Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Economic, social, and cultural rights pertains to a category of human rights that focus on the well-being, dignity, and opportunities of individuals and communities in the realms of economics, social services, and cultural expression.

Welcome to new Castan Centre Academic Members

We are excited to welcome a group of outstanding new academics whose expertise will enrich the Castan Centre’s research, teaching, and public engagement across a diverse range of human rights and social justice issues.
3 June, 2026
Commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter

Keynote announced: Commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter

The Castan Centre is honoured to welcome Commissioner Sue‑Anne Hunter as keynote speaker for the 2026 Castan Centre Conference.
17 May, 2026
Carlos H. Conde and Sara Kowal in conversation on stage.

Defending Dignity: Human Rights, Justice, and the Case Against Duterte

Attendees joined an in-depth discussion with human rights advocate Carlos H. Conde, presented by Human Rights Watch, Eleos Justice, and the Castan Centre.
24 June, 2025
A headshot of each of the eight new members is featured here.

Welcome to new Castan Centre Academic Members

The Castan Centre appoints eight new academic members from Monash Law.
12 June, 2025

Legal Laneway Breakfast hears from new Attorney-General

Professor Melissa Castan, Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law opened the event hosted by the Victorian Law Foundation.
5 February, 2025

Human rights expert Professor Paula Gerber explains why lowering the voting age is a “good idea”

The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Academic Member Professor Paula Gerber was featured on 3AW Drive.
9 January, 2025

Future Directions in Rights-based Recordkeeping for Out-of-Home Care Symposium

Professor Melissa Castan, Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law is Chief Investigator on the Real-time Rights-based Recordkeeping Governance project funded through the ARC.
15 November, 2024
A woman walking down a London street next to a police car.

New report exposes challenges faced by UK lawyers when representing clients with lived experience of human trafficking

A new report by Castan Centre Academic Member Associate Professor Samantha Currie, exposes how representing people with lived experience of modern slavery is being made more challenging.
28 November, 2023

New frontiers of workers' vulnerabilities and the need for innovative protective techniques

Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Academic Member Professor Marilyn Pittard recently presented in a seminar on Vulnerability in the Digitalised Workplace, as part of the project, New frontiers of workers' vulnerabilities.
9 October, 2023

Research Group Convenor

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Research Group Members

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Children

COVID-19

Disability

Education

Health

Housing and Homelessness

Refugees Asylum Seekers and Migration

Older Persons

Slavery and Trafficking

Children and Families

COVID-19

Coming soon.

Disability

Coming soon.

Education

Coming soon.

Health

Coming soon.

Housing and Homelessness

Coming soon.

Refugees Asylum Seekers and Migration

Coming soon.

Older Persons

Coming soon.

Slavery and Trafficking

Coming soon.

Children and Families

Children's Rights and Human Rights Education

This playlist features Castan Centre seminars and events on Children's Rights, including episodes from the series Have You Got That Right.

Children’s Ground: A model that could end inter-generational poverty in Australia

Jane Vadiveloo, CEO, Children's Ground, provided the audience with optimism about the future of disadvantaged children in this country in this 2013 talk.

COVID-19

Protecting Rights in the Pandemic Seminar Series

Considering the position of charged offenders and prisoners, temporary migrants and people exercising the right to protest, the speakers in this series ask important questions about the scope and nature of control measures and the rule of law.

Disability

Human Rights 2019 - Disability and Human Rights in Australia

This talk, at the 2019 Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Annual Conference, ultimately considers what a modern conceptualisation of disability means for human rights protection and law reform in Australia.

Can human rights and mandated medical treatment co-exist?

This 2016 public event examined the complicated issue of how, if at all, human rights considerations such as freedom, respect, equality and dignity could be upheld in situations where the law mandates intrusive and coercive medical treatment.

Nothing About Us Without Us

The 2014 The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law and King & Wood Mallesons Annual Lecture, presented by Professor Emeritus Ron McCallum AO.

Education

Children's Rights and Human Rights Education

This playlist features Castan Centre seminars and events on Children's Rights, including episodes from the series Have You Got That Right.

Health

Reproductive Rights and Health

This panel as part of the 2023 Annual Castan Centre for Human Rights Law Conference discusses the historical, legal and practical issues surrounding abortion access in the United States and Australia.

Reproductive Rights: Recent Developments

At the 2014 Castan Centre Human Rights Conference, Dr Ronli Sifris presented on Reproductive Rights: Recent Developments.

Reproductive Rights: Recent Developments

Ronli Sifris discusses recent developments in reproductive rights at the 2014 Castan Centre Conference Q&A session.

Housing and Homelessness

Should we make housing a human right?

Currently there is no specific legal right to housing enshrined in the constitution or federal legislation in Australia. In his new book Housing: The Great Australian Right, former supreme court judge Kevin Bell argues the real estate market exists

Refugees Asylum Seekers and Migration

Refugees Rights

This Castan Centre playlist features seminars and events on Refugee Rights.

Human rights and security in the battering waves

Using an imaginary line starting in Melbourne, crossing the Middle East and Israel and ending at the Aegean Sea and Greece, the lecture tries to sketch the profile of the refugee, particularly the boat refugee.

Seeking security: Refugee policy in a time of complexity and change

In 2013, the Castan Centre hosted Alex Pagliaro, the Refugee Campaigns Coordinator for Amnesty International, and Associate Professor Harry Minas, Director of Melbourne University's Centre for International Mental Health.

ASIO's Catch 22: Asylum in limbo

To mark Refugee Week 2013, three experts asked why the situation is allowed to exist, what effect it has on the people subject to adverse assessments, and how it can be fixed.

Paris Aristotle, member of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, on the Panel's report and its implications

In 2012 the Castan Centre hosted an event which gave Paris Aristotle an opportunity to speak about his involvement in the government's Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers.

'The People Smuggler': Ali Al Jenabi – ‘Villain or Hero’

Robin de Crespigny has spent three years working with Ali Al Jenabi to write his story. She is a film maker and lives in Sydney. 'The People Smuggler' is her first book.

Older Persons

Coming soon.

Slavery and Trafficking

Coming soon.