Human Rights

The top brass of Sydney-based investment firm Curve Securities have been named in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee.

Nine has hit back at a class action by Indigenous Australians who say the broadcaster’s coverage of a $30 million class action settlement with the Queensland government for alleged police misconduct during the 2004 Palm Island riots was discriminatory and inaccurate, saying it reported the events “fairly and accurately”.

A judge has suggested that a class action against the New South Wales government over a mandate requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should be de-classed, saying it was a “straightforward point” because no financial relief was sought.

Legislation being advanced by the Morrison government that would allow religious statements of belief to override laws that bar discrimination “waters down long-standing and hard-fought protections” and clashes with international human rights law, the country’s peak legal body has said.

A class action against Western Australia is seeking damages for alleged discrimination of Indigenous Australians detained for unpaid fines.

A judge has signed off on a $35 million settlement in a class action against the Northern Territory government over alleged human rights abuses against youth detainees, including $9.4 million in fees for Maurice Blackburn.

An appeals court has found it “inconceivable” that legislation aimed at protecting public health would not have afforded the New South Wales health minister the power to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for certain workers, given the outbreak of the Delta strain of the coronavirus.

Victorian workers challenging the government’s health directions requiring workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have lost their second bid to disqualify the judge hearing the case on the ground of apprehended bias.

Employment law experts say the current lawsuits challenging COVID-19 vaccine mandates are likely to fail, and that future lawsuits lurking around the corner will also face a high bar.

A judge has made the “regrettable” call to postpone the trial in a case brought by  workers challenging the Victorian government’s COVID-19 health directions until after they expire, blaming the workers for creating a series of “fruitless” delays.