40 Years of the Commission
Find out about the program of events, activities and commemorative content marking the Commission's 40th anniversary.
Summary
Throughout 2026, the Commission is marking 40 years of promoting and protecting human rights in Australia.
Everyone across the country is invited to get involved with our commemorative program and engage with how human rights advocacy delivers safety, equality and justice for people in Australia.
2026 marks 40 years since the establishment of the Australian Human Rights Commission.
For the last 4 decades, we’ve proudly worked with people, communities and organisations across Australia and internationally to promote and protect human rights.
This is a significant milestone for us which we’re marking with a program of events, activities and commemorative content. The program will go right throughout the year and we’re providing opportunities for everyone in Australia to get involved.
We thank all the people, communities and organisations we’ve worked with over the last 40 years for their partnership and support. We look forward to continuing our engagement with them and all people in Australia as we use this major anniversary year to advance interest in the value and impact of human rights as well as how the Commission works to prevent harm, deliver justice, and promote and protect the human rights of everyone, everywhere, every day.
40 Years program themes:
- Past: What impact has the Commission had on Australian society, politics and culture over the last 40 years?
- Present: What do human rights mean today? How well is Australia doing in terms of upholding human rights? Who are the human rights heroes who are making a difference?
- Future: How do we promote and protect human rights in the 40 years ahead?
40 stories for 40 Years
February – December
We’ll be producing and promoting engaging digital and video content to tell the extraordinary story of the Commission’s work and impact over the last 40 years.
This content will feature 40 stories which will be drawn from our various advocacy areas including:
- First People’s social justice
- the rights of women, children, LGBTIAQ+ people and asylum seekers
- racial, disability and age discrimination
- civil/political rights
We’ll be releasing new content every month from February through to December, so make sure you visit our website and social media regularly or sign up for our monthly enews.
Find out more about the Commission’s history.
The Answer Is Human Rights national seminar series
April - June
We’ll be presenting a series of 9 seminars – one in each capital city and a national online event – from April through to June. The seminars are being supported by the peak human rights/anti-discrimination agencies in each state and territory.
The focus of the seminars will be on advancing human rights in Australia and strategies for achieving this, such as a national Human Rights Act and reform of Australia’s anti-discrimination laws. Relevant local issues will also be addressed. Each seminar will comprise a presentation, panel discussion and participant questions.
Find out more about the seminars.
Australian Human Rights Assessment 2026
April 29
In this first edition of what will be an annual assessment of Australia’s contemporary human rights record, Australian Human Rights Commission President Hugh de Kretser will evaluate how well Australia is protecting people’s human rights.
President de Kretser will report on progress and regress in relation to the rights of First Peoples, women, children, LGBTIQA+ people, people with disability, older people and refugees. He’ll assess how well Australia is responding to racism and other prejudice and bridging the human rights divide between our cities and country. He’ll gauge how well we’re upholding civil and political rights including freedom of expression and rights to peacefully protest.
He’ll explore how human rights are Australian values and explain how human rights can help to fix problems such as fraying social cohesion, climate change and Australia’s housing crisis.
In a rapidly changing world with so much at stake in terms of safety, freedom, equality and justice, this is a not-to-be missed event that will have implications for leaders and workers across government, legal, business and civil society sectors.
Find out more about the 2026 Assessment and watch/read President de Kretser's address.
2026 Australian Human Rights Awards
December 10
The Australian Human Rights Awards – our country’s premier event for honouring and celebrating our country’s human rights heroes – is an inspirational showcase of the best in all of us.
This year’s Awards will take place on Thursday 10 December, International Human Rights Day and the day the Commission was officially established in1986. We’ll be pulling out all the stops to make this year’s Awards a truly memorable gala event that brings together leaders from across the political, legal, civil society and corporate sectors.
We’ll be calling for nominations and putting tickets on sale in June.
Check out last year’s 2025 Awards.
Messaging
We've developed some new messaging and graphics to align with our 40 Years program. Please feel free to share it.
Contact
If you want to find our more about our 40 Years program or if you have any historical content you’d like to share with us (documents, images, videos, etc), please get in touch:
