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Criticisms Of The RDA

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The RDA aims to protect the rights of minorities, by sanctioning those who restrict or impose on the liberties of the following acts on the basis of their racial identity; “gaining employment, accessing training, advancement, equal pay or conditions of work. Land, housing or accommodation, provision of goods and services such as applying for credit, using banks, seeking assistance from government departments, lawyers, doctors and hospitals, or attending restaurants, pubs, entertainment venues and so on. Access to places and facilities for use by the public and freedom of joining a trade union.” (Racial Discrimination Act, 1975) Since its beginning, there have been over 10,500 complaints filed with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) …show more content…

The physical effects of violence often cause less damage to the individual victim than the psychological effects.’ (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1991). The Inquiry recommended the government introduced measures to include civil solutions for racist harassment and incitement to racial hostility, which would broaden the range in which the RDA was ‘enforceable’ to include public places and ease civil unrest. (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1991) Similarly, the Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody requested the RDA introduce further legislation to ‘proscribe racial vilification and to offer a conciliation mechanism for dealing with complaints of racial vilification’ (Commonwealth of Australia, 2002) or simply ‘hate speech’. The committee argued that furthering the legislation would reiterate the importance of speech, advising that ‘language itself can be a variety of violence’ (Commonwealth of Australia, 2002). In 1994, the Racial Hatred Bill which highlighted the relationship between racial vilification and racist violence ("Racial Hatred Act", 1995). The amendment to the RDA states, under section 18C that it is “unlawful to give a public act that is moderately likely to ‘offend, abuse, humiliate or intimidate’ someone on the grounds of race” (Attorney-General’s Department,

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law does not specifically receive recognition in the Australian constitution and references that allow racial discrimination by the commonwealth are still present in the constitution. Societies views are changing and the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law and culture is now becoming more important as it is believed that the legal system must reflect the people it serves. Customary law is still seen as the soft version of the justice system by many people so the idea of integrating it into Australian law isn’t supported by many individuals. Circle sentencing is one way that aboriginal customary law is beginning to be integrated into the legal system as it is allowing aboriginals to achieve justice in a more traditional way while still abiding by the Australian constitution. 5.

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1583 Words | 7 Pages

The following essay will aim to address several issues in regards to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). The first issue of focus will identify how the RCIADIC links policies and practices of colonisation to Aboriginal people’s deaths in custody. Such policies and practices includes segregation, protection and assimilation. This will be followed by identifying how the RCIADIC recommends that relations between First Australians and police could be improved before discussing one such recommendations effectiveness of implementation in New South Wales. Segregation, protection and assimilation are all policies that have been linked to Aboriginal people’s deaths while in custody.

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This criminal code encourages sentencing judges to have recourse to a restorative approach to sentencing. Also, the enactment of s. 718.2 (e) is a definite direction by Parliament to pay particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders during the sentencing process because those circumstances are unique and different from those of non-Aboriginal offenders. Further, when sentencing Aboriginal offenders, courts must take judicial notice of such matters as the history of colonization, displacement, and residential schools. And they should look at how that history continues to translate into lower educational accomplishment, lower income, higher unemployment, higher rates of substance abuse, suicide, and, of course, higher levels of imprisonment of Aboriginal peoples. (Canadian Law, an Introduction 6th Edition: Neil Boyd 2015; page,

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461 Words | 2 Pages

He claims the prejudices of the judicial system handed out mandatory sentencing for those who used their constitutional right to have a trial by jury. The author builds a relationship with the audience by using Pathos in order to compel them to recognize the urgency to change the current law. Girault explains the failing logic of the law on page 225, he states that communities were to be made safer and instead of targeting petty crimes the focus would be to bring down kingpins, however after three decades of the SRA it still was a failure. Girault defines the sentencing reform act as discriminatory and states that minorities are hugely effected by this law and states ”Black people are overwhelming charged, convicted and sentenced at a higher rate to federal crimes since the passage of the Sentencing Reform Act.” (Girault 228).

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754 Words | 4 Pages

In her book which centres on the community in and around Charters Towers, Queensland Babbidge cites many newspaper articles from the colonies of New South Wales and Queensland which incite violence towards Aboriginal people. Not only were there sanctioned massacres on groups of Aboriginal people who were deemed to be hindering the progress of the colonies but shooting Aboriginal people on site was considered appropriate (2010). These violent acts are representative of many abhorrent acts which occurred across Australia for

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1309 Words | 6 Pages

This consistent attack (or individual racism) was likely to cause internalised oppression to the oppressed because he might accept the stereotype and exclude himself from “the Australian way of life” (Axner, n.d). Furthermore, the racist behaviour in the case scenario might have a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of this young individual. According to Mansouri et al. (2009), racism might imply a serious emotional damage to the victim includes the ongoing frustration and feeling of exclusion, lack sense of belonging to the

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576 Words | 3 Pages

The fact that hate crime is deemed a major problem for a nation makes the Mathew Sheppard and James Byrd act to be implemented at all levels. This act is implemented at the local, state and federal level within a nation. This because the federal. Local, federal and state authorities join forces during investigations and prosecution of these hate crimes to protect the entire nation from violence evolving due to hate among people. Therefore, to mitigate expansion of hate crimes in the nation all authorities are given the power by Mathew Sheppard’s act to prevent hate crimes and prosecuting

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She highlights how these statements are often used to excuse discriminatory attitudes towards Indigenous Australians. I will focus on three examples which are representative of Melissa Lucashenko’s point of view on “I’m Not a Racist But…”. The first example I will focus on is the problem of racism, the second one is the white privilege and the last one is the continuity of colonialism and racism in

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The goal of hate speech is something that Waldron also discusses in chapters 3 and 4 of The Harm in Hate Speech. He explains that hate speech “amounts to assault upon the dignity of the person affected – “dignity,” in the sense of their basic social standing, the basis of their recognition as social equals and as bearers of human rights and constitutional entitlements” (Waldron, 59). The methodology behind hate speech is crucial to understanding how effective it truly

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1996 Words | 8 Pages

(Martin, 2015). Media commentators, coaches and other AFL players have branded the publics actions as “racist and appalling”. Australia’s Race Discrimination

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912 Words | 4 Pages

Currently, the United State’s criterion on Speech includes, “obscenity, fraud, child pornography, harassment, incitement to illegal conduct and imminent lawless action, true threats, and commercial speech such as advertising, copyright or patent rights” (Gaudefroy 3). However, speech involving discriminatory words or racial intentions are protected by the law. To avoid instances that degrade the minority group, stricter rules need to be enforced on the delicate topic. Restrictions on hate speech should include usage of “misogynistic, homophobic, racist, and conspiracy-laden language” (Gaudefroy 3). Efforts to restrict these types of beliefs would create a more safe and equal society for all individuals.

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707 Words | 3 Pages

A speech code is any university policy that forbids the use of hateful or contemptuous expressions towards any social group, particularly those categorized based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, etc. In this essay, I will explain why such regulations are justifiable for the reasons that Charles R. Lawrence Ⅲ states in Racist Speech as the Functional Equivalent of Fighting Words. He argues that speech codes “[do] nothing more than prohibit intentional face-to-face insults”(pg 175), and that “racial insults are undeserving of First Amendment protection because the perpetrator’s intention is not to discover truth or initiate dialogue, but to injure the victim.”(pg 175) A prime reason for many universities

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Introduction Since the beginning of time, there have been crimes against humanity that would today be considered bias-motivated, or “hate crimes”. It was not until the 1980’s, though, that this term was coined within the United States. The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 defines hate crimes as, “crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, including where appropriate the crimes of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravate assault, simple assault, intimidation, arson, and destruction, damage or vandalism of property.” ( SOURCE)

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520 Words | 3 Pages

Historically, Australia has struggled significantly with embracing diversity to the extent of placing a policy that restricted the immigration of non-white people. This repelling action was called the ‘March of the white Australia policy’, even though the name reeks of racism. It is appalling that our country once represented this mistreatment, and still, we have done the absolute minimum to account for it. If Australia truly wants to continue to prosper in its claims for acceptance of all races, we first need to reflect on our lies, and convert them into genuine and solemn actions. It is shocking that in this day and age, we must still be reminded of the obligation to not discriminate and inflict harm on those of colour.

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909 Words | 4 Pages

A relationship in a hurry will never end well. This idea comes true in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The play is about two star-crossed lovers who take their lives. The play takes place in a city named Verona in Italy where two rival families have a massive feud that has been going on for years and years. Nobody knows why but they still hate each other, but these two lovers who meet are from these families their love is ended because of the feud and all of this happens in five days.

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