Liberty Victoria

17/09/2026

We are proud to announce that this year’s winner of the Sophie Trevitt AM Human Rights Award is Margaret Winmar.

Margaret Winmar is the little sister of Jeffrey Winmar, a 28-year old proud Noongar man who died in custody following a police pursuit in November 2023. Margaret was a teenager at the time of Jeffrey’s passing.

As part of the inquest held in April this year, Jeffrey’s family sat through two weeks of evidence of eleven Victoria police officers who were involved in the planned arrest and police pursuit of Jeffrey. Margaret has shown up every day of the inquest hearing listening to the final moments of her brother’s life as described by police officers and doctors. The final day of the inquest closed with Margaret and her parents sharing powerful impact statements with the Coroner and a full court.

This April also marked 35 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Since then, at least 630 loved ones have died because of police violence and prison harms, and not a single state, territory, or federal authority has been held accountable to date.

No one should have to go through what Margaret and her family have been put through by the State.

This nomination is to recognise Margaret’s determined strength and resistance, and deep love for her brother, her family and community in showing up no matter what she and her family were put through by a racist and violent coronial inquest process, and long before it commenced. This nomination is also for Jeffrey’s parents Pep and Ursulla, each of Jeffrey’s siblings, the Winmar and Anderson families and Jeffrey’s community in their ongoing fight for justice, accountability and truth-telling for Jeffrey.

Join us to celebrate at the Voltaire Awards Dinner on November 6th, 2026.

08/09/2026

25 years ago, Liberty Victoria challenged the legality of the government’s decision to refuse asylum seekers from entering Australia after being rescued by MV Tampa. Today, it is still important to hold the government to account as it maintains policies that undermine the human rights and civil liberties of refugees and asylum seekers. Join us at the link in bio!

07/09/2026

Do you want to help shape law reform and human rights advocacy in Victoria?

Liberty Victoria is looking for people to join our General Committee.

While we welcome lawyers, that’s not the only experience we look for. We’re looking to recruit people with a range of skills and experiences and a diversity of personal backgrounds. We would love to hear from you if you have skills in social media, design, website development, event planning, or management.

This is a volunteer (unpaid) role and a great opportunity to:
• Contribute to policy and law reform
• Collaborate with legal and non-legal professionals
• Work on issues relating to criminal justice, privacy, refugees and people seeking asylum, and government regulation & equality
• Contribute to the strong governance of a vitally important civil society organisation

The time commitment is:
• One monthly meeting (approx. 1.5 hours, hybrid in-person in Naarm CBD/online)
• Policy and law reform work as part of a sub-committee (criminal justice, privacy, refugees and people seeking asylum, or government regulation and equality) as required
• Contributions to media releases and public responses as needed
• Support for our annual fundraising dinner in November 2026.

If you’re interested, we would love to hear from you. Please send us an expression of interest of not more than 500 words addressing:
• Why you are interested in joining our committee
• Your experience or interest in advocating for human rights and civil liberties
• Your professional or academic background
• What skills you would bring to the organisation (including any additional social media/design, event planning, HR, website expertise)
• Whether you are interested in the role of memberships coordinator, volunteer coordinator, or communications coordinator (maximum of one to be assigned per committee member, but please feel free to register interest in more than one)

EOIs are open until Monday 28 September 2026. All questions and EOIs should be directed to our Executive Officer at [email protected].

12/08/2026

Great to see so many organisations and people attend the snap protest against the Victorian Government’s proposed cruelty towards people in prison.

When a Court says that the Government is breaching the law, people would expect a responsible and rights-respecting Government to change their practices, not to lower the standards and suspend human rights laws.

21/05/2026

11/05/2026

Liberty Victoria, together with Pride in Law, is proud to present our joint submission to the ‘Inquiry into anti-LGBTIQA+ hate crimes in Victoria’.

Our submission examines the challenges and limitations of existing legal frameworks and mechanisms available to respond to anti-LGBTQIA+ hate crimes, highlighting critical gaps in current systems and recommending reforms to better support victim-survivors.

While Victoria’s legal framework provides multiple compensation pathways, structural barriers continue to prevent many victim-survivors from accessing meaningful redress. The submission also explores how the positive duty under the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) could be used to require social media and digital platforms to proactively address discriminatory and abusive behaviour on their services.

Further recommendations include strengthening the powers and resourcing of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, removing automatic religious exceptions under the Act, and addressing ongoing failures in the recognition, reporting, and enforcement of LGBTQIA+ hate crimes across the criminal justice system.

Read the full submission here:https://libertyvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Pride-in-Law-Liberty-Victoria-Joint-Submissions-to-Parliamentary-Enquiry-into-Hate-Crime.pdf

08/05/2026

We have extended nominations for the 2026 Liberty Victoria Human Rights Awards until 15 May 2026.

We encourage you to help us recognise outstanding individuals whose work continues to advance human rights, justice and free speech.

The awards seek to recognise those who have made outstanding contributions to civil liberties, human rights, and free speech, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality, dignity, and action.

In 2025, awards were presented to Dr Mohammed Mustafa, Plestia Al Aqad, and Uncle Percy Lovett.

Nominations are sought for the following three awards:

The Voltaire Human Rights Award
To a person or organisation for outstanding contribution to or action on civil liberties, human rights, and free speech, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality, and dignity.

The Sophie Trevitt AM Award
To a person or organisation for outstanding contribution to or action on civil liberties, human rights, and free speech, with particular emphasis on progressing freedom, respect, equality, and dignity. This award will be given to a person no older than 30 on 30 June 2026.

The Empty Chair Human Rights Award
The Empty Chair Award will be presented in 2026 to a person who is worthy to receive the Voltaire Human Rights Award or Sophie Trevitt AM Award but cannot be present to receive the award due to the consequences of their exercise of or advocacy for civil liberties, human rights, and free speech.

We would love you to nominate a person or group who you believe deserves recognition for their contribution to civil liberties and human rights.

You can nominate as many people as you like in each category. Nominations are not limited to 'natural persons' – organisations and other groups of people and movements are also eligible.

Current members of Liberty Victoria’s committees are not eligible to be nominated.

Nominations have been extended and will now close in one week on 15 May 2026!

We look forward to receiving your nominations. Please find the nomination form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf6PGOnpypiRq-tmFpzQZNLizojhJKJmtI2PBBc5cUTb7udpQ/viewform