NSW Council for Civil Liberties Inc.

Postal address: PO BOX A1386 SYDNEY SOUTH NSW 1235 Office address: suite 203, 105 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Phone: 02 8090 2952 Fax: 02 8580 4633 Email: office@nswccl.org.au Website: www.nswccl.org.au

POLICY RESOLUTIONS PASSED AT NSWCCL AGM 23 OCTOBER 2013 Asylum Seeke s

B!"k# $u%& Australias asylum seeker polices are shameful on many criteria. They are in breach of international conventions we have signed. The legal context is complex. The depressing bi-partisanship of the major parties means political leverage on this critical civil liberties and human rights issue will be difficult to achieve. !"##$ must continue to work with other concerned groups and individuals to achieve a major shift in the legal and political context to restore the human rights of refugees who seek asylum in Australia. This general resolution gives us a broad policy framework in which to pursue this urgent and difficult reform.

Res$lu'($%s The New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties calls for all Australian Government policies and statutory instruments to adhere to the principles and spirit of the UN Refu ee Convention! Convention a ainst Torture! the "nternational Covenant on Civil and #olitical Ri hts! and the Convention on the Ri hts of the Child! includin $ Article %& ' refu ees have a lawful ri ht to enter a country for the purposes of see(in asylum! re ardless of how they arrive or whether they hold valid travel or identity documents Article %& ' no restriction on the freedom of movement of refu ees who arrive without authorisation! with the e)ception of restrictions necessary for re ularisin their status ' no mandatory detention or indefinite detention *Refu ees with Adverse AS"+ assessment, Article %% - refu ees must not be forcibly e)pelled or returned *refouler, to a situation where their life or freedom may be threatened . #NG not a suitable destination Refu ees have the same ri hts as citi/ens in relation to freedom of reli ion! intellectual property! access to courts and le al assistance! accessin elementary education! labour ri hts and social security 0ffective protection must be available to refu ees . not li(ely to be available in #NG The Council also calls on the federal overnment to desist from usin the word 1ille al2 in relation to asylum see(ers
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Gl$)!l Su *e(ll!%"e !%& D!'! C$lle"'($%

B!"k# $u%& %ore than at any time in history& citi'ens around the world are being exposed to intrusive surveillance and data collection& often without their knowledge or consent. The revelations by (dward !nowden uncovering the extraordinary volume and reach of covert surveillance and data collection by the )!A !A and other international intelligence agencies have changed our understanding of state surveillance. "e need new strategies for the defence of privacy and protection from unwarranted& blanket state surveillance. The globalisation of intelligence gathering& including covert sharing of intelligence information across national boundaries& has undermined the effectiveness and relevance of national data protection and surveillance laws. *overnments& including Australia& are now receiving vast amounts of surveillance data on their citi'ens from friendly foreign sources that would be illegal for them to collect internally. *overnments now have tremendous analytic power to effectively mine these enormous data collections. #ollectively these developments create an unprecedented and dangerous capacity for covert blanket surveillance by the state+states of citi'ens as individuals and groups. #learly resistance to this global assault on civil liberties must also become global. As a start we need to develop stronger international instruments covering state surveillance and data collections and the protection of privacy.

Resolutions &3 Communications surveillance and data collection pro rams by the Government or its a encies for any purpose must have the prior informed consent of the citi/ens consistent with the protection of core civil liberties and democratic values The Australian Government immediately inform the Australian public clearly and honestly as to the e)tent and nature of communications surveillance data it and its a encies collects or receives from forei n intelli ence sources and internet communication entities and the broad uses made of this data3 The Australian Government implement stron er accountability parameters relatin to communications surveillance and data retention on Australians from internal and

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forei n sources .havin special re ard to the impact on privacy3& 53 NSWCCL wor( with other concerned roups to identify whether there are any rounds for a le al challen e in relation to Australia6s participation in covert and other e)chan es of intelli ence data with forei n intelli ence a encies and7or use of intelli ence data obtained thou h these covert and other arran ements NSWCCL participate in the lobal effort by concerned civil liberties! human ri hts and privacy advocates to develop stron and effective international instruments in relation to communications surveillance and data retention which will better protect privacy and basic democratic freedoms3

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W+(s'le,)l$-e s. / ee Me&(! !%& '+e R(#+' '$ 0%$B!"k# $u%& The )! has accelerated its pursuit of whistle-blowers in recent years and has made unprecedented use of its espionage and related laws to dramatically increase the potential penalty for whistleblowers. Australia& amongst others& has indicated broad compliance with this approach. The power of the internet has given individual whistle-blowers with access to information they believe should be made public& enormous capacity to reveal large ,uantities of information to a global audience. The challenge this poses to growing and unwarranted state secrecy is considerable. ot surprisingly& states are fighting back with an apparent intent of warning off potential whistle-blowers and destroying pivotal organisations such as "iki$eaks. #ivil liberties organisations must engage with this and advocate for greater transparency and fairer and more proportionate reactions to whistleblowers.

Resolutions The NSW Council for Civil Liberties$ &3 Reco nises 0dward Snowden! Chelsea *previously 9radley, :annin and ;ulian Assan e as coura eous! lobal champions of democracy who have made! at reat personal cost! e)traordinary contributions to civil society by challen in the e)cessive secrecy of the state and revealin to the citi/ens of the world vast <uantities of hidden information about the activities of the state that should always have been in the public domain in any democratic society

As recommended by the Parliamentary .oint #ommittee on /ntelligence and !ecurity 0eport of the /n,uiry into Potential 0eforms of Australias ational !ecurity $egislation& %ay 12-3 4recommendations --3&5-67.

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Condemns the current unprecedented and ferocious attac( by the USA and other states on whistle'blowers . most dramatically manifested in the relentless pursuit of Assan e! :annin and Snowdon as traitors and spies and the attempt to disable Wi(ilea(s3 With rowin state secrecy the attac( on whistle'blowers poses a lobal threat to the capacity of a free press to inform the people and to the citi/ens6 ri ht to (now what overnments are doin in their name3 Ur es the Australian Government to distance itself from these e)treme attac(s on whistle'blowers and commit to reater overnment transparency and the establishment of a le al framewor( for openness and fair and proportionate protection of whistle'blowers3

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Ce%s$ s+(2
B!"k# $u%& The *uidelines applicable to 8ilm 8estivals provide that if the #lassification 9oard:s director believes that a festival film might be rated ; -<= 4pornographic& and therefore only available in #anberra or the orthern Territory7 or 0# 4refused classification> available nowhere7 the exemption is not granted. The latest controversy in relation to the operation of these guidelines was early this year when the #lassification 9oard director prevented " Want =our Love& an American film that was due to be screened at the %elbourne ?ueer 8ilm 8estival in %arch 12-3 from being screened& on the grounds that it would be classified ;-<=.

Resolution CCL calls for film festivals to be e)empt from the film classification system and further e)empt from the fees re<uired for review of adverse decisions3

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3ONORARY LI/E MEMBERS3IP RESOLUTION PASSED AT NSWCCL AGM 23 OCTOBER 2013

C!me $% Mu 2+y
B!"k# $u%& The !"##$ committee proposes the following resolution conferring honorary life membership on #ameron %urphy& in recognition of %any years of advocacy for civil liberties& human rights and anti-discrimination in a range of contexts thirteen years of effective strategic leadership of !"##$ in the face of considerable challenges to civil liberties post @+-his personal contribution in sustaining the strong public profile and reputation of !"##$ as an independent defender of civil liberties

Resolution The NSW Council for Civil Liberties confers on Cameron :urphy honorary life membership3

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