A new report released today by the Australian Human Rights Commission highlights how important it is for governments to listen to children and families when making decisions about services and government policies that affect them.  

The Keeping kids safe and well – your voices report, led by National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds, follows a request from the Australian Government Department of Social Services to find out what children and their families think would help keep children safe.

A new report analysing the issues children and young people raised in counselling sessions during COVID-19 shows they have experienced serious impacts on their mental health, social connections and education.

The report, which examines data from 2,567 counselling sessions with Kids Helpline, underscores the risk of vulnerable children falling through the cracks, and highlights the need for children and young people to be prioritised during and after the pandemic. 

The Australian Human Rights Commission is calling on the Federal Government to urgently transfer any seriously unwell asylum seeker children – and their families – from Nauru to Australia. 

The Commission notes several recent cases where the Federal Court of Australia has consistently found the health care services currently available on Nauru did not meet the needs of children with complex physical and mental health conditions.

Australia’s youngest citizens will have their voices heard in a national survey.

National Children’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell is calling on children and young people in Australia to get involved in the 2018 Children’s Rights Poll.

The Poll was developed by the University of Melbourne and ABC’s Behind the News program, in consultation with the Australian Human Rights Commission and young Australians.

National Children’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell has been travelling around the country hearing from children and their advocates about how Australia is or isn’t advancing child rights.

The Commissioner is gathering a range of views, data and stories for her report to the United Nations on Australia’s progress implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, our international law obligation to children, which we ratified back in 1989.

The Commission welcomes today’s decision of the Full Court of the Family Court in the matter of Re Kelvin.

The Court has found that court authorisation is no longer required for hormonal treatment for young people with gender dysphoria, where there is no dispute between parents, medical practitioners and the young person and where the treatment to be administered is in accordance with published best practice guidelines.

Australian Children’s Commissioners and Guardians are calling on governments to ensure youth justice detention is focused on rehabilitation, and the rights of children are protected.