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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. -
Rights and Freedoms
11 March 2025Video
Commission launches COVID-19 pandemic response report
The Commission has released a major new report about the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights how critical gaps in the emergency response could be improved upon in future crises. -
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… -
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
12 December 2024VideoNational Children's Commissioner urges Australian governments to stand up for children's human rights
National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds has called on all Australians governments to protect the human rights of children. She released this video to coincide with UN Human Rights Day 2024, on the same week the Queensland Government planned to pass its controversial Making Queensland Safer Bill. Read the Commission's landmark report on child justice reform, titled 'Help Way Earlier!':… -
Children's Rights
10 December 2024Opinion piece
After 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. -
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,… -
Race Discrimination
5 November 2024Video
Dismantling systemic racism - perspectives from First Nations peoples - Kep Enderby Memorial Lecture 2024
More than 1500 people tuned into the 2024 lecture to learn about ‘Dismantling systemic racism – perspectives from First Nations peoples’. Systemic racism, in law, policies and service delivery, has serious and ongoing consequences for First Nations peoples, including poor mental and physical health, economic disadvantage, over-incarceration and social exclusion. CEO of First Nations… -
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
3 July 2024Opinion pieceLet’s resist the worst of times with the best of humanity
When I began my term as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission seven years ago, the marriage equality plebiscite was engulfing our nation, in much the same way as the recent Voice referendum did. -
Race Discrimination
30 May 2024Opinion piece
Race 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. -
Rights and Freedoms
29 May 2024Opinion piece
In silence, anti-Semitism and racism flourishes
This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay appeared in The Nightly on Wednesday 27 March 2024. The foundation of universal human rights lies in recognising the inherent dignity and equal rights of every single human being. Human rights can’t be applied selectively. Every Australian, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, or any other distinction, has the… -
Sex Discrimination
28 May 2024Opinion pieceWhen it comes to domestic violence, the response cannot be one-size-fits-all
In the past weeks, we have seen tens of thousands of Australians united in a single message: no more violence against women. From the time emergency National Cabinet was called to the time they met; three more women had been killed. We have an epidemic of gendered violence in this country, and we must - and can - do better. On Wednesday, the federal government announced a commitment of $925 … -
Age Discrimination
22 May 2024VideoLet's Talk Ageing Episode 1: Interview with Human Rights President Rosalind Croucher
Our new 'Let’s Talk Ageing' interview series presents insights from thought-leaders about ageing in Australia and beyond. In the first interview of this series, Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald AM talks with President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, about ageing positively and some of the challenges older persons face from…