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Technology and Human Rights
6 May 2024Opinion pieceProtecting Free Speech Doesn’t Mean Dismissing Online Safety
This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, appeared in The Australian on Monday 29 April 2024. When President Roosevelt gave the 1941 State of the Union Address he spoke of four essential human freedoms that people ‘everywhere in the world’ ought to enjoy. The very first of these was freedom of speech and expression. Free speech was listed first because it is the… -
Age Discrimination
14 June 2022News storyElder abuse resources available in 20 languages
The Australian Human Rights Commission has produced bookmarks and posters in 20 languages to empower communities to recognise elder abuse and know where to seek help. The release of these resources coincides with World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (tomorrow Wednesday 15 June), a day which takes place every year, throughout the world, to call out the abuse and exploitation of older people as a… -
Sex Discrimination
7 March 2020SpeechIs it coming up roses yet? Women in the 21st century
International Women’s Day Lunch Union, University and Schools Club Thank you to the Union, University and Schools Club for inviting me to speak and to Dr Mary Forbes for reaching out to. This is a wonderful event. Full of pride, full of celebration—and full of women and supportive men! Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people… -
Rights and Freedoms
30 March 2019Speech‘Free and Equal’: Making Human Rights Education a Priority
National FutureSchools Expo and Conferences 21 March 2019, Melbourne Introduction I pay my respects to the Wurudjeri peoples of the Kulin nation who are the traditional custodians of this land—to their elders, past and present, and to the future generations, the children and young people that look to us as educators. I also extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander -
Rights and Freedoms
6 March 2020Speech
Is it coming up roses yet? Women in the 21st century
Union, University and Schools Club * check upon delivery Introduction Thank you to the Union, University and Schools Club for inviting me to speak and to Dr Mary Forbes for reaching out to. This is a wonderful event. Full of pride, full of celebration—and full of women and supportive men! Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
14 March 2020Media ReleaseFailure to close the gap puts Indigenous communities at increased risk
The Close the Gap Campaign is cancelling its public events to mark Close the Gap Day on Thursday 19 March 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to endure higher levels of illness and higher levels of comorbidity. We have three times the rate of preventable admissions to hospital, overcrowded housing and a lack of access to basic health… -
Rights and Freedoms
22 March 2024Speech
The AHRC’s model for a Human Rights Act for Australia
ANU and Amnesty International Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL FRSA FACLM(Hon) [ Check against delivery] I would like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the traditional custodians of the land on which I am speaking today and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and to any First Peoples attending. The Australian Human Rights Commission, as… -
Race Discrimination
16 March 2021SpeechAustralia needs a National Anti-Racism Framework
Speech by the National Race Discrimination Commissioner, Chin Tan, ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Hello everyone, wherever you are in Australia. I join you from the lands of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation. I pay my respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. Welcome to you and… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
20 June 2023Media ReleaseInspection report: Serious human rights concerns in hotel detention
Explore an inspection report by the Commission that found serious human rights concerns persist in the use of hotels as alternative places of detention. -
Race Discrimination
8 May 2019Media Release
National Consultations with Australian Muslims
The Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan will today announce a series of national consultations with the Muslim community in Australia about their experiences of hate speech and violence and about their ideas for change. Commissioner Tan will make the announcement at a Harmony Day Event in Sydney. “In the aftermath of the horrific attacks in Christchurch, I want to hear the voices of… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
24 May 2023News story
Uluru Convention ‘an historic opportunity for change’
“We gather from the furthest corners of this country to discuss a matter of great importance: how we, as the First Peoples of this country, stand in Australia’s founding legal document – the Constitution.” In her opening remarks to the Uluru National Convention, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar, described this week’s gathering of Aboriginal… -
Disability Rights
3 December 2020Opinion pieceBeing acknowledged is the first step to being included
When I started my career as a young lawyer, I made a decision to tell people upfront that I used a wheelchair. On the occasions when I didn't, people often didn’t realise that I was the lawyer who they had spoken to on the phone. They would assume I was attending a meeting for work experience, or address their questions to my colleague instead of me. This continued even as my career… -
Technology and Human Rights
2 July 2023Opinion piece
Australia needs to be a world leader in ethical AI
Find out more about how Australia can be a leader in responsible and ethical artificial intelligence. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
25 September 2023Video
2022 Human Rights Oration by Larissa Behrendt
Distinguished Professor Larissa Behrendt AO, winner of the 2021 Human Rights Medal, delivered the annual Human Rights Day Oration at the 2022 Human Rights Awards. She called for structural reform and self-determination for First Nations people: “Departments of child protection need to be replaced by empowered community-controlled organisations and true self determination. Child prisons and -
Sex Discrimination
5 March 2021Webpage
Information - Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces
Learn about the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
18 March 2022Opinion piece
We will not sit down or stand to the side
OPINION There are moments in history where the forces of what has come before and the energy of the present reconfigure the social and political landscape. In Australia and around the globe, reckoning with misogyny and the interrelated issues of systemic racism and patriarchal destruction has been centuries in the making. On Tuesday, on International Women’s Day, a new play by Victoria… -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Making rights a reality: the need for a Human Rights Act for Australia
This presentation, on International Human Rights Day, advances the case for a Human Rights Act for Australia, reflecting on experiences during COVID and the difference a Human Rights Act may have made. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
19 April 2024Publication
Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Inspection Report
In 2023, the Commission monitored the human rights of people detained at the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre. The Commission’s inspection report provides 33 recommendations, noting key observations and concerns. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2023Webpage
Support services - Voice referendum
Racism directed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is likely to continue increasing in the lead up to the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. We've collated a document with formal support services and ways to report incidents of racism. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
2 December 2020Publication
Inspections of Australia's immigration detention facilities 2019 Report
Human Rights Commissioner’s foreword For several decades, the Australian Human Rights Commission has expressed deep and longstanding concern about the human rights of people held in Australia’s immigration detention facilities. As a result of our most recent inspection process, that concern has deepened. Some of the issues of greatest concern to the Commission are as follows. A number of…