Search results

Arguing that old rich white men have too much power is just a backdoor attempt at censorship, writes Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, in an opinion piece first published on 5 April 2014 in The Australian.

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…

My dog goes with me everywhere - on trains buses and planes, into my doctors surgery, and the nice restaurants to which my wife entices me. She's a guide dog mate. But there are two places she does not go- in two of the busiest railway stations in Sydney. The wooden "heritage" escalators at Town Hall and Wynyard. Why doesn't she go there? Because of the risk of injury to her paws in the wide…

Imagine seeing the words "never married" on your new husband's death certificate. As if the grief of losing your husband while honeymooning wasn't traumatic enough. Marco Bulmer-Rizzi's husband, David, died after falling down stairs at a friend's place in Adelaide. Because South Australia doesn't recognise same-sex marriages from overseas, David's death certificate initially recorded him as …

On Sunday night, the Australian Marriage Forum (AMF) broadcast an advertisement against marriage for same-sex couples. The advertisement was scheduled to be broadcast on Channels 7, 9 and SBS. The AMF advertisement argued that same-sex couples should not be able to marry under the law, because children "wherever possible" need a mother and a father. It is hardly a new or ground-breaking…

As Human Rights Commissioner I want to promote a culture of rights and responsibilities so that every Australian understands their rights and confidently stands up for them against government encroachment. Because human rights are a political construct, there are numerous ways that they can be approached. Each perspective weights the relative integrity of rights when they come into conflict…

With the scale, complexity and massive costs of recent reforms in disability services and aged care, we need constant monitoring and patience as the changes are put into place. According to what I hear and see this is all happening pretty well, in general. There is however a big shortcoming, a gap that could undermine the potential success of both the NDIS and the Aged Care programs. Both of…

Visibility remains one of the greatest challenges in tackling the legacy of state-sanctioned discrimination against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status. In the past 30 years we’ve made great strides in ensuring people are treated equally before the law and government simply because of who they are. Led by John Gorton, the commonwealth…

The former and current ministers for immigration and border security, Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison, agree on one thing: that asylum seeker children are not detained to deter people smuggling. Rather, it appears that patrol boats and naval frigates, commanded by a three star general, and a refusal to allow refugees to settle here, have reduced the number of boats reaching Australia. Why…