NSW Council for Civil Liberties

NSW Council for Civil Liberties

Formation	1963
Type	Non-profit
Purpose	Civil liberties advocacy
Headquarters	Sydney
Region served	New South Wales
President	Lydia Shelly
Website	http://www.nswccl.org.au/

Founded in 1963, the charter of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties is to protect the rights and liberties of Australian citizens (as long as they do not infringe on the rights and freedoms of others) and to oppose the abusive or excessive exercise of power by the state against its people.^[1]

The council has a committee elected by volunteers whose primary role is to influence public debate and government policy on a range of human rights issues, aiming to secure amendments to laws and policies which are perceived to unreasonably abridge civil liberties. Additionally, it may provide authoritative support and legal representation to citizens and groups facing civil liberties problems. Typical issues have included advocacy of a bill of rights, the death penalty, prisoners issues, free speech, sniffer dogs, double jeopardy, freedom of information, the right to protest, ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders) rights, asylum seekers, drug reform and privacy.