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Rights and Freedoms
7 December 2023Media ReleaseReport tabled: Revitalising Australia’s commitment to human rights
Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP has tabled a report by the Australian Human Rights Commission that calls for a renewed National Human Rights Framework and National Human Rights Act to better protect the rights of all people in Australia. The report, Revitalising Australia’s commitment to human rights, provides 12 recommendations to improve government accountability … -
Commission – General
8 December 2023Media ReleaseAustralia’s human rights champions put social justice and equality centre stage
Women’s equity and racial equality advocate Juliana Nkrumah AM has been awarded the prestigious Human Rights Medal at the 2023 Australian Human Rights Awards in Sydney tonight. Other awards went to Gabriel Osborne (Young People’s Award), Northern Pictures (Media and Creative Industries Award), Advocacy Tasmania (Community Award) and the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia (Law… -
Commission – General
4 June 2024E-bulletin (Monthly)
June 2024: Commission News | President's letter
Dear friends, I'm delighted to welcome the appointment of Hugh de Kretser as our President. For over 20 years, he has been a dedicated and effective advocate for positive change for people and communities whose human rights are at risk. We look forward to him taking the Commission into its next phase in promoting and protecting human rights in Australia when he commences in the position on… -
Disability Rights
20 September 2022SpeechAustralia's Disability Strategy, Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The compartmentalisation of disability policy has meant people with disability, or their representatives, are often expected to have the information and evidence to justify policy change and even when they do make their case, they need multiple levels and areas of government to support them. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
27 May 2024Media ReleaseSocial Justice Commissioner: now more than ever, Australia must reconcile with its First Nations people
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Katie Kiss, has marked the start of Reconciliation Week by calling on Australians to finally overcome generations of disadvantage and division when it comes to First Nations rights, and forge a path for unity. The Commissioner warned that systemic failures facing Indigenous communities in all sectors of society including… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
9 November 2023Media ReleaseCommission commends High Court ruling on indefinite immigration detention
The Australian Human Rights Commission has welcomed yesterday’s High Court ruling which determined that Australia’s system of indefinite immigration detention is unlawful. The landmark decision overturns almost two decades of the practice by Australian authorities in finding it is unlawful to hold a person in immigration detention when there is no real prospect of them being removed from… -
Commission – General
13 March 2023Opinion piece
A national Human Rights Act needs to be introduced in Australia
Opinion piece by Commission President Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM, first published in the Canberra Times. -
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. -
8 February 2024Conciliation register
2022-10-04
The complainant’s six-year-old son has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder and developmental delay. The complainant alleged the respondent independent school did not allow her son to attend the first week of kindergarten because he may scare other children and then would only allow him to attend school for three hours per day. The complainant also alleged that… -
Disability Rights
7 May 2024Webpage
Lessons from IncludeAbility
Watch the webinar with the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne on the background, lessons and evaluation findings from IncludeAbility as well as next steps... -
Rights and Freedoms
3 March 2023Speech
Human Rights in the time of Covid
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health emergency tested national readiness in a federal system to contain the spread of the disease effectively and required very quick action by governments. -
LGBTIQ+
15 August 2023Media ReleaseCommission welcomes resolution in Census inclusion complaint
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) today welcomes the resolution of a discrimination complaint brought against the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) over the 2021 Census. The complaint, filed with the AHRC by community organisation Equality Australia and individual April Long, argued that the survey failed to ask meaningful questions to properly count members of the LGBTIQA+ -
6 February 2024Conciliation register
2022-10-13
The complainant was a student of the respondent vocational training body. She alleged the training body informed her that due to her pregnancy, she would not be permitted to participate in a module with potentially distressing content, and that she could not complete three mandatory practical components of the course until six months post-partum. On being advised of the complaint, the… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
28 November 2022Media Release
New report sets the stage for First Nations women to lead response to family and community violence
The report is an outcome of the recent Wiyi Yani U Thangani First Nations Women's Safety Policy Forum which was held virtually in September and which brought together over 150 participants from all around the country, the majority being First Nations women. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
8 September 2023Speech
CEW Leadership Summit
Introduction in language Hello everyone. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of Naarm, all the Countries of the Kulin Nations, and I pay my respects to Elder’s past, present and emerging. I recognise our First Women, our mothers, sisters, aunties, and daughters who have cared for our communities, shared knowledge and culture, and nurture future generations through women’s ways of… -
Technology and Human Rights
2 July 2023Opinion pieceAustralia needs to be a world leader in ethical AI
Find out more about how Australia can be a leader in responsible and ethical artificial intelligence. -
Rights and Freedoms
13 May 2022Speech
Whither human rights and freedoms protections in Australia?
As I reflect on the past two years, it is clear that the pandemic has brought a renewed national focus on the importance of centralising considering rights and freedoms during times of crisis — a greater ‘rights consciousness’. -
Technology and Human Rights
4 October 2023News story
Ethical AI and Global Governance
Learn more about why the global governance of AI must be ethical and centre on human rights to ensure widespread adoption. -
Commission – General
7 November 2023Publication
Annual Report 2022-23
The Australian Human Rights Commission has been through a period of great change this financial year. Dedicated focus on governance enhancements and improving financial management has placed the Commission in a more positive financial position than it has been in recent years. -
Commission – General
4 May 2022Webpage
Chief Executive - Leanne Smith
Learn about Leanne Smith, who was appointed Chief Executive of the Commission in 2021 after being the Executive Director of the Whitlam Institute.