Terry O'Gorman is the president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties

Australian Council for Civil Liberties

The Australian Council for Civil Liberties is a Civil Liberties group based in Australia. The president of this organisation is currently Terry O'Gorman who is also the vice president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties....

. He is also a lawyer.

Early years

He was one of 15 children raised in a Catholic family. The upringing could be described as right wing. When he was a university student during the Bjelke Petersen rule, he became aware of the need to fight for human rights. His early working years were spent with Aboriginal Legal Aid. It was there he noticed the brutal treatment of indigenous Australians at the hands of the police. Taking matters into their own hands, O'Gorman and colleagues began secretly taping the police. This resulted in the miscarriage of justice cases being proved.

By cross examining Joh Bjelke Petersen during the Fitzgerald Inquiry

Fitzgerald Inquiry

The Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption was a judicial inquiry presided over by Tony Fitzgerald QC. The inquiry resulted in the deposition of a premier, two by-elections, the jailing of three former ministers and a police commissioner who was jailed and lost his...

, he was instrumental in changing the thinking and mindset of judges and politicians who refused to believe that the police were abusing their positions of power.

Later years

In later years O'Gorman became involved in the Australian Council of Civil Liberties. He has also been involved in a number of issues involving racism, treatment of assylum seekers. Issues surrounding the introduction of the Smart Card

Smart card

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...

  and the Go card. He has also been critical of the way that Australia's police have dealt with indigenous Australians and the resulting Deaths in custody

Deaths in custody

Death in custody is when a person dies when in the custody of the police, prison service or other authorities. Death in custody remains a controversial subject, with the authorities often being accused of abuse, neglect, racism and cover-ups of the causes of these deaths...

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Current

At present he is a lawyer with Robertson O'Gorman Solicitors. He is also President of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties

Australian Council for Civil Liberties

The Australian Council for Civil Liberties is a Civil Liberties group based in Australia. The president of this organisation is currently Terry O'Gorman who is also the vice president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties....

 and also the Vice President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties is a Civil Liberties group based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.-History:The organisation was founded in 1966 to protect and promote the human rights and freedoms of Queenslanders...

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Recent activities

In July 2010 it was reported in major newspapers around Australia that people have had their movements tracked by using the card. It had turned out that Australian police had been accessing the Go Card records to find out about the movements of certain people. O'Gorman had commented that he wasn't surprised that the police were accessing Go Card records. He said that their previous concerns had been justified. He said that they had the Go Gard records were going to be used for surveillance. In effect they were basically scoffed at the time. It's now obvious that things are different. He also said that he was unsure if his Go Card was registered as his wife had obtained it for him. He did say however that he would be de-registering it. As of August 2010 Queensland Police were set to appeal to the state’s privacy commissioner not to cut their access to the movements of Brisbane's commuters that were recorded on the Go Cards.
As a result he has been watching closely the developments that have been taking place.