Protect our eroding rights: An interview with Human Rights Law Centres campaign director Tom Clarke

The understanding that human rights aren't protected under this nation's federal law is no longer just the domain of lawyers and politicians. There's now a growing awareness within the general population that something's amiss when it comes to basic freedoms in this country.

The recent AFP press raids and the public persecution of whistleblowers have brought the issue of rights protections to the fore in the national debate in Australia, which stands as the only western democracy without a federal bill of rights.

The prime example of what unprotected rights result in are the 77 national security-counterterrorism bills that have been enacted at the federal level since 9/11. These pieces of legislation have incrementally eroded citizens' rights to the bipartisan glee of Canberra politicians.