Author: GLaD

New research on insurance discrimination and hepatitis C
Our latest article considers Australian insurance law and practice in the context of hepatitis C.
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Mapping Australian legislation on LGBTIQA+ rights
GLaD program researcher Sean Mulcahy is conducting a new project designed to audit Australian legislation that has been subject to human rights scrutiny
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On tables, doors and listening spaces
Our article, ‘On tables, doors and listening spaces: Parliamentary human rights scrutiny and engagement of others’, is published in the Australian Journal of Human Rights.
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Visiting Fellowship at Warwick Law School
GLaD Program researcher, Dr Sean Mulcahy, recently visited the University of Warwick after securing a Visiting Research Fellowship
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International Overdose Awareness Day and drug policy reforms in Victoria
In the lead up to International Overdose Awareness Day, we highlight some of the policy reforms in the state of Victoria to tackle overdose
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Talking drugs, dance and human rights at the Global Meeting on Law and Society
GLaD project officer Sean Mulcahy recently presented a paper co-authored with project lead Kate Seear at the Global Meeting on Law and Society in Lisbon.
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Australia’s national hepatitis C strategy must address post-cure lives
The Australian Department of Health will soon embark on developing the sixth iteration of the national hepatitis C strategy, anticipated to be its last, and firmly upholding the strategy of setting targets aligned with the global goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health concern by 2030.[1] Australia was one of the first countries […]
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Forum explores the complex links between stigma and the law
The GLaD program was delighted to be invited to participate in the UNSW Centre for Social Health Research series ‘Spotlight on Stigma’, in April 2022. The ‘Spotlight on Stigma’ series, led by UNSW Professor Carla Treloar, has been running since 2021 and involves a series of forums focussing on stigma, blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted […]
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Drug policy landscapes: Understanding human rights imaginaries and drug policy in Colombia
Global discussion about human rights in drug policy reform is increasing. There are several studies that advocate for the need for human rights in drug policy. This advocacy often tends to describe how human rights and drug policy have intersected in the past, or makes a case for reforming drug policy through greater engagement with […]
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New research on how human rights processes manage alcohol, other drugs and gender
We are excited to announce the publication of the first article from the ARC-funded project, ‘A world-first “post-human rights” framework for drug policy’. Co-authored by GLaD program lead Kate Seear and project officer Sean Mulcahy, the article is titled ‘Enacting safety and omitting gender: Australian human rights scrutiny processes concerning alcohol and other drug laws’. […]
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Forum hears call for action on drugs, health and human rights
Each year, the United Nations celebrates two important, interconnected days on its international calendar. The 10th of December marks International Human Rights Day. In 2021, the theme is ‘Equality’. Two days later, on the 12th of December, the UN will celebrate Universal Health Coverage Day. On this day, we acknowledge the importance of strong, equitable […]
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The launch of the Global Drug Policy Index
GLaD program lead Kate Seear recently joined colleagues from around Australia for a special panel event to mark the launch of the inaugural Global Drug Policy Index. The Index measures and compares national-level drug policies, including their implementation, against the UN’s Common Position on Drugs. The Index assesses and ranks the performance of countries across […]
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Critical drug scholarship as an otherwise to rights
GLaD program lead Kate Seear and project officer Sean Mulcahy recently presented a paper at the After Rights? Politics, Ethics and Aesthetics Workshop.
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Victorian inquiry into cannabis considers law reform
A Victorian parliamentary committee recently released a report detailing the findings and recommendations from a major inquiry into the use of cannabis in Victoria. GLaD program lead Associate Professor Kate Seear was one of several people to make a submission to the inquiry.
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On International Overdose Awareness Day, new research considers post-mortem rights
Each year, on the 31st of August, people around the world come together to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. Initiated in 2001 by Melburnian Sally J Finn, International Overdose Awareness Day is an opportunity to pause, grieve, memorialise lives lost, and to stimulate frank conversations about overdose and other drug-related harms and how to prevent them.
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Towards a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act – considerations for human rights
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System delivered its final report in February of this year, and it was tabled in Parliament in March. Among the matters the Commission was appointed to consider was the need to address the stigma associated with mental health, and the need to safeguard human rights.
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#HepCantWait, but the legacy effect of stigma and discrimination ‘doesn’t just go away’
Since late 2019, COVID-19 has been the global health crisis absorbing much of our attention. Efforts to respond to it, including the redeployment of people and resources, have necessarily had impacts on other public health programs and pandemics. The World Health Organization’s ambitious goal to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030 is one program that has been slowed and, in some places, stopped in its tracks by COVID-19.
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The New South Wales Mandatory Disease Testing Act
The Mandatory Disease Testing Act 2021, recently passed through the New South Wales Parliament,establishes a new scheme under which a person can be ordered to provide a blood sample for the testing of blood-borne viruses if, as a result of their deliberate action, their bodily fluid has come into contact with a health, emergency or public sector worker.
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