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Commission – General
2 April 2025E-bulletin (Monthly)President's message | April 2025
The vital global role of National Human Rights Institutions Many people who are familiar with the Australian Human Rights Commission are less familiar with the global context in which we operate. The Commission is Australia’s national human rights institution (NHRI) and one of 118 NRHIs globally. NHRIs play a vital role promoting and protecting the human rights of all people in their… -
Rights and Freedoms
24 March 2025Opinion pieceCOVID report provides reality check on human rights during pandemic
Opinion piece from Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay responding to criticism of the Commision's recently released report Collateral Damage: What the untold stories from the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about human rights in Australia. -
Business and Human Rights
13 March 2025Opinion pieceFive years since COVID-19, there are lessons we must act on
The pandemic’s exposure of deep inequalities highlights the urgent need for human rights-centred emergency responses. -
Race Discrimination
5 March 2025Opinion pieceWould Sam Kerr have been charged if she were a man – or white – or straight?
This opinion piece by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody and Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman was published in The Guardian. Imagine how this case would have played out for the thousands of women of colour who don’t have Kerr’s platform, financial resources or legal support. Sam Kerr is one of the most celebrated football players in the world. Captain of the… -
Commission – General
4 March 2025E-bulletin (Monthly)
President's message | March 2025
We must work together to address the scourge of racism. The Director-General of ASIO, Mike Burgess, said in Parliament last week that “in terms of threats to life” antisemitism is ASIO’s top priority. He said he believed it was the first time a form of racism was the agency’s highest priority. The assessment underscored the intensification and severity of the attacks against the Jewish… -
Commission – General
4 February 2025E-bulletin (Monthly)
President's message | February 2025
UN decisions confirm Australia's human rights obligations to refugees and people seeking asylum sent offshore The Refugee Convention is the international community’s commitment to work together to protect people fleeing violence and persecution. When Australia agreed to be bound by the Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol, we agreed to protect refugees who came to our country seeking… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
12 December 2024Opinion pieceWomen in immigration detention are trapped in a system designed for men. Many have not hugged a family member in years
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay Commissioner Finlay describes the harrowing experiences faced by many women in immigration detention and calls for urgent reform to address these human rights failures. It follows the release of the AHRC report into the issue. -
Children's Rights
10 December 2024Opinion pieceAfter the social media ban, is the job done on child safety and wellbeing?
When the backslapping over the successful passing of the social media ban legislation has finished, there is a significant amount of work that still needs to be done to improve child safety and wellbeing in Australia. -
Commission – General
10 December 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
President's message | December 2024
It's Human Rights Day; a day to reflect on human rights challenges and progress. 76 years ago today, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the pinnacles of human achievement. In adopting the Declaration after the horrors of World War 2, the international community said, “never again”. The Declaration lists 30 rights that are essential for all of us… -
Disability Rights
5 December 2024Opinion pieceIt’s time disability reform became an election commitment
In an opinion piece published in The Mandarin, Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess urges political leaders to commit to disability reform ahead of the 2025 Federal election. -
Rights and Freedoms
4 December 2024Opinion piece
The 41,000 urgent priorities our new anti-slavery commissioner has to tackle
In an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay reflects on the prevalence of modern slavery in Australia, as she welcomes the appointment of the country's inaugural Anti-Slavery Commissioner. -
Children's Rights
26 November 2024Opinion piece
Australian parents and kids deserve better
In a joint op-ed, National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds and Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay contend that the proposed ban on social media access for Australians under 16 merely addresses surface issues without improving overall safety on these platforms. -
Business and Human Rights
6 November 2024Opinion piece
Pandemic probe: Statistics can’t capture the loss of trust and confidence
The Covid-19 response inquiry report is an important first step, but there is much more that needs to be done if the government wants to start rebuilding public trust. The number one lesson should be that response measures do not operate in a vacuum. The full human impact needs to be understood and human rights need to be embedded into future emergency responses. The 877-page inquiry report… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
6 November 2024Opinion pieceThe year our Voice broke: The fallout from the failed referendum
“It’s gone.” That’s what Mick Gooda said to me plaintively half an hour into counting the votes to enshrine a First Nations Voice to parliament in our constitution on October 14, 2023. I’d started that day – a year ago today – with a high level of optimism that Australia was going to do this, that Australia would get this right, that Australia would make history. How wrong I was. Instead,… -
Commission – General
6 November 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
President's message | November 2024
Dear friends, I’m pleased to share the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Annual Report 2023-24 which has been tabled in the Australian Parliament. In my first three months in this role, one of the things that has struck me is the breadth and depth of the Commission’s work. Our Annual Report highlights this. One of the Commission’s core functions is providing access to justice for people… -
Children's Rights
10 October 2024Opinion piece
Australia is failing its children. A ‘tough on crime’ approach to youth justice puts politics before prevention
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian Australian, National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds reflects on the urgent need for child justice reform after the release of a landmark report by the AHRC. -
Race Discrimination
10 October 2024Opinion piece
Albanese’s cabinet reshuffle is a chance to reset the rhetoric on immigration and multiculturalism
As Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman writes for The Guardian Australia, the language used when speaking about those seeking our protection matters. He writes that Australia must take action against discrimination and racism – starting from the top. -
Commission – General
9 October 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
October 2024: Commission News | President's message
Dear friends, Australia is one of the safest, most stable and prosperous countries on the planet. For most of us, most of the time, it is a great place to live. For many Australians, human rights violations are things that happen to other people in other places, often overseas. This can lead to complacency about our own rights protection and the importance of protecting the rights of those… -
Commission – General
11 September 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
September 2024: Commission News | President's Message
Dear friends, It was good to reflect at the recent Law Institute of Victoria Legal Sector Dinner on access to justice, the role of lawyers and the law. Too often our legal system delivers unequal access to justice – different standards of justice depending on who you are, where you live and how much is in your bank account. Laws granting people rights are meaningless if people can’t enforce… -
Commission – General
8 August 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
August 2024: Commission News | President's message
The Australian Human Rights Commission is a vital national institution which has been promoting justice and human rights for Australians for close to forty years. It is an honour to write to you as the Commission’s new President.