, his …

Adult shops will be banned from opening within 200 metres of Queensland schools and churches under proposed new planning regulations.

Angry Nerang residents and business owners are up in arms about an adult shop opening in the suburb’s busy main street.

Victorian state primary school students will soon have an alternative — religious education lessons taught by people who do not believe in God and say there is “no evidence of any supernatural power”.

A company that conducted commercial businesses to raise funds for a missionary organisation was entitled to the status of a tax-exempt charity, the High Court of Australia held today.

It is notable that in more than thirty years of anti-discrimination legislation in Australia, the High Court has heard only three cases dealing with sex discrimination.

The Land and Environment court has given a conditional go-ahead for an Islamic school to be built at Bass Hill, in Sydney’s south-west.

A MAJOR investigation into an international child pornography network has resulted in the arrest of 19 Australian men including a retired Victorian QC and a NSW police officer.

The BBC reports: “An appeal judge in Australia has ruled that an animation depicting well-known cartoon characters engaging in sexual acts is child pornography.”

LifeSitenews.com reports: “Last week, Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon appointed Warwick Marsh of the Fatherhood Foundation as one of six men’s health ambassadors who were charged with the task of building a federal men’s health policy, in part to address …

The Times of India: British men and women are the world’s most promiscuous people, leaving their American cousins far behind, according to a study. Germans come next with the Dutch, Czechs, Australians, Americans and French ranking third, fourth, fifth, sixth …

Glynne Sutcliffe Adelaide writes on EdNews.org: Rupert Murdoch has used his fourth Boyer Lecture to slam Australian schooling. No punches pulled here. “Our public education systems are a disgrace” was almost his opening sentence. And the reason is clear : …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “Two bills passed in the Australian Senate yesterday represent a step towards granting homosexual partnerships the same rights and recognitions as natural marriage. Changes have been made to around 100 family, health and taxation laws so that they …

AUSTRALIA’S mandatory net filter is being primed to block 10,000 websites as part of a blacklist of unspecified “unwanted content” …

The AP reports: “The speaker of Australia’s Parliament has called for a public debate about whether the country’s lawmakers should end the practice of starting each session with the Lord’s Prayer.”

The BBC reports: “Australian researchers have identified a significant link between a gene involved in testosterone action and male-to-female transsexualism.”

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “The Australian Senate has passed a bill that grants unmarried long-term couples, including homosexual couples, the same legal process provided to divorcing married couples.”

News.com.au reports: UNREGULATED sperm donation is leading to unusual situations in which the children of lesbians are mixing socially – creating a risk of incest. One of South Australia’s foremost experts in reproductive technology – Andrew Dutney – said that …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “The Upper House of the Australian state of Victoria voted Thursday night 23 to 17 to remove legal restrictions on abortion. The bill, which passed without amendments, decriminalises abortions up to 24 weeks gestation and has been the …

LifeSiteNews.com reports:  A coalition of medical practitioners have warned that the Abortion Law Reform Bill may force conscientious Victoria doctors to relocate or abandon their practice rather than facilitate abortions against their will. The “Doctors in Conscience Against Abortion Bill” …

LifeSiteNews.com reports: “Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart has warned that, in the event that a new bill passes the Victoria Parliament requiring that all medical personnel either perform abortions or give abortion referrals, all Catholic hospital maternity and emergency departments could …

The Globe and Mail reports:  he Australian government has issued its first licence allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to try and obtain embryonic stem cells. The in vitro fertilization firm Sydney IVF was granted the licence and reportedly …

A Brisbane swingers’ club is boasting that it is the first in the country to gain council approval and operate just like any other business.

LifeNews.com reports: “The parliament of the Australian state of Victoria has rejected a measure that would have legalized assisted suicide there. The vote comes at the same time as the body is considering a bill to officially legalize abortions, even …

The Australian reports: “THE Brumby Government’s move to create the most liberal abortion laws of any state would lead to a rush of women from interstate seeking terminations, a minister has warned.”

State laws forcing local councils to approve development applications without reference to the social damage they cause need urgent overhaul following Brisbane City Council’s approval yesterday of a so-called swingers’ club in Woolloongabba.

Homosexuals in Australia are using a Christian camp’s refusal to host a pro-homosexual group as a test case to attempt to overturn legal exemptions that exist for religious groups in the Equal Opportunity Act.

LifeSiteNews.com reports: A 24 year old Australian woman’s death has been blamed on her use of oral contraceptive pills, which she was taking them as part of her acne treatment . . . The hospital’s director of emergency medicine, Associate …

Mr Hendrickson said the increase could be attributed to a number of cases involving minors, as well as an increase in `sexting’, which involves people sending explicit images of themselves to another person via mobile phone.

The City of Sydney has taken the unusual step of declaring Oxford Street a homophobia-free zone in a bid to tackle anti-gay violence.

The Daily Telegraph reports: FORGET those plans to have a third child for the country because further increases in the birth rate could harm the economy, the nation’s productivity watchdog has warned. A major analysis of the nation’s increasing fertility …