Submissions since 1995

Add comments

HSV Submissions List

An important activity of HSV is the making of submissions to various responsible bodies, communicating the Humanist view on social issues and policies, as formulated by the members at specially convened discussion meetings. Usually it is in response to public calls for submissions, sometimes our members provide the impetus. HSV has been doing this work at least since 1973. This is a list of our submissions of recent years.

For a full archive index (in a new window), click here.

Abbreviations used
ABC	Australian Broadcasting Commission
ACOSS	Australian Council of Social Service
AMA	Australian Medical Association
ASIO	Australian Security Intelligence Organisation
ATSI	Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander
CAHS	Council of Australian Humanist Societies
GTEC	Gene Technology Ethics Committee
HR	House of Representatives (Australian Parliament)
LC	Legislative Council (State Parliament)
NHMRC	National Health and Medical Research Council
SBS	Special Broadcasting Service

Year	Topic	Recipient	Federal(A) or State
2011	Religious instruction in government primary schools, I	All Victorian government primary school councils	V
	Anti-discrimination exemptions, I	Attorney General Clark	V
	Bullying in Australia	Prime Minister Gillard	A
	Chaplains in State schools	Minister for Education Garrett	A
	Funding for schooling	Dept of Education	A
	Organ donation	Legal & Social Issues Ctee	V
	Education of gifted & talented students	Education & Training Ctee	V
	Anti-discrimination exemptions, II	Attorney General Clark	V
	Same-sex marriage	Prime Minister Gillard	A
	Charter of Human Rights & Responsibilities Act	Scrutiny of Acts & Regulations Ctee	V
	Seeking (online) community opinion on sentencing	Attorney General Clark	V
	Sentencing	Attorney General Clark	V
	Religious instruction in government primary schools, II	All Victorian government primary school councils	V
	Ethical behaviour	Aust. Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority	A
	Detention of asylum seekers	Joint Select Committee on Immigration Detention	A
	Registration of Brenan Hall	Heritage Victoria	V
	Constitutional recognition of First Australians	Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition	A
	Anti-discrimination law	Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commissioner	V
2010	Public housing in Victoria	Family & Community Developt Ctee	V
	Education in Victoria	Ministers for Education	A&V
	Racism	Prime Minister, Premier, Attorneys General	A&V
	National bill of rights	Prime Minister	A
	Asylum seekers policy	Prime Minister	A
	Appointing judicial officers	Dept Justice	V
	Dying with dignity	Ten Victorian Senators	A
	Indigenous inclusion in Australian Constitution	Prime Minister Gillard	A
	Commissioner for children	Legal & Constitutional Ctee, Senate	A
2009	Freedom of religion and belief	Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission
	Review of ABC and SBS	Dept Broadband, Communications & Digital Economy	A
	National human rights consultation	Attorney General	A
	Security legislation amendments	Attorney General	A
	Affordable social housing	Minister for Housing	A
	Equal opportunity for women in the workplace	Aust. Office for Women	A
	Anti-discrimination exemptions	Attorney General	V
	Patentable matter: options	Advisory Council on Intellectual Property	A
	Inquiry into suicide in Australia	Community Affairs References Ctee, Senate	A
	Corporate school funding	Minister for Education	V
2008	Census	Aust. Bureau of Statistics	A
	National bill of rights	Attorney General	A
	The education revolution	Minister for Education	A
	Euthanasia Laws Repeal Bill	Legal & Constitutional Ctee, Senate	A
	Violence against women & children	Dept of Families, Housing, Community Services	A
	What should be patentable	Advisory Council on Intellectual Property	A
2007	Genocide in Darfur	Prime Minister, Min. Foreign Affairs	A
	Humanitarian Program 2007–8	Dept Immigration	A
	Climate change	Minister for Environment	A
	Access card (1)	Minister Human Services	V
	Ethics in assisted reproduction	NHMRC	A
	Emergency action on child abuse in N.T. (ACOSS)	Minister Indigenous Affairs	A
	Community organisations	Dept Victorian Communities	V
	Access card (2)	Dept Human Services	V
	Performance pay for teachers	Minister for Education	A
	Cluster bombs	Minister for Foreign Affairs	A
	Decriminalisation of Abortion Bill	Attorney General, MPs	V
	Abortion law reform	Law Reform Commission	V
2006	Humanitarian program 2006–7	Dept Immigration	A
	Use of RU486	Members of Parliament	A
	Ethical principles for gene technology	GTEC Secretariat	A
	Ethical conduct in human research	NHMRC	A
	Ethics in organ donation after death	NHMRC	A
	Equity of access to education	Min. Education, Science & Training	A
	Ethics of living tissue/organs donation	NHMRC	A
	Stem cell research: Lockhart review	Community Affairs Ctee	A
	Chaplains in government schools	Minister for Education	A
2005	Ethical guidelines in biotechnology 1	Dept Human Services	V
	Humanitarian program 2005–6	Dept Immigration &c.	A
	ATSIC Amendment Bill 2004	Select Ctee, Senate	A
	Corporal punishment of children	Law Reform Commission	V
	Ethics of research on humans	NHMRC	A
	Ethical guidelines in biotechnology 2	Dept Human Services	V
	Review of education laws in Victoria	Min. Education & Training	V
	Human rights charter for Victoria	Human Rights Consultation Ctee	V
	ASIO Amendment Act 2005	Premier, Attorney-General	V
	Ethics in gene technology	Dept Human Services	V
	Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 (supplementary)	Legal & Constitutional Legislation Ctee, Senate	A
	Victorian Human Rights Charter recommendations	Dept Justice	V
2004	Humanitarian program 2004–5	Dept Immigration &c.	A
	Ethical aspects of xeno-transplantation	Health Ethics Section, NHMRC	A
	Victorian Aboriginal justice agreement	Dept Justice	V
	Administration of Aboriginal Affairs	Select Ctee, Senate	A
	Civil Union & Relationship Bill	Justice & Electoral Ctee	NZ
	Commercial confidentiality in government	Attorney General	A
2003	Humanitarian program 2003–4	Dept Immigration	A
	Ethics in stem cell propagation	Dept Human Services	V
	National health privacy code	Aust. Health Ministers Council	A
	ASIO powers Bill	Legal & Constitutional Ctee, Senate	A
	Human Rights Commision Bill	Legal & Constitutional Ctee, Senate	A
	The growing rich/poor divide	Community Affairs Legislation Ctee, Senate	A
	Census 2006	Australian Bureau of Statistics	A
	Tertiary education funding & equity of access	Minister for Education	A
	Changes to Medicare	Select Ctee on Medicare, Senate	A
	Definition of a charity	Board of Taxation	A
	Rights of same-sex couples	Prime Minister	A
	MedicarePLUS proposals	Select Ctee on Medicare, Senate	A
	Senate reform (S 57, Constitution)	Dept Prime Minister & Cabinet	A
2002	Migration & humanitarian program	Dept Immigration	A
	Religion, diversity & social cohesion	Aust. Multicultural Foundation	A
	Revision of ethical issues in organ donation	NHMRC	A
	Higher education review	Dept Education, Science & Training	A
	Oaths & affirmations in court	Parliament	V
	Issues of aging	Standing Ctee on Aging, HR	A
	Cloning & stem cell research	Legislation Ctee, Senate	A
	Funding for Radio Australia	Chairman, ABC	A
	Aboriginal health research guidelines	NHMRC	A
2001	Definition of charities &c.	Dept Treasury	A
	Racial & religious tolerance legislation	Dept Premier & Cabinet	V
	Victorian youth strategy	Dept Education, Employment & Training	V
	National privacy guidelines	Privacy Commissioner	A
	Ethical guidelines on assisted reproductive technology	NHMRC	A
2000	The stolen generation	Legal & Constitutional References Ctee, Senate	A
	New South Wales bill of rights	Ctee on Law & Justice, LC	NSW
	Responsible gaming	Dept Treasury & Finance	V
	Interim report on welfare reform	Reference Group on Welfare Reform	A
	Northern Territory mandatory jailing	Office of Chief Minister	NT
	Safe injecting facilities	Dept Human Services	V
	Health records bill	Dept Human Services	V
	Essential services	Essential Services Commission	V
	Availability of RU-486	Minister for Health	A
	Asylum seekers	Prime Minister, Min. for Immigration	A
1999	Freedom of religion & belief	Human Rights SubCtee, HR	A
	Independence & integrity of ABC	Office of Prime Minister	A
	Inquiry into human cloning	Ctee on Legal & Constitutional Affairs, HR	A
	Declaration & strategies for reconciliation	Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation	A
	Welfare reform review	Dept Family & Community Services	A
1998	Census 2001	(via CAHS)	A
	Youth homelessness	Dept Prime Minister & Cabinet	A
	Research on human subjects I	Aust. Health Ethics Ctee	A
	Research on human subjects II	Aust. Health Ethics Ctee	A
1997	Suicide prevention	Suicide Prevention Task Force	V
	Right to believe	Human Rights Commissioner	A
	South Australia voluntary euthanasia bill	Parliamentary Select Ctee on Voluntary Euthanasia	SA
	Native Title (Wik)	Joint Parliamentary Ctee on Wik	A
	Aboriginal reconciliation	Min. ATSI Affairs	A
	Constitutional convention on republic	Dept Prime Minister & Cabinet	A
1996	Homeless youth	Prime Minister	A
	Portrayal of violence	Dept Communications & Arts	A
	Organ retrieval and donation	Aust. Ministers Advisory Council	A
	Adult and community education	Ctee on Education & Training, Senate	A
	Draft guidelines on assisted reproductive technology	Aust. Health Ethics Ctee	A
	Review of ABC	Mansfield Inquiry on ABC	A
	Voluntary euthanasia and abortion	Min. Health & Family Services	A
	Sentencing	Community Council Against Violence	V
	Euthanasia laws bill	Legal & Constitutional Legislation Ctee, Senate	A
	Research on human subjects	Aust. Health Ethics Ctee	A
1995	World population conference, Cairo	Sen. Nick Bolkus	A
	Workforce of the future	Standing Ctee on Long-term Strategies, HR	A
	Schools of the future, Victoria	Minister for Education	A
	Medical assistance in voluntary euthanasia	President, AMA	–
	Illicit drug use in Victoria	Drug Advisory Council	V