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Rights and Freedoms
27 March 2019Webpage
How are human rights protected in Australian law?
Australia lacks a Bill of Rights, but there are safeguards through the Constitution and legislation. Understand the role of the Commission. -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
8 January 2014PublicationA last resort? National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
This is an important report. It deals with our treatment of children in the most recent wave of boat people seeking refuge and a better life on our shores. It does so in the knowledge that there is a tension created by the community expectation that the Government will defend Australia's security while simultaneously upholding individual rights - the notion of the 'fairgo' for all. The report… -
Disability Rights
26 June 2017Opinion pieceHanson's comments remind us we still have a long way to go
As Disability Discrimination Commissioner, it is my job to promote and protect the rights of people with disability. So when a person who has been elected to represent the concerns and aspirations of the Australian people uses the floor of Parliament to suggest that students with disability should be denied their right to inclusive education, put simply, it hurts. Senator Hanson's comments… -
Rights and Freedoms
14 December 2012Publication
Norfolk Island's Immigration Act and human rights
During 1997-98, in response to four complaints, the Commission conducted an inquiry into Norfolk Island's Immigration Act 1980. Norfolk Island is a territory of the Commonwealth and the only inhabited external territory not covered by the Commonwealth's Migration Act 1958. -
Legal
17 July 2013SubmissionRecruitment in Australian Defence Force
My submission is addressed to parts (2)(c) and (2)(f) of your terms of reference. In particular, it examines potential breaches of international law arising out of discrimination against homosexual members of the ADF regarding allowances and benefits for members’ “spouses” and “dependants” under Defence Determination 2000/1. -
Legal
18 November 2014Submission
Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014
Australian Citizenship and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 Submission by the Australian Human Rights Commission 6 November 2014 Download PDF Download Word -
Legal
16 July 2013Webpage
Notice of Grant of Temporary Exemption: Brisbane City Council
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Disability Rights
14 December 2012Publication
Disability Rights: Not for Service: Index
Not For Service: Experiences of Injustice and Despair in Mental Health Care in Australia is the most significant report on mental health care in Australia for over a decade. In 1992 all Australian Governments initiated the National Mental Health Strategy to correct decades of neglect and assure the rights of people with mental illness. In 1993, the Australian Human Rights Commission's National… -
Children's Rights
5 December 2016Project
Child-friendly versions of the Children's Rights Reports
What are the Children's Rights Reports? The National Children's Commissioner has to submit a report every year on the enjoyment and exercise of human rights by children and young people in Australia. This page contains an overview of all of the child friendly versions of the Children's Rights Reports, made for children and young people. Children's Rights Report 2019 The Children’s Rights… -
Children's Rights
29 January 2015Publication
The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014)
Foreword Australia currently holds about 800 children in mandatory closed immigration detention for indefinite periods, with no pathway to protection or settlement. This includes 186 children detained on Nauru. Children and their families have been held on the mainland and on Christmas Island for, on average, one year and two months. Over 167 babies have been born in detention within the… -
Rights and Freedoms
13 June 2013Webpage
Definition, jurisdiction and powers of national institutions
United Nations Workshop on National Institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights Paris, 7-9 October 1991 Paper submitted by the Federal Human Rights Commissioner of Australia (Mr Brian Burdekin) -
LGBTIQ+
3 July 2018WebpageBrotherboys, sistergirls and LGBT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Brotherboys, sistergirls and other LGBT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience a number of significant and intersecting points of discrimination and marginalisation in Australia. The Commission’s Resilient Individuals: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Intersex Rights report considered the intersecting issues of racism, homophobia and transphobia faced by these… -
LGBTIQ+
3 July 2018Webpage
LGBT older people
Older people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse or intersex can face particular issues later in life, especially in accessing safe and inclusive aged care services. The Commission has highlighted some of these concerns in previous reports.* The Resilient Individuals: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Intersex Rights report raised the following concerns: Older… -
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
24 November 2014Publication
National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014)
Australia currently holds about 800 children in mandatory closed immigration detention for indefinite periods, with no pathway to protection or settlement. This includes 186 children detained on Nauru. Children and their families have been held on the mainland and on Christmas Island for, on average, one year and two months. Over 167 babies have been born in detention within the last 24 months… -
Disability Rights
6 October 2016Opinion piece
The NDIS: delivering results, delivering equality and even delivering your coffee
Getting a morning coffee on the way to work is a ritual many of us take for granted. Not Jeremy, who is a young man with a communication disability. The thought of not only being able to order coffee, but run a business, was a pipe dream. Until the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) arrived in Lake Macquarie. The NDIS created an opportunity for Jeremy to start communicating for the… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
30 January 2019Webpage
About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Learn how the Human Rights Commission works to ensure the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are promoted and protected. -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
9 February 2018Webpage
Thank you
Thank you for filling out your information! Support services Speaking out about a traumatic experience can be distressing. If you decide to provide information to us but find, either during or after providing information, that relaying the experience(s) of trauma is causing you distress, you can access counselling support services. Dealing with discrimination The Australian Human Rights… -
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
6 November 2017Webpage
Women and Girls - Your voice
Women's Voices Magnolia Maymuru - Project Ambassador -
Disability Rights
8 April 2013Publication
Know your rights: Disability discrimination
Disability discrimination is when a person with a disability is treated less favourably than a person without the disability in the same or similar circumstances. -
Children's Rights
22 December 2016Opinion piece
Is jail the answer for Australian kids?
This year around 900 children and young people will spend Christmas in jail. More than 5 per cent of this population are between 10 and 12 years old and 74 per cent of this age group are Indigenous. Most have been charged or convicted with petty crimes, like graffiti, vandalism, shop lifting or fare evasion. More than half of the children in Australian jails have not been convicted of a…