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Rights and Freedoms
The AHRC’s model for a Human Rights Act for Australia
ANU and Amnesty International Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM FAAL FRSA FACLM(Hon) [ Check against delivery] I would like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the traditional custodians of the land on which I am speaking today and pay my respects to elders past...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commission Welcomes Constitutional Alteration Bill
View a statement by Commission President, Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher AM on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.
Commission – General
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
Commission launches model for an Australian Human Rights Act
Australia is the only liberal democracy that does not have an act or charter of rights at the national level, and there are currently very few legal protections for the fundamental rights of Australians.
Rights and Freedoms
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
'Reflections on women’s rights – past, present and future’
This presentation draws together reflections on women’s rights from the campaigns by the suffragists and suffragettes of the late 19th century and a consideration on how far we have come in realisation of women’s rights.
Rights and Freedoms
Australia needs to deliver on our treaty promises
As with any agreement, there are certain requirements that OPCAT signatories need to fulfill, and Australia has been given longer than any other country to meet our OPCAT commitments. Today – 20 January 2023 – is our extended compliance deadline, and Australia has failed to deliver on our promises.
Rights and Freedoms
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.
Rights and Freedoms
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.
Sex Discrimination
National Press Club Address: Changing Laws, Changing Behaviours, Changing Lives
Speech by Australia's National Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, to the National Press Club on 30 November, 2022.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
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.
Children's Rights
Governments must urgently address youth justice crisis
The Australian Human Rights Commission calls on all Australian governments to urgently address the national crisis in youth justice to prevent further harm to children in detention, and to reduce youth offending through effective systems of support.
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