Monique Hurley

Ending strip searching in Australian prisons - Human Rights Law Centre

NEW REPORT: Ending strip searching in Australian prisons by @flatoutinc.bsky.social, @humanrightshrlc.bsky.social & the Formerly Incarcerated Girls Justice Advocates Melbourne (FIGJAM): www.hrlc.org.au/reports/end-...

A silent discipline: why we all need to hold the line against deportations to Nauru - Overland literary journal As we watch Immigration and Customs Enforcement lay siege to communities in Minnesota — detaining and disappearing neighbours, parents and children while terrorising their allies — we should remember ...

“The selective punishment of one group of migrants or refugees is not an incidental feature of our migration regime: it is its central organising principle.”

Sanmati Verma, Josephine Langbien and James Clarke on the new wave of deportations to Nauru.

As Australia's prisons keep swelling, so too does their billion-dollar price tag Rather than reckoning with the reasons people become caught up in the criminal legal system to begin with, governments across the country appear content to pour endless amounts of money into prisons…

Opinion | Imagine if the billions of dollars spent on propping up prisons were spent on services that could support people to avoid contact with the criminal legal system to begin with? www.crikey.com.au/2026/02/09/a...

As Australia's prisons keep swelling, so too does their billion-dollar price tag Rather than reckoning with the reasons people become caught up in the criminal legal system to begin with, governments across the country appear content to pour endless amounts of money into prisons…

Opinion | A skyrocketing number of people are being pipelined into Australia's prisons, with the country experiencing a government-manufactured incarceration crisis that is costing billions, @moniquehurley.bsky.social writes.

‘Shame on the premier’: Plan for children to face life sentences draws wave of condemnation Premier Jacinta Allan revealed the complex legislation was still being drafted, with a bill to be introduced to parliament by the end of this year.

Vacro Board Member and @humanrightshrlc.bsky.social associate legal director @moniquehurley.bsky.social called on the government to urgently invest in support services over political point-scoring “in an alarming race to the bottom”.

Phone calls from prison are expensive. Should they be free? - ABC listen For most people, calling a loved one is part of daily life. But in prison, the high cost of phone calls can cut people off from vital family support. Research shows that those who stay connected with…

"Most of the cost of that phone call is paying a telco to do monitoring and surveillance...we don't think that's a cost that should be passed onto families."

Vacro CEO Marius Smith updates ABC Radio National's Life Matters on our phone calls campaign:

Flotillas Highlight Urgency to Lift Israel’s Blockade of Gaza In the absence of international action to stop the Israeli government from continuing its grave crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, people from around the world are embarking on flotillas aimed at br...

In the absence of international action, people from around the world are embarking on flotillas aimed at breaking Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.

Governments should protect flotilla participants and press Israel to end its unlawful blockade of Gaza.

Kumanjayi Walker’s inquest must signal a turning point for ending the status quo of police investigating police - Overland literary journal The path forward is clear and this moment must be a reckoning for holding police to account. Governments must end the status quo of the police investigating themselves and dodging accountability for t...

“There can be no true justice and accountability while police are permitted to investigate the actions of their colleagues in relation to complaints and deaths in police custody.”

Maggie Munn and Monique Hurley on the aftermath of the Kumanjayi Walker inquest.

Victoria’s Indigenous people experienced ‘genocide’, truth-telling inquiry says Yoorrook Justice Commission splits on final report but makes 100 recommendations aimed at healing and reconciliation * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia’s first truth-telling inquiry has labelled the injustices experienced by First Nations people in Victoria a “genocide” and urged the state government to provide redress for injustices from “colonial invasion”. The Yoorrook Justice Commission’s final report was tabled in the Victorian parliament on Tuesday, and made 100 recommendations aimed at truth telling, healing and reconciliation. The recommendations relate to a range of institutions including health, education, the justice and child protection system. Continue reading...

Victoria’s Indigenous people experienced ‘genocide’, truth-telling inquiry says

MEDIA RELEASE: Despite Government claims, Australia still exporting lethal arms to Israel The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) responds to the ABC’s exclusive report revealing the export of a remote weapon system developed by a Canberra-based defence company to Israel des...

MEDIA RELEASE: Despite Government claims, Australia still exporting lethal arms to Israel
acij.org.au/despite-gove...

Australia’s support for Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation and blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza must end.

Read our full statement with @theacij.bsky.social: hrlc.org.au/news/statement-blockade-of-humanitarian-aid-gaza

UN urged to rule on Australia's 'racist' youth crime laws Human rights lawyers and Aboriginal leaders lodge a complaint urging the United Nations to address Australia's "discriminatory" and "punitive" youth justice policies.

UN urged to rule on Australia's 'racist' youth crime laws: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-01/un-urged-to-rule-on-australias-youth-crime-laws/105116196

Media Release: Urgent complaint made to the UN about Aboriginal children's incarceration

Australia’s punitive laws are fuelling a mass incarceration crisis and violating the human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Read more: www.hrlc.org.au/reports-news...

Bail saves lives, but the Allan Government is introducing dangerous and discriminatory bail laws.

We stand with VALS and 93 Aboriginal, human rights, community and legal organisations in calling on the Allan Government to instead implement #PoccumsLaw.

www.vals.org.au/granting-bai...

Allan Government hands police excessive stop and search powers | Human Rights Law Centre People could be stopped and searched at any time and for no reason for up to six months in designated areas of Victoria under expanded police search powers passed by the Allan Government today, says t...

Media Release: Allan Government hands police excessive stop and search powers

In the same week as pushing through discriminatory bail laws, the Allan Government has handed Victoria Police almost unlimited stop and search powers.

Read more: www.hrlc.org.au/news/allan-g...

Why is tabloid media writing Victoria's bail laws? - Right Now The Victorian Premier's so-called 'Tough Bail Laws' is regressive reform that represents weak-willed politics, says Monique Hurley and Dr Emma Russell.

Imagine if – instead of spending $1.54 billion a year on prisons – the Victorian government built up the supports needed to help people avoid contact with the criminal legal system to begin with?
rightnow.org.au/opinion/why-...

Why is tabloid media writing Victoria's bail laws? - Right Now The Victorian Premier's so-called 'Tough Bail Laws' is regressive reform that represents weak-willed politics, says Monique Hurley and Dr Emma Russell.

@moniquehurley.bsky.social and I on the media-manufactured crime panic in Victoria and why Premier Allan's reactionary bail changes will make communities less safe #bailsaveslives #poccumslaw

rightnow.org.au/opinion/why-...

Showing what really matters to us: on Australia’s continuing failure to honour the UN Convention Against Torture - Overland literary journal So why have there been no — or only limited — moves to implement the bare minimum obligations pursuant to the OPCAT? The answer appears to be a lack of political will and a dangerous disregard for the...

"Governments spend money on the things that matter to them (building prisons), and drag their feet about the things that seemingly do not (preventing torture in prisons)."

Vacro board member @moniquehurley.bsky.social and Andreea Laschz in @overlandjournal.bsky.social:

Showing what really matters to us: on Australia’s continuing failure to honour the UN Convention Against Torture - Overland literary journal So why have there been no — or only limited — moves to implement the bare minimum obligations pursuant to the OPCAT? The answer appears to be a lack of political will and a dangerous disregard for the...

"Governments spend money on the things that matter to them (building prisons), and drag their feet about the things that seemingly do not (preventing torture in prisons)."

Monique Hurley and Andreea Lachsz on Australia's resistance to adopting the OPCAT.

Perpetrators who turn the key: the risk of impunity for torture in Australian prisons This article examines the relevant international human rights frameworks that apply to holding people to account for torture in places of detention, and explores the extent to which they are incorp...

New from our Board Member @moniquehurley.bsky.social and Andreea Laschz in the Australian Journal of Human Rights: whether the use of solitary confinement in Australian prisons amounts to torture, and the risk that perpetrators act with impunity.

Sydney Uni’s ‘enforced civility’ is an assault on free speech – and likely unlawful It could become one of the most restrictive campuses in the country for peaceful protest, intellectual freedom and critical debate.

Universities should be protecting the rights of staff and students to speak about, and protest, international atrocities in Palestine, rather than burying their heads in the sand with vague notions of ‘civility’.

My piece in @sydmorningherald.bsky.social

www.smh.com.au/national/syd...

I'm just an Australian-based human rights lawyer, standing in front @bsky.app, asking for all things police and prison abolition.