What are human rights?
Understand human rights in Australia: universal protections ensuring everyone lives safely and with dignity, regardless of background or beliefs.
Summary
Human rights are standards that governments around the world have agreed to meet so that everyone can live a safe, free and dignified life.
They belong to all of us, no matter who we are, where we come from, what we look like or what we believe.
What are human rights?
Human rights are key to living well
Human rights are about being treated fairly, treating others fairly and being able to choose how we live our lives.
They reflect values like equality, freedom, respect, dignity, kindness, thinking of others and looking out for each other.
In Australia, many people use their human rights without thinking much about them. When we:
- drive or take the train to see friends and family, we use our freedom of movement.
- join a trade union, a sporting club or a community group, we use our freedom of association.
- attend a protest, we use our freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
- worship in a church, temple, mosque or synagogue, we use our freedom of religion.
- take our children to the doctor, we use our right to health.
- get a job, we use our right to work.
For some people in Australia, human rights are part of a daily struggle for dignity, respect, freedom and equality.
Australian Human Rights Assessment 2026
Explore the state of human rights in Australia in 2026, examining progress and challenges across key areas of human rights protection and accountability.
Where do human rights come from?
Human rights have a long history and have roots in many different historical, cultural and faith traditions.
Modern human rights started after the horrors of World War 2 when the international community came together and drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Australia played a leading role in drafting and supporting the declaration which was adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948.
Since then, Australia has promised to comply with many of the key international human rights treaties. These include:
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Who is responsible for protecting human rights?
We all have a shared responsibility to protect our human rights and the rights of others.
However, governments have a particularly important role as they are responsible for laws, policies and services that enable us to live good lives where our rights are protected.
The Commission’s work helps to ensure that Australian governments protect and promote people’s human rights.
