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Human Rights Medal
Sponsored by Rio Tinto
The Human Rights Medal is awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human rights in Australia. The medal has a rich history of prestigious winners.
Please be aware that this website may contain the names or images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
The finalists for 2011 are:
Ron Merkel QC - Winner
For 40 years, Ron Merkel has devoted himself to access to justice for people who are marginalised and disadvantaged, having a long and outstanding commitment to the promotion and advancement of human rights as a legal practitioner.
He is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading public and administrative law practitioners, specialising in the areas of human rights, civil liberties, the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, migration law,equal opportunity and anti-discrimination law.
Ron has practiced as a barrister since 1971 and as a Queens Counsel since 1982. He was appointed and sat as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1996 until retiring from the Court in 2006. Since leaving the Bench, Ron has returned to practice as a barrister with a particular focus on public interest and indigenous matters.
Ron runs a very significant pro bono practice and, through this practice, makes an exceptional contribution to the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Australia.
Ron has recently appeared in a range of significant and high profile cases including, this year, Eatock v Bolt where he appeared as lead counsel for nine Aboriginal people who successfully claimed that Andrew Bolt and the Herald and Weekly Times had published articles in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act.
He was also involved in a Request for Urgent Action to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on behalf of a group of 20 Aboriginal people affected by the Northern Territory Emergency Response in relation to the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act and the failure to consult adequately with affected Aboriginal communities.
In 2007, in Roach v Australian Electoral Commission and the Commonwealth, Ron appeared as lead counsel in a landmark High Court case which established constitutional protection of the right to vote and returned the vote to an estimated 8,000 prisoners. The case raised major issues as to the right to vote, representative democracy, prisoners' rights and Indigenous rights.
And in Wotton v Commonwealth, the judgment for which is currently reserved, Ron was lead counsel in relation to parole conditions imposed on Lex Wotton, an Aboriginal man involved in the Palm Island riots, and their compatibility with implied rights contained in the Australian Constitution.
In addition to his extensive human rights advocacy, Ron has occupied a number of important positions, including: Founding Member of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service; Founding Trustee of the Koori Aboriginal Heritage Trust; President of the Victorian and Australian Councils of Civil Liberties; Foundation Member and Life Member of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, and part-time Commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He is also a patron of the Koori Heritage Trust, the Anna Wearne Trust and the East West Foundation of Australia.
David Manne
David Manne has been Executive Director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre (RILC) for 10 years.
Under David's leadership, this community legal centre which provides free legal and advocacy assistance to asylum seekers, refugees and disadvantaged migrants, has innovatively adapted to a constantly changing and challenging legal and political environment.
For example, in addition to providing crucial casework services, RILC now undertakes research, education and advocacy on refugee and asylum seeker issues, making a significant and positive contribution to public debate.
David regularly features in the media advocating a humane, compassionate, effective and human rights-based approach to migration law and policy.
In recent times, again under David's leadership and direction, RILC has undertaken landmark strategic litigation to promote and protect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
For example, in M61 v The Commonwealth & Ors in 2010, David led a team which acted pro bono on behalf of two asylum seekers from Sri Lanka who arrived by boat at Christmas Island and sought refugee status. In a unanimous decision, the High Court held that, despite the status of Christmas Island as an "excised offshore place", the men were entitled to the full protection of Australian law and to procedural fairness. The decision in Plaintiff M61 was hailed as a victory for the rights of asylum seekers and the principles of equality before the law, the rule of law and executive accountability.
And this year, in Plaintiff M70 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, David led a team acting for two asylum seekers, including one 16 year old child, who were scheduled to be deported from Christmas Island to Malaysia for the processing of their refugee claims. In a 6-1 decision, the High Court held that, under the Migration Act 1958, the Government cannot send asylum seekers for processing to a third country unless that country affords certain legally enforceable protections to refugees and asylum seekers, including meeting minimum human rights standards.
David is an active contributor to the development of refugee law and policy at the international level. His expertise was recently recognised with his appointment to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Advisory Board of Eminent Persons. He has also been a Board member at the Human Rights Law Centre since 2006.
David is an outstanding human rights advocate, practitioner and strategist. He is committed to his clients, a skilful leader, and a valuable mentor to many others working in the community legal sector. For over 10 years he has devoted himself to access to justice for people who are marginalised and disadvantaged.
Jon Stanhope
Former ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope was the leading proponent for a Bill of Rights that came to fruition in 2004 when the ACT Government became the first in Australia to pass a Human Rights Act.
Jon’s profound commitment to social justice and the rule of law has helped combat discrimination and human rights violations within the ACT and Australia. His leadership and dedication to seeing international human rights law enforced in Canberra and Australia did not waver in the face of adversity or media controversy on 'law and order' issues.
He has a strong belief in fairness and equality, actively promoting the rights of minorities and holding governments to account for their actions and decisions. It is a belief that has led to development of a sustained human rights culture in the ACT.
Jon has been Secretary of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs where he initiated and managed the inquiry, Half Way to Equal, about the need for equality of opportunity for women. He has been President of the ACT Council for Civil Liberties, ACT Convenor for National Coalition for Gun Control, President of the ACT Hospice and Palliative Care Society, and co-convenor of Racial Respect in the ACT.
Jon was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 1998, and was Opposition Leader until he became Chief Minister in October 2001. He retired in May 2011.
During this time Jon’s human rights achievements are many and include: commitment to building a new prison using a human rights framework - the Alexander Maconochie Centre opened in 2009; taking a national stand against draconian anti-terrorism laws in 2005 following a COAG meeting, and the enactment of more human rights compliant legislation in the ACT — the Terrorism (Extraordinary Temporary Powers) Act 2006.
Jon was an ardent critic of race discrimination against Indigenous people in the federal Government's Northern Territory Intervention in 2007 and he took a firm position against the federal Government in recognising same sex civil unions (which was overturned in 2006), resulting in the ACT Civil Partnership ACT 2008.
Jon was responsible for a comprehensive reform of laws that discriminated against people on the ground of their sexuality in 2003 and established the ACT's first Human Rights Commissioner, Children and Young People's Commissioner and Disability Services Commissioner.
Jon is currently a Professorial Fellow at the University of Canberra in the Australian and New Zealand School of Governance.
Muriel Bamblett
Muriel Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta woman who has devoted her life to advocating for the rights of Aboriginal people in Australia, particularly Aboriginal children. She has been the CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) since 1999 and was Chairperson from 1997-99.
As CEO of VACCA, Muriel has lobbied successfully for major changes to the Victorian State child and family welfare law so that it now recognises the connection to culture and community as critical for the best interests of Aboriginal children. Her efforts have also led to better decision-making processes for Aboriginal children which include self-determination and the Aboriginal child placement principle, transfer of court order management to Aboriginal agencies in certain circumstances, and the requirement for cultural support plans for Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.
Importantly, Muriel has also lobbied successfully for child and family welfare law to require all generalist child and family services to be culturally competent.
Through her leadership, VACCA has developed its Aboriginal Cultural Competence Framework for the Victorian Department of Human Services. This gives guidance to mainstream community services that provide care and/or services for Aboriginal children and families.
In 2009-10 Muriel was appointed to the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory which released the report, Growing them strong, together, late last year. In 2007, she was an Indigenous Member for the Australia 2020 Summit and, from 1998 to 1999, was an Australian Indigenous Representative of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Population.
Muriel was Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care for 10 years. During that time she helped increase the organisation’s level of resourcing and community engagement. Among other things, Muriel is active on boards concerning children, families and the Indigenous community. She has been the Chairperson of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care, the peak agency representing Indigenous Child and Family Services nationally. She is also a Member of the Victorian Children's Council, a Ministerially-appointed representative on the Australian Families and Children Council, and Chairperson of the Northern Aboriginal Services Plan Reference Group. She is community member of the Victorian Youth Parole Board and a Board Member of the Aboriginal Community Elders Service.
Muriel’s work has been recognised through a number of awards. She received the 2003 Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare, and an AM (Membership in the General Division) in the 2004 Australia Day Honours for her services to the community, particularly through leadership in the provision of services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. She has also received a Centenary of Federation Medal and, in 2000, received the Women’s Electoral Lobby’s inaugural Vida Goldstein Award for 'Indigenous Women'.
