What we do and why we do it
We advance and protect the rights of people on the front line of climate and environmental action – defenders who challenge extractive fossil fuel developments as well as climate - and nature-wrecking laws and policies. The people who are being threatened and intimidated because they are standing up for the natural world.
At a time of global unravelling of climate, environment and democracy, the stakes for frontline defenders have never been higher.
In Australia, almost every jurisdiction has introduced laws that restrict the ability to protest. These laws often specifically target defenders, criminalising their actions and exposing them to harsh penalties. As a result, defenders are acutely vulnerable in the criminal justice system; from their exposure to lengthy prison sentences and heavy fines, through to the imposition of strict bail conditions that severely affect their liberty.
Defenders are also the target of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by a well-resourced fossil fuel industry. In these cases, we see the law and legal processes misused to harass and intimidate defenders – a form of legal abuse. CDA is the first legal service to provide direct, practical, support to climate defenders who have been SLAPPed.
An attack on one is an attack on us all. As lawyers, we believe people are innocent until proven guilty.
Here in Australia, as in many places worldwide, the state is getting harsher and harsher in their dealings with the protest movement...
now more than ever we really need people like Julia to be with us when we hit this system, so that we are dealt with fairly.
- Knitting Nanna, client
We uphold the community’s right to come together and protest against very real threats to our environment, lives, livelihoods and existence.
The CDA team includes experienced criminal and civil lawyers who have a deep understanding of Australian protest laws, human rights law, constitutional law, and administrative law. We provide the right support at the right time to climate and environmental defenders who engage in non-violent protest. As the only organisation providing legal services to defenders on the frontline, we hold strong relationships with other legal, democracy, climate and environmental organisations in Australia, and play a key role in coalitions aligned with our goals.
Australians overwhelmingly support the freedom to protest. It is fundamental to our democracy, but for years the ability to come together and protest in Australia has been under sustained attack.
Without collective, peaceful and public expression and assembly, all Australians would be without many of the rights and protections we take for granted today.
Through protest we’ve won the right to vote, to marry, and to be safe at work. We’ve seen the protection of World Heritage sites and the acknowledgment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ land rights achieved, in part, through protest.
It is thanks to the protesters of the Franklin Dam and workers of the green bans movement - and many other defenders who have gone before - that we and future generations enjoy stronger environmental laws and beautiful natural treasures.
History has shown that protest contributes towards achieving better outcomes for nature and our climate.
To see the transformational change we need to achieve a safe climate, we need a free and fair democracy, where all voices can be heard.
