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Australia’s First Nations children deserve a brighter future where governments safeguard their wellbeing, rights and dignity, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said today on International Human Rights Day.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has called for significant reform to the country’s immigration detention system, after a new report into the treatment of women in detention found their rights, safety and wellbeing are being widely overlooked. These failures, it found, are compounding the risk to women of harassment, violence, and ill health.

President Hugh de Kretser, Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman, and Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay today condemned the suspected arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in the Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Ms Katie Kiss has warned that legislation introduced by the Queensland Government late last week was “a devastating step backwards for First Nations rights and a blow to respectful relationships between the state government and Indigenous Queenslanders.” The Queensland Parliament repealed the Path to Treaty Act 2023 at…

Calls from local First Nations residents to repeal the recently decreed Port Augusta Declared Public Precinct have been backed by Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.

Image design copyright Bree Buttenshaw for Saltwater People (2024). Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner today launched the most comprehensive plan ever for eliminating racism in Australia. Developed by the Australian Human Rights Commission with dedicated funding from the Australian Government, the National Anti-Racism Framework provides a roadmap for governments, business and…

Governments must recognise systemic racism and its devastating impacts on Australia’s First Nations peoples and take urgent action to address it, a new report has found. Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said, “Systemic racism, in law, policies and service delivery, has serious and ongoing consequences, including poor mental and physical health, economic disadvantage,…

The Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, has spoken out on the crucial role employers and institutions hold to end the normalisation of harmful behaviour and improve women’s safety amid a surge in allegations of workplace sexual harassment.

National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said the passing of legislation in the Northern Territory that will see children as young as 10 years old jailed is a failure of all the support systems that should be helping these children. 

Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, has condemned the neo-Nazi rally held in regional New South Wales on the weekend, warning it is further proof of the urgent need for a national strategy to combat racism.

Joint media release: Justice Reform Initiative and Australian Human Rights Commission Law and justice leaders, parliamentarians, First Nations leaders, child safety advocates, community service providers, peak organisations, and people with lived experience of child imprisonment from around Australia will come together for a landmark parliamentary event in Canberra on Thursday. Amid an…

As the violence in the Middle East escalates, and with the approaching anniversary of the brutal 7 October attacks by Hamas and the start of Israel’s devastating and continuing response, the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission has reiterated its call for upholding human rights and international humanitarian law.

Journalists play a critical role in the way people are racialised. That’s why the Australian Human Rights Commission, in partnership with Media Diversity Australia, has produced the Race Reporting Handbook to help overcome misrepresentation and stereotyping.

Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald AM has urged Australian newsrooms to review their editorial practices, work closely with experts in the age sector, and strengthen staff training to specifically cover age and ageism, after a new report found the media industry is failing to accurately represent older Australians and the issues they are facing.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss has welcomed the appointment of the NSW Treaty Commissioners announced today. “These appointments are a milestone in the beginning of the truth and treaty process in NSW,” Commissioner Kiss said. “I congratulate the NSW Government in taking this crucial step and working with the community towards self-determination…

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody has welcomed the Australian parliament’s passing of legislation that will prevent courts ordering applicants to pay respondent’s costs in Federal Court discrimination cases.

Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald AM has said Commonwealth and State and Territory governments must act now to achieve national consistency in laws governing enduring power of attorney, following the release of a new report.

Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and National Children’s Commissioner welcome the National Cabinet’s funding announcement to end gendered violence in Australia this morning.

As the launch of National Child Protection Week throws the spotlight on creating better futures where children and young people flourish, the National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds is speaking up for the thousands of children whose futures are bleak because Australian governments do not prioritise their human rights to safety, care and protection. Commissioner Hollonds said: “It was…

Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss, National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds, and Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay have expressed their sadness and disappointment following the death yesterday of a First Nations teenager who was incarcerated in Western Australia’s Banksia Hill youth detention centre.