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For most of us gaol is a theoretical concept. It's somewhere you go if you commit a serious crime. And that's fair enough. Neither of us have committed a crime, but in various roles during our lives we have visited places of detention. But for short times, and knowing we can always walk out. They are places where fear, despair and anger- a pretty potent cocktail as most prison staff would…

Child protection intervention in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families across the country is at crisis point. Women are telling me it’s like another stolen generation and as I travel across Australia hearing their stories, it certainly does feel that way. As the 2018 Family Matters report reveals, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up just over 36 per cent of all…

The following opinion piece by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins was published in the Age newspaper on May 3, 2018 It’s time for some home truths about how we are talking about and dealing with sexual harassment cases. We need to stop talking about so-called ‘‘hush money’’ and refocus our attention on the basic values of fairness and justice. In 2016, AFL chief executive…

What sort of Australia do we want to live in? I'm quite sure most people, like me, would say they want to live in a society where respect for the individual is recognised as precious. Where everyone is valued, whether they are male or female, young or old, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, whatever their faith, whether or not they have a disability - everyone.

OPINION With the McGowan Government announcing earlier this week that the Western Australian hard border will ease on February 5, 2022, Australia is inching ever closer to border closures becoming a thing of the past. But while many of us would like this to be true, it is important to realise that we’re not there yet. While border restrictions are easing around Australia and State premiers…

When the COVID-19 pandemic spread to this big island of ours, our leaders made a momentous decision: they decided to save as many human lives as possible. This was the right decision. It shows we as a country care about human life above all else. But now we face an even harder question: how to save lives while preventing economic collapse and staying true to our democratic values? In order…

Learn more about how Neuralink's successful implantation could raise human rights issues about neurotechnology.

Read the Human Rights Commissioner, Ms Lorraine Finlay's op-ed about the terms of reference for the inquiry in Australia's pandemic response. Understanding the full human cost of the pandemic is vital for ensuring a more effective response for future public emergencies.

This opinion piece by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner June Oscar AO, appeared in The Guardian Australia on Sunday 29 October 2023 The day the proposal for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice was rejected by the majority of my fellow Australians will be remembered by many as a sombre day in our country’s history. After the result, there is much pain…

OPINION November 18, 2021 Ronald Reagan famously said that “freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction”. For many Australians, until recently, freedom has been something we have largely been able to take for granted in our daily lives. But with millions of Australians only recently emerging from lengthy lockdowns, and every single one of us still…

Since lockdown restrictions were introduced in March, the national 24/7 counselling and support service Kids Helpline has received a significant increase in the volume of children and young people seeking help, up 24% to the end of August compared to 2019. The concerns they raised in counselling sessions provide important insights into how governments, parents and educators can better…

Read Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar's op-ed in support of the Voice Referendum, published in The Guardian Australia. "We’ve been advocating for a permanent representative body for decades. My old people wanted this. My family in remote Australia facing unbelievable struggles daily want this."

Read an opinion piece from Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay raising concerns about the passage of new laws responding to the fallout from the recent NZYQ High Court decision.

Find out more about how Australia can be a leader in responsible and ethical artificial intelligence.

This Opinion Piece by June Oscar AO and Rod Little was published by Guardian Australia on Thursday March 21, to mark National Close the Gap Day When the Prime Minister Scott Morrison tabled the 2019 Closing the Gap report last month, we were again reminded about the lack of progress made to address the inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. We know the statistics. They…

OPINION There is almost 13,000km between Australia and Ukraine. It is literally on the other side of the world. Given the vast distances that separate us, it would be easy to claim that what happens there has nothing to do with us. That Australia should focus instead on the many challenges we face at home and leave the rest of the world to deal with their own problems. That would be a grave …

On the ancient lands of the Anangu, dust settled and ink dried on a document that marked an extraordinary moment in Australia’s history. From all points of the southern sky, we gathered in the centre of the country we’ve called home for more than 60 thousand years, to endorse a statement that would pave the way for First Nations peoples to have a voice enshrined in the Constitution. A voice…

Covid-19 has triggered the most significant return to country by First Nations people since the homeland movement commenced in the 1960s. Thousands, like myself, returned to remote communities out of necessity. Facing the unknown, our family leaders who could made the courageous decision to gather loved ones and travel out to country, with minimal resources. Importantly, Australian…

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…

During lockdown, many of us – myself included – have become even more reliant on our mobile phones. They have kept us in contact with parents, children and grandchildren, our colleagues and friends during this difficult time. When my two-year old first saw his grandmother on a smartphone, he squealed with delight. It wasn’t quite the same as being together — he pawed at the screen to try to…