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We can all have our say within the bounds of law Respect is the essence of a civil society. It is the cornerstone of human rights - the "active voice" of dignity that links all the international conventions to which Australia has committed. Respect is tolerance. It is a fundamental basis of our democratic society to be able to express our thoughts and feelings, and to respect those of others…

As recent reports allege asylum seekers are being removed from Manus Island and returned to their place of origin, Commission President, Professor Gillian Triggs, reflects on the nation's responsibilities.

The federal government has announced it will ratify and implement the OPCAT treaty . Few people will have heard of OPCAT (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture). It creates no new legal rights. Yet it could be the single most positive step this decade in improving conditions in all Australian places of detention. OPCAT will enhance how independent bodies inspect places of…

Federal racial hatred legislation and the complaints-handling processes of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) are currently the subjects of an inquiry by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. The Committee’s ‘Freedom of speech in Australia’ inquiry, due to report by 28 February 2017, is giving particular attention to sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination…

Authors Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins and President of the Australian Human Rights Commission Professor Gillian Triggs In March 2010, shortly after making the decision to leave her abusive husband after more than 20 years of violence, Zahra Abrahimzadeh was stabbed to death in front of 300 witnesses inside the Adelaide Convention Centre. Two years later, her husband was…

Discover how a former Human Rights Commissioner was asked whether the Racial Discrimination Act impinges on freedom of expression under international law.

The recent death of a 10-year-old in the Kimberley is a tragedy and I pass on my condolences to her family at this particularly distressing time. This tragedy has heightened my conviction that the lives of all of our children in Australia are precious and should be protected at all costs. Nearly 20 years after the Bringing Them Home Report documented the experiences of the Stolen Generations…

State and federal governments should reform laws that make offensive acts unlawful and refocus them on protecting free speech and stopping workplace and public harassment. This week a news story broke about a complaint made under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by a Queensland University of Technology employee. Section 18C makes it unlawful to "offend, insult, humiliate or…

Daryush "Roosh" Valizadeh’s freedom of speech won’t be suppressed if the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, denies him a visa. In the past few days there have been increasing calls on the Federal Government to block so-called ‘neo-masculinist’ Valizadeh from entering Australia. Outraged politicians have called for him to be denied a visa. Online petitions have been set up to “let the NSW…

In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country, old wounds are being reopened. Many of our people are being forced to revisit the past trauma of income management and stolen wages. The federal government’s Healthy Welfare Card has created great concern and contention, as the measure will disproport­ionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and…

Those of different beliefs need to be active in reshaping the conversation about religious freedom if it is to be preserved in law. Yesterday, the Australian Human Rights Commission hosted the first of many religious freedom round tables. These round tables have resulted from a year-long consultation identifying that there are tensions surrounding the way religion is treated in culture and…

Our borders should not be used to control access to unpopular ideas, and in the internet age such efforts are futile. According to reports, Lebanese Muslim Association president Samier Dandan​ has advised the Prime Minister not to grant a visa to controversial Dutch MP, Geert Wilders, using the example of denying a visa to American musician Chris Brown as precedent. Chris Brown's convictions…

By Professor Gillian Triggs and Commissioner Megan Mitchell. We can no longer tolerate the loss of innocent lives, or allow children to be exposed to such horrific crimes. This week we have seen at least four lives tragically cut short at the hands of a partner or family member. Two of these victims were a mother and her unborn baby; the others a 12-year-old girl and a 17-month-old baby…

The Northern Australia white paper has the potential to be transformative in improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples if it increases the respect and value of their property rights and their right to development. The white paper, released just over a week ago, focuses on working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who own more than 31 per cent of…

In October 1975, at a ceremony for the proclamation of the Racial Discrimination Act, then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam described the legislation as ‘a historic measure’, which aimed to ‘entrench new attitudes of tolerance and understanding in the hearts and minds of the people’.(1) The Act was Australia’s first federal human rights and discrimination law. Enacted shortly after the formal

Explore an opinion piece that celebrates 40 years of the Racial Discrimination Act by former Race Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Tim Soutphommasane.

Read an opinion piece about the High Court finding the government in breach of the Migration Act for refusing to grant a protection visa to a refugee.

Behind human rights is the still revolutionary idea that every human being is free and equal, that individuals own their own bodies and should be free to pursue their lives, opportunities and enterprise. Human rights provide the foundation for our liberal democracy, our market economy and our civil society. It was the signing 800 years ago of the Magna Carta, or Great Charter of 1215, by…

"Just in the last week, three of my closest friends and a relative have been diagnosed with cancer. This is not an uncommon story, to be – as a community – constantly in grief, loss and trauma." These words, from Janine Mohamed, chief executive of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, will be familiar to our communities across Australia. As will her…

Charlie Hebdo would have risked being censored by the courts, but self-censorship is the reality of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.