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Rights and Freedoms
3 May 2024Opinion pieceWe need debate on sensible limits on free speech
When president Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the 1941 State of the Union address he spoke of four essential human freedoms people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy. The very first of these was freedom of speech and expression. Free speech was listed first because it is the bedrock of democracy. Salman Rushdie famously described it as “the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is… -
Sex Discrimination
4 April 2023News story
Farewell to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins
The Commission farewells Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, celebrating the lasting impact her work has had on Australian workplaces and communities. -
Rights and Freedoms
14 March 2024Speech
The Perils of Independence
The Australian Human Rights Commission’s role in protecting human rights in Australia Sir Ronald Wilson Lecture 2021 Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM President, Australian Human Rights Commission Acknowledgements Thank you Matthew McGuire for your welcome to country and Kendra Turner as MC. I am speaking from the traditional lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, in the city… -
Race Discrimination
6 October 2023Opinion pieceWhatever the voice vote’s result, Australia has a racism problem we must tackle
Read Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan's op-ed, published in The Guardian Australia. "Australia will, fundamentally, be changed on 14 October. However the cards fall in the voice referendum, one thing is for sure: our next urgent national priority is tackling racism." -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
4 August 2024News storyCommissioners welcome NT Police apology to First Nations Peoples
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Katie Kiss, and the Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, have welcomed an apology by Northern Territory Police for historic injustices inflicted on First Nations communities. -
14 December 2012Book page
About the Australian Human Rights Commission (2012)
We work to find practical and long-term solutions to the human rights issues facing people in Australia, as well as to build greater understanding and respect for human rights in our community. -
Technology and Human Rights
6 May 2024Opinion pieceProtecting Free Speech Doesn’t Mean Dismissing Online Safety
This opinion piece by Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, appeared in The Australian on Monday 29 April 2024. When President Roosevelt gave the 1941 State of the Union Address he spoke of four essential human freedoms that people ‘everywhere in the world’ ought to enjoy. The very first of these was freedom of speech and expression. Free speech was listed first because it is the… -
Age Discrimination
8 August 2023SpeechBuilding a better cultural inheritance for an ageing Australia
Hon Dr Kay Patterson AO Age Discrimination Commissioner Keynote Address to National Press Club of Australia, Canberra Wednesday, 28 June, 2023 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY Welcome Thank you Andrew Tillett (National Press Club Vice President) for your kind introduction. I am sometimes introduced incorrectly, but maybe more accurately, as the Ageing Discrimination Commissioner. I wish to acknowledge… -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Making rights a reality: the need for a Human Rights Act for Australia
This presentation, on International Human Rights Day, advances the case for a Human Rights Act for Australia, reflecting on experiences during COVID and the difference a Human Rights Act may have made. -
Sex Discrimination
28 November 2022Media Release
Time for respect: One third of workers say they have experienced sexual harassment
The survey found that reporting of workplace sexual harassment remains alarmingly low, at only 18%. Women (41%) were far more likely than men (26%) to experience harassment, and more than three quarters of harassers were men (77%). -
Race Discrimination
10 July 2024Media Release
New report finds governments at all levels across Australia failing on racism
A new report has found governments and their departments at all levels across the country are failing to adequately identify and address racism – even avoiding the term ‘racism’ – and that approaches across the board are ad-hoc, disjointed, reactive, and lacking coordination between governments, agencies and sectors. -
14 December 2012Book page
Questions and Answers About Refugees & Asylum Seekers
According to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (also called the Refugee Convention), a refugee is someone who is outside their own country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their: -
Sex Discrimination
12 August 2022Media Release
Sex Discrimination Commissioner calls for swift action to address harassment and bullying in NSW Parliament
Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins welcomes the report on sexual harassment, assault, and bullying in New South Wales Parliament and urges swift action on recommendations. -
Commission – General
8 March 2023News story
Forum aims to strengthen human rights in the Pacific
The Commission joined an important conversation about establishing and strengthening National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) across the Pacific region. -
Commission – General
31 August 2024Publication
Corporate Plan 2024-2025
This plan identifies the strategic and operating framework in which the Commission operates, and the actions we will take to achieve our purpose. -
Rights and Freedoms
22 February 2023News story
Urgent action needed following termination of UN inspection
The Australian Human Rights Commission says an extraordinary decision to terminate a tour of Australian places of detention by United Nations inspectors reflects Australia’s fragmented approach to protecting the human rights of people in detention. -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Promoting and protecting human rights in Australia
The Australian Human Rights Commission: promoting and protecting human rights in Australia St Andrew’s College, University of Sydney, 14 July 2022 Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL Abstract This presentation explores the role of the Australian Human Rights Commission in the context of the international human rights treaties and its establishment as part of the domestic mechanisms … -
Rights and Freedoms
17 June 2022Speech
Reflections on women and human rights
Thank you to the Lyceum Club for inviting me to speak, and to Christine Yeats and Judith White for your warm introduction. I recall that for my late mother, Dr Amy McGrath OAM, the revival of the Sydney Lyceum Club was very special. In sorting through papers of my parents, following the passing of my father, the Hon Dr Frank McGrath AM OBE, I found mother’s Lyceum Club card, membership… -
Commission – General
23 November 2020Webpage
Common questions about Covid-19
The Australian Human Rights Commission works to help safeguard the human rights of all people in our community. -
Commission – General
5 August 2020E-bulletin (Monthly)
August ebulletin
We have heard the words human rights quite a lot in recent weeks, in varied and sometimes inaccurate settings. Measures to protect our health and safety must be balanced with our rights and freedoms, but if there was ever a time to articulate where that line is, it would be now. Which is why last week, I took the step of writing a piece for a mainstream publication. While the pandemic…