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AMCRAN was founded in April 2004 by Agnes Chong, Waleed
Kadous, Amir Butler and Jalal Chami. As individuals, they had
contributed to parliamentary inquiries about the anti-terrorism laws
before that time, but it became clear that the Muslim community was not
well-equipped to deal with this new legal challenge. The new
anti-terror laws were not specific to Muslims, but they had a
disproportionate impact on them. Four months after its foundation,
AMCRAN released its first publication: Terrorism Laws: ASIO, the Police and You in cooperation with the UTS Community Law Centre and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties. It
was launched at NSW Parliament House by Justice John Dowd and Senator
Kerry Nettle, the same day that two of the founders appeared before a
senate committee. In October 2004, Agnes Chong and Waleed Kadous were
nominated for a Law and Justice Foundation Volunteer award.
Since its inception, AMCRAN has conducted
community legal seminars on topics related to the law and the Muslim
community, including discrimination and vilification law, sedition
offences and the impact of the anti-terror laws on the Muslim
community. They have also been heavily involved in advocacy and have
appeared regularly before parliamentary committees, presenting an
Islamic perspective on legal issues. A hallmark of their activities has
been the cooperation with other community and legal groups, Muslim and
non-Muslim alike.
At the end of 2005, AMCRAN was part of a coalition of
non-government, legal and community groups opposing the Government's
suite of proposals to introduce control orders, preventative detention
and sedition offences. The coalition was deeply involved in the
campaign to speak out about the laws and raise awareness about their
effect, operation and enforcement. Some of the more draconian aspects
of the proposals were abandoned, but many of the new powers and
offences were introduced. Unfortunately, the second edition of the Terrorism Laws booklet had just been completed, and these new laws made it obsolete before it was printed.
In November 2007, AMCRAN restructured itself to enable
a new phase in its development. An AMCRAN Board was created that was
responsible for the long-term vision and planning of AMCRAN, with
convenors in different areas responsible for the day-to-day running of
the organisation. Agnes Chong and Waleed Kadous stepped down as
convenors and joined the Board, along with Dr Zachariah Matthews, Vicki
Sentas and Asmi Wood. Ayishah Ansari was appointed Legal Convenor
(NSW), Sanmati Verma was appointed Legal Convenor (Victoria) and Nabiha
Gable was appointed Administrative Convenor. In July 2008, AMCRAN
launched the third edition of the Terrorism Laws booklet in English as well as three community languages: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and Urdu.
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