Children's Rights
The Australian Human Rights Commission today welcomes the Prime Minister’s National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, which will take place this morning at Parliament House in Canberra. The National Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell said it’s an incredibly...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
Making detention safe and humane: can we grasp a once-in-a-generation opportunity? Austin Asche Oration Australian Academy of Law and Charles Darwin University Nitmiluk Lounge, Level 4, Parliament House, Darwin 5pm, 19 September 2017 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Introduction Acknowledgements Traditional...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Australian Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs and Deputy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Robynne Quiggin today launch the Social Justice and Native Title Report 2016. The document is a state-of-the-nation report on the social justice and native title...
Rights and Freedoms
Speech to Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Queensland State Social Work Conference University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus – Lecture Theatre Room 234, Parnell Building Check against delivery Acknowledgements: the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land, the Turrbal and Jagera...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I was shocked but not surprised by the ABC’s Four Corners revelations last Monday night. Incontrovertible CCTV evidence of Aboriginal children subject to demeaning, debilitating and dehumanizing behaviour has galvanised the Australian community and prompted the creation of a Royal Commission with an...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
[Check against delivery] Thank you for joining us today. Over a year ago, the Australian Human Rights Commission produced The Forgotten Children Report. This Report examined the impact of prolonged mandatory, indefinite immigration detention on the mental and physical heath of children. The findings...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
The former and current ministers for immigration and border security, Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison, agree on one thing: that asylum seeker children are not detained to deter people smuggling. Rather, it appears that patrol boats and naval frigates, commanded by a three star general, and a refusal...
Rights and Freedoms
Responsibility, anti-discrimination laws, human rights and freedoms - these words have been at the center of an ideological debate about how to protect fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom from detention without trial. But if we are serious about...
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
A comment on the current human rights issues faced by Australia in the processing of refugees and asylum seekers
Commission – General
I knew Brad well and admired him a great deal. We met when he joined the Crown Solicitor’s Office and we worked closely together in that office for a number of years. He was appointed Crown Solicitor of South Australia when I left that position to practice at the private Bar. He was subsequently appointed Solicitor-General of South Australia, the office from which, I believe, he made his greatest contribution to Australian public law.
Commission – General
Predictably, opponents of a human rights act reacted swiftly to Mr McHugh's comments, misrepresenting concerns about specific aspects of one model of a human rights act as a reason to reject any such act.
Rights and Freedoms
Five years ago I began my term as the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, confident in the ability of the common law and a robust democracy to protect human rights. I leave convinced we need a major legal and cultural overhaul in order to deal with the human rights challenges of the 21st century.
Rights and Freedoms
This is an often depressing tour that we at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) undertake every year to monitor the conditions of immigration detention in Australia for compliance with internationally recognised human rights obligations. We tour and inspect the facilities, interview the staff and meet with the detainees themselves.
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