Skip to main content

International

Australia's human rights progress

Video Options:

Australia is widely considered the land of the "fair go".

And while that may ring true for many people, not all in our country are yet afforded the dignity and basic rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

As the final episode in our series commemorating the Declaration’s 75th anniversary explores, its promise in Australia remains a “work in progress”.

Learn more about our series here.

Clean Slate Without Prejudice

Video Options:

In 2009, boxing program ‘Clean Slate Without Prejudice’ was founded by First Nations leaders and local police to help curb youth crime in Redfern, Sydney. 

75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created, it’s just one community-led initiative that’s empowering children and inspiring change. 

But Indigenous youth remain over-represented in Australia’s juvenile detention system - a major barrier in improving the human rights of First Nations people. 

What does 'human rights' mean to you?

Video Options:

10 December 2023 marked 75 years since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In this first of a 5-part video series commemorating the anniversary from a local perspective, we hear from a diverse group of Australians about what human rights means to them.  

The Commission acknowledges this series comes at a time of major global crises. It is in the pursuit of peace, justice, and equality that we discover our common ground.

Now, more than ever, it’s time to promote and protect human rights.  

General Comment 26 on children's rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change

Submission by the National Children's Commissioner to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child consultation on General Comment 26 on children's rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change

Statement on international accreditation of the Australian Human Rights Commission

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s status as a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) has been reviewed by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) – the international standards body.

International engagement

Wednesday 20 January, 2021
The Commission is Australia's 'A status' national human rights institution. The Commission's engages internationally with UN human rights mechanisms, NHRIs, and other countries.

Australia’s human rights status for international review

The Australian Government will appear before the UN Human Rights Council this evening where it will present an update of the country’s human rights record.

It’s the third time Australia has appeared before Universal Periodic Review (UPR)— a unique process reviewing the human rights situations in all 193 UN member countries, every four-and-a-half years.

Urgent call for seriously ill Nauru children to be transferred

Content type: Media Release
Published:

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.