The Commission seeks to ensure that the human rights of all people held in immigration detention in Australia are protected. The Commission has focused its recent immigration detention work on the conditions and treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and children, because they have specific...
As part of the development of our new website we are developing pages on human rights scrutiny by reference to each area of rights and obligations set out in the main human rights treaties which have been developed by the international community and adopted by Australia in the years since the...
What is the UPR and why does it matter | Commitments made at Australia's first UPR appearance | Review of commitments | Comments What is the UPR and why does it matter The Universal Periodic Review is a process undertaken by the United Nations Human Rights Council. It involves review of the human...
The Commission welcomes proposals for funding to support the participation of people with disability and organisations representing people with disability to attend key international forums on human rights
Do you think you have been discriminated against in employment for reasons relating to your sexuality? See our Complaints page for information on how to make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has developed four short fact sheets to help Australian companies meet their responsibility to respect the human rights of those people impacted by their activities.
Prisoners, just like all other people, are entitled to enjoy their human rights. Prisoners can make complaints to the Commission about human rights breaches and discrimination that occurs in prison.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1966 (CERD) (the Convention) was one of the first human rights treaties to be adopted by the United Nations. More than 156 countries (four-fifths of the membership of the UN) have ratified the Convention; including Australia...
In 2007, the former Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tom Calma, had a vision to develop a human rights initiative based on the experiences of African Australians, to inform future policy and programs.
The right to vote is not enjoyed equally by all Australians A healthy democracy makes sure that all members of the community have equal access to the political process. Australia is a democratic nation where governments are elected by popular vote. However, even though almost all Australians over 18...
In recent years the Australian Human Rights Commission has received a significant number of complaints from people alleging discrimination in employment on the basis of criminal record. The complaints indicate that there is a great deal of misunderstanding by both employers and people with criminal...
Governments have traditionally approached climate change as an ecological problem, or more recently, as an economic one. So far, the social and human rights implications of climate change have not been widely recognised. The effects of climate change may threaten a broad range of internationally...
The Human Rights Brief provides legal practitioners, community advocates and others with guidance on the content and scope of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Australia and their use in Australian law. Each number will cover a specific topic.