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Rights and Freedoms
6 December 2023PublicationRevitalising Australia’s commitment to human rights
This is the final report of the Commission's major, five year Inquiry into Australia's human rights framework. It recommends a National Human Rights Act for Australia and a framework to support it. Download the report, the Executive Summary, and a two-page explainer. -
Commission – General
25 May 2023EventStopping Killer Robots: RightsCon presentation
Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay is calling for bans on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) - weapons that use artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to select and attack targets. Commissioner Finlay will present ‘Stopping Killer Robots – prohibiting the use of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS)’ at RightsCon Costa Rica. The Commissioner says there is… -
Disability Rights
28 November 2023News story
Commission welcomes new Disability Discrimination Commissioner
The Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes the appointment of Rosemary Kayess to the role of Disability Discrimination Commissioner. “On behalf of Commissioners and staff I warmly welcome Ms Kayess to the Commission. She is a leading disability and human rights lawyer who has been extremely influential in her work in international human rights law for people with disability,” said… -
Rights and Freedoms
12 March 2024Media Release
Historic forum to build momentum for Australian Human Rights Act
Revitalising Australia’s human rights framework – including efforts to introduce an Australian Human Rights Act – will be the focus of a landmark conference in June during the Vivid Sydney festival. Presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Free + Equal Human Rights Conference will take place over 6 and 7 June at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney and will include 12 engaging… -
Technology and Human Rights
24 August 2023Opinion pieceWhy Misinformation Bill risks Freedoms it Aims to Protect
Learn more about the federal government’s proposed Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill. -
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. -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Promoting and protecting human rights in Australia
The Australian Human Rights Commission: promoting and protecting human rights in Australia St Andrew’s College, University of Sydney, 14 July 2022 Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL Abstract This presentation explores the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission in the context of the international human rights treaties and its establishment as part of the domestic mechanisms … -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Respect@Work – a focus on our profession
This paper considers the amendments to laws regarding workplace bullying and sexual harassment and the employer’s responsibility implementing recommendations of the Commission’s Respect@Work report (2020). -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
10 July 2024SpeechEMRIP- The lack of constitutional recognition of First Nations Peoples
Statement from Katie Kiss at the 17th EMRIP session which advises on Indigenous rights and participation. -
Commission – General
13 March 2023Opinion piece
A national Human Rights Act needs to be introduced in Australia
Opinion piece by Commission President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, first published in the Canberra Times. -
Disability Rights
30 January 2024Media Release
Rosemary Kayess commences as Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Australia’s new Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Rosemary Kayess, said we need to reframe how Australians think about disability, and address social structures that prevent people with disability from participating equally in society. Commissioner Kayess said there is a unique opportunity to transform the lives of people with disability following the Disability Royal Commission and… -
Technology and Human Rights
1 June 2023News story
Fighting Tech-facilitated Slavery
Learn about how technology is being used by criminals to increase slavery and what we can do to stop it. -
Disability Rights
29 May 2023Speech
Consumer protection: Why diversity and inclusion matters
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Ben Gauntlett's keynote speech at the ACCC International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) Conference Dinner in 2023. -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Human Rights in the time of Covid
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health emergency tested national readiness in a federal system to contain the spread of the disease effectively and required very quick action by governments. -
Age Discrimination
9 May 2024Media ReleaseAge Discrimination Commissioner calls for a Convention on the Rights of Older Persons
Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald AM, has called on the Federal Government to formally endorse the creation of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, in what he said remains a missing piece in the international human rights framework. Currently, there is no binding international instrument dedicated to the rights of older persons, like there is for race,… -
Business and Human Rights
30 November 2022SpeechExecutive discretion in a time of COVID-19
Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have required very quick action by governments. But those responses have also involved significant limitations on people’s rights and freedoms, especially freedom of movement, and implemented through executive power often with limited parliamentary involvement. -
Children's Rights
12 October 2023Publication
Safeguarding Children: A child rights impact assessment tool
The Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) tool, developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission with support from UNICEF, will help governments and service providers assess how children's rights and wellbeing will be affected by new laws and policies. -
Sex Discrimination
4 September 2023Media ReleaseDr Anna Cody commences as Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner
Today the Australian Human Rights Commission welcomes Dr Anna Cody to the Commission as Australia’s new Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Dr Cody’s commencement as Commissioner follows the announcement of her appointment by the Federal Attorney-General in early July. Dr Cody said: “I’m honoured to be starting in the role and I’m aware of the responsibility it holds as well as the potential… -
Race Discrimination
30 May 2024Opinion pieceRace Discrimination Commissioner: Why ABC chiefs should back Laura Tingle for calling out racism
This opinion piece by Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman appeared in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. As is often the case, the person who calls out racism in Australia faces far more scrutiny than the racism itself. Laura Tingle's comments at the Sydney Writer's Festival last weekend - that Australia is a racist country - have triggered a fierce backlash, ranging… -
Age Discrimination
26 April 2023Media Release
State AG inaction enables power-of-attorney parasites: Commissioner
Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner says thousands of older Australians are being robbed and cheated out of millions of dollars every year because of a dysfunctional enduring power-of-attorney (EPOA) framework. The Commissioner is calling on state and territory Attorneys-General to commit to fixing the problem at the Standing Council of Attorneys-General meeting in Darwin this week…